Articles about Amazon

For many people, walking around with a water bottle all day is a way of life. Not only is it reassuring that your thirst can always be quenched, but it is very healthy too. Once you get away from all of the sugar-filled drinks, and even worse, the artificially sweetened beverages, you may feel much healthier.

Unfortunately, water bottles can be very bad for the environment. While some can be recycled, a good amount of them can end up in landfills. Not to mention, the process of making the plastic can have a large carbon footprint. A good solution is opting for an in-home water filter and carrying reusable bottles. Today, Amazon announces a very high-tech filtration pitcher -- the Wi-Fi-enabled Brita Infinity. Yes, it connects to the Internet. Why? To re-order filters through Amazon Dash, of course!

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Earlier today we told you about Amazon's latest roll out of updates, bringing new software to both the first generation Fire TV and the Kindle reader. While Kindle adds a new home screen, Fire TV introduces both Amazon Echo control, though it isn't quite what you think, and a new video section to guide you along the way.

While the new software improves things quite a bit, there can be a dark side to these updates. Sometimes they just simply break things, mostly in unexpected ways.

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We knew updates were on the way to various Amazon products, but with a gradual roll out it was hard to say when things would arrive. Today the waiting is over, as both Fire TV and Kindle picked up the latest updates from the retail giant.

So what is in the cards for these updates? Well, lots of cool things that can prove useful to the company's multitude of customers.

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If you want to qualify for free shipping on your next Amazon order, you might find that you have to stick a few extra items in the basket. The online retailer is upping the threshold for free shipping from $35 to $49.

US customers who do not pay for Amazon Prime will have to shell out an additional $14 if they want to avoid shipping costs... unless they are buying books, that is. To qualify for free shipping on books, a spend of just $25 is needed, but the increase is part of a push to encourage more people to sign up for Prime.

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Amazon Web Services, Amazon's cloud computing arm, has bought the Italian software and service company NICE for an undisclosed sum. AWS is after NICE’s 2D and 3D desktop cloud virtualization software that allows 3D developers and game designers access to work remotely from any type of computer.

This works because the hardware required to render the 3D images is supplied by the cloud not the computer that the developer is using to access their designs.

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In any discussion about cloud computing, it is becoming harder and harder to ignore Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), the massively scalable, cost-effective cloud storage solution developed specifically to house the huge influx of data created by organizations worldwide.

Amazon S3 commands twice the market share of all its closest competitors combined and is likely to be the storage platform of choice for on-premise hybrid or private cloud deployments for some time to come.

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The latest State of the Cloud report from cloud management specialist RightScale reveals that a lack of resources and expertise is now the top cloud challenge -- cited by 32 percent of respondents.

This means it has overtaken security, mentioned by only 29 percent. Even the most security conscious respondents -- enterprise central IT teams and security pros -- no longer see security as their main challenge.

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We hear a lot about big data, but collecting lots of information is of no use unless you’re able to get some practical benefit from it.

Business intelligence platform Looker is expanding its support for big data with new products supporting SQL query engines Presto and Spark as well as updates elsewhere.

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Remember the motto of the Clinton Presidential campaign back in 1992: "It’s the economy, stupid!" That election was about the economy and Clinton won as a result. Well Amazon.com this week let slip its plan to open 300-400 bookstores in U.S. cities, sending Wall Street analysts into a tizzy because bookstores look to them like a lousy business even for the world’s biggest bookseller. But this isn’t about selling books. This Amazon plan -- if it happens at all -- is about creating bases from which to fly delivery drones.

Delivery drones are to me a stupid idea except in certain rare circumstances like flying prescriptions to people living on remote islands. But Amazon is acting like it actually means it. And if it does mean it, then it’ll need a place from which to fly those drones.

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In the time since Amazon launched its Fire TV and Echo devices the two have continued to receive updates steadily. Both are popular products with a growing following of customers and remain near the top of Amazon sales rankings.

Now the Fire TV has graduated to generation two, and with that update came integration with Amazon Echo. The company, at the time, promised to bring this functionality to the first generation version of the set-top box and now it is doing just that.

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There is collective head-scratching across the InterWebs about a Wall Street Journal report that Amazon will open as many as 300, or even 400, stores selling books. The company's massive success selling ebooks and the cost and selection advantages of warehousing their physical counterparts make the concept seem nonsensical. I contend that it's brilliant.

Amazon is in process of expanding online services into the purview of local retail, which biggest competitive advantage is immediacy. In conjunction with the $99-per-year Prime program, the online retailer offers faster shipping; same day, and within hours, in some locales. The company increasingly contracts its own carriers, as well. Immediacy requires presence. What better location than a bookstore that also warehouses other goods and provides customer service operations? That's all without considering the branding opportunities, which, as Apple Store demonstrates, can be huge.

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When it comes to reading books, things have changed quite a bit since school days, well, depending on your age. Now many people read books on electronic devices and, while tablets are fine, the Amazon Kindle leads the way.

Amazon is planning to roll out a big update to its handheld devices. You're likely wondering, correctly so, "how much can a book be improved?". Well, there are enhancements, but don't expect your trusty Kindle to change massively.

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"Alexa, turn on the lights". This is a phrase echoed, apparently, by more people than I thought. Amazon's Echo is taking hold and seems especially popular with those interested in the home automation side of technology. Voice control can be both good and bad, though. It's great when it works, but embarrassing and frustrating when it doesn't.

Let's start with the bad, though really it's just the amusing. My Amazon Echo is in my living room, as is the TV. Words emitting from my surround sound system can sometimes have hilarious results -- music suddenly beginning to play, Alexa telling me she doesn't understand the question, and if an ad for Echo comes on then things go nuts.

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Amazon released its Echo device in 2014, bringing a whole new dimension to what people can do with voice control in their homes. Since then the company has been steadily adding features. Not only can it give you sports updates, play music and tell you the weather and news, but it can also control home automation and has an increasing list of skills (small add-ons).

If you are into watching movies both at home and in theaters then this update will make you happy, as it brings several new features a lover of the motion pictures will certainly want to utilize.

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Of the countless product  announcements that filled the Consumer Electronics Show it was easy to miss many things. One announcement came from Vivint, which produces home security and automation products. The company unveiled that it planned to work with Amazon Echo to allow customers to control its products by voice.

It hasn't taken long as the integration becomes available now. Products include smart door locks, an automated thermostat, cameras, smoke detectors, a tocuhscreen control panel and a doorbell camera. You'll need to get an estimate on installation, but that part is free when they put the system in. It also has 24/7 monitoring, just as any alarm system should have.

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