Articles about Amazon

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.

Continue reading →

The Internet of Things is all around us, and expanding daily. Our devices and appliances are increasingly connected, which can be both a good and a bad thing. Want to turn on the lights before you get home? You can do that. Forget to lock the door when you left? Do it from the store.

That all sounds great, and truthfully it is. However, there are problems, mostly surrounding security concerns that have plagued some products.

Continue reading →

The State of the Union address is arguably the most important speech given by any president and what will be included in the context of it is sometimes a mystery. We generally have an idea as rumors leek out, perhaps on a controlled basis.

While watching isn't a requirement for a citizen -- this isn't North Korea (and I'm not sure it's even required there, we know so little of what goes on) -- it is a good idea for responsible people. After all if you don't know, you really can't complain, though that doesn't stop some people.

Continue reading →

The Amazon Echo is a great device and I've made no secret of the fact that I use it a lot and like it very much. It's capable of doing quite a bit and more features come along all the time. We've witnessed, just recently, the addition of the game Jeopardy! as well as minor updates that didn't always go in favor of the users, but still improved the overall product.

A new report, well really a rumor because Amazon hasn't confirmed it (and I tried asking), claims the company has plans for a portable version of the digital assistant.

Continue reading →

It may be a minority who use the Amazon Echo to control home automation, in fact it likely is. But there are folks who do it, and it can, and usually does, work pretty well. It's one of those features that isn't advertised, but a nice Easter egg when you find it.

You head into the menu and click settings and locate "connected home" to find all of the devices and hubs that are compatible with the retailer's version of artificial intelligence.

Continue reading →

The Amazon Echo can do a lot of things, from playing music to giving you the news and weather, even controlling your lights. But there are many other tricks as well, and new ones are added all the time. The latest comes with the new update to the Alexa app.

Tap the menu button at the top left and choose skills -- there's quite a few and they are listed alphabetically. Scroll far enough and you'll find this latest entry, the game Jeopardy!

Continue reading →

Amazon Echo continues to add features of all sorts. There's now integration with IFTTT, sports news and a growing number of home automation capabilities. The latest company to announce its plans with the Amazon device is Nexia.

The company is unveiling its latest products and integrations this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Continue reading →

The digital revolution has resulted in disruption to many industries, with whole new business models created, new brands rising to the top of many industries and those companies failing to adapt, falling by the wayside.

The digital age has impacted industries in both goods and service -- from travel and transport, to publishing, retail and music. The switch from physical to digital has revolutionized both the production and distribution of books and music.

Continue reading →

A week ago the Beatles came to streaming services, bringing the massive music catalog to a whole new generation. We've already learned of the popularity of this major launch as Spotify has released some numbers and the streams and ages of listeners were surprising.

The Fab Four also landed on other services as well, and one of those was Amazon Prime. With all of the cool features people often forget and Amazon Echo is also a very good speaker.

Continue reading →

When it comes to tax avoidance, it's usually big companies that come under the spotlight. Of course, there is nothing -- legally speaking -- wrong with tax avoidance, but it's a very different story with tax evasion. With eBay and Amazon providing a platform for vendors around the world, it is perhaps little surprise that the retail sites are home to a large number of tax evaders.

An investigation by the Guardian found that there are a huge number of overseas sellers who fail to pay VAT in the UK. HM Revenue & Customs is currently looking into whether eBay and Amazon could be held responsible for the tax bills, or what could be done to track down offenders.

Continue reading →

Businesses tend to be quite conservative in their approach to technology, so it's always interesting to look at what's been sparking their interest.

Identity and mobility management specialist Okta has released a new report, based on analysis of its customers, looking at the big winners and losers in the enterprise over the past year.

Continue reading →

Amazon continues to expand its footprint in the set-top box market, a place that has really become a three horse race. Both Amazon, Roku and Apple are all in it to win, but choice really comes down to the customer.

Now the retailer is launching a bunch of new channels to satisfy customer viewing needs. And this update isn't just video, it's also games.

Continue reading →

When moving applications to the cloud it's easy to fall into the trap of believing that security can safely be left to the provider.

For Amazon Web Services customers there's now an extra layer of security on offer from Hillstone Networks. Hillstone CloudEdge is deployed as an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) gateway to provide an additional layer of security protection.

Continue reading →

Amazon launched in the nation of India with a lot of attention and it has grown from there. The country is a vibrant market for sites, and it was a wise move by the retail giant to get in on the deal. Now Amazon is releasing bigger news.

Amazon.in has become the most popular site in the nation, or to clarify, the most visited commerce site in India. The milestone came in October of this year and was reported by Comscore, stating more than 30 million visitors, up 38 percent over the previous month.

Continue reading →

Amazon Echo continues to learn new tricks, with music, home automation and much more. Some of the most popular things are called "skills", which are written by third-party programmers. There's also alarms and timers, which can wake you up or tell you when your food is done cooking.

Skills are important, as they allow Alexa to do more all the time. You can find them by opening the app and clicking the menu and then tapping on Skills. To review you will simply need to scroll down after clicking a particular one. From there you can read existing reviews and write your own.

Continue reading →