Kindle Fire HDX customers are utilizing the Mayday button
The Kindle Fire HDX was one the pleasant surprises of 2013, with the new 7 and 8.9 inch versions bringing many changes to the hardware and interface. The software update was not backward compatible with the HD models, though Amazon continues to support that platform as well.
One of the most talked about features of the new tablets was the Mayday button, which can be easily accessed by pulling down the menu from the top of the screen, much like any Android device.
Amazon rebrands Cloud Player with launch of Amazon Music 3 for mobile and desktop
Amazon has refreshed its entire collection of cloud music apps with the releases of Amazon Music for Windows 3.0, Amazon Music for Mac 3.0, Amazon Music for iPad and iPhone 3.0 and Amazon Music for Android 3.0.
All four platforms share similar updates, and accompany Amazon’s foray into music streaming with the launch of Amazon Prime Music, which initially is only available to US customers.
Amazon brings Music service to Prime customers
Earlier this year Amazon announced it would be raising the annual fee for its Prime service, with the price jumping from $79 to $99. It's still a reasonable deal, given that customers receive access to Netflix-like streaming movies and TV shows, free two-day shipping on orders and access to the Kindle Lending Library.
To help soften the blow of the increased price, and to perhaps grab more customers, Amazon is announcing that a music service is now part of the Prime deal.
Logitech updates Harmony with support for Sonos, Fire TV and more
Logitech's Harmony line are perhaps the best known universal remotes, allowing for easy setup and one-click control over multiple items in the home theater. Press the TV button, for instance, and your television comes on, your A/V receiver comes on and is set to the proper input and whatever else you care to program in.
Now the company is announcing an update for both its Harmony Ultimate and Harmony Smart Control. The new features include support for controlling Sonos, a whole home stereo system, as well as control over the recently released Amazon Fire TV.
VMware warns Amazon AWS plugin may lead to vendor lock-in
VMware is locking horns with Amazon Web Services (AWS) over the latter’s decision to implement a new hybrid cloud connector that VMWare warns is a dangerous precursor to vendor lock-in.
A blog post from VMware’s CTO Chris Wolf explained that the recently released AWS Connector for vCenter, a plugin that allows AWS cloud services to be run inside VMware-designed environments, will create significant complications down the line.
Amazon unveiling mysterious device on June 18 -- what do you think it is?
Amazon is on a roll lately, delivering some incredible products. Hell, the Kindle Fire HDX tablets alone were home-runs, but the amazing Fire TV took it to another level. The online-retailer has leveraged Android in its own way, refusing to bow-down to Google. It is quite the feat, actually, to think that Amazon broke into the hardware business with relative ease.
While the company has infiltrated markets for tablets, TVs and game consoles, there is one place it is noticeably absent -- smartphones. The company already has its own Android app store, so it's a natural progression. Today, the company teases a product unveiling on June 18. What will it announce?
Amazon bundles Fire TV and Kindle Fire HDX 7 for an unbelievable price
Still shopping for the perfect Father's Day bargain? Amazon may have the answer to that, as the online retailer has taken two of its most popular products and combined them into one bargain-basement price that will satisfy any connoisseur of sales.
The Kindle Fire HDX 7, a tablet I previously called my favorite product of 2013, has been bundled together with the new Fire TV. If you aren't familiar (or live under a rock) the Fire TV is a set-top box designed to take on Apple and Roku in an increasingly crowded market. Today, Amazon marries the two together with one discounted price.
Amazon releases first kids' series, Tumble Leaf
Amazon Studios has been busy as of late, producing its own original content, running both Betas and Alpha House this past season. The studio arm has also been testing pilots for upcoming shows, most recently, ones for children.
Now the online retailer is debuting the first, titled Tumble Leaf. "A vibrant blue fox, whimsical friends, exhilarating adventures and discovery await all those who explore the stop-motion world of Tumble Leaf. Amazon’s first original kids series is available today, exclusively on Amazon Prime Instant Video at no additional cost for Prime members", is the description given by Amazon.
Amazon UK celebrates 20 years of Oasis with Definitely Maybe tribute
Where would music be today without Rock 'n' Roll Star or Supersonic? If you are of a certain age, then you likely remember the debut of the classic Oasis album titled Definitely Maybe. It was a landmark moment that introduced Liam, Noel and their colleagues to the world.
Things have been on a bit of a rollercoaster since then, but today marks 20 years since that album hit stores.
Mamma Mia! Amazon and Italian bookstore chain Giunti al Punto join forces
As an American, it was quite the culture-shock when I visited Italy. Where I live, most buildings are relatively new -- strip malls and such. So when I took a trip to the Colosseum in Rome, it was mind-boggling to imagine how much history had taken place in its confines. At the same time, the people who currently live in Rome are modern -- they obsessed over smartphones like Americans!
In other words, Italy is a blend of old and new; a mix of modern and ancient. Something similar is happening with books. A paper book is old, while a Kindle is modern, but people still use both. Today, Amazon partners with Italian bookstore chain Giunti al Punto to mix digital and physical reading with a new bookstore concept.
Amazon adds Sunday delivery to 15 more US cities
Amazon's future plans for delivery have been all over the news recently. From drones to rumors the company will start its own service -- a UPS of sorts. While neither of those has yet come to pass, the company is opening up its delivery options a bit.
Amazon is announcing the expansion of its Sunday delivery service, adding 15 more cities. "In addition to the Los Angeles and New York metro areas where Sunday delivery launched in November 2013, Amazon customers in the following locations are now receiving deliveries on Sunday". The retailer then goes on to name the locations, which include Texas, Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana, Indiana, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.
Amazon, Google, Microsoft and others band together in petition to FCC
If you've just crawled from beneath a rock then you may not be aware that Chairman Wheeler, head of the Federal Communications Commission, is proposing new rules regarding net neutrality. The current chairman is a former lobbyist and certainly can expect to land a posh position when his tenure ends. While that is Washington DC politics in a nutshell, it doesn't mean things must remain status quo.
Before getting to the open letter in question, a bit of background is in order. First, you can find the organization's "open internet" guidelines here. However, it is not all what it appears to be on the surface. The proposal from Tom Wheeler gives service providers, the likes of 600 pound gorilla Comcast, the right to prioritize traffic. This is something the cable/ISP companies have been doing for sometime in a successful effort to get money from places like Netflix.
Amazon now lets customers purchase from Twitter
Great news everyone! Spending money on the internet will be getting a bit easier. As if one-click purchases were not enough, Amazon now wishes to make it even easier to lighten your wallet by a bit, introducing purchases through Twitter.
You can’t actually complete the deal this way -- yet -- but you can get the item into your cart, where it will await your next move.
The most popular stories on BetaNews this past week: April 27 -- May 3
Security news a-go-go once again this week, starting off with a massive security flaw that was discovered in Internet Explorer. The problem affects everything from Internet Explorer 6 to 11, but it was Windows XP users who were particularly at risk due to the fact that Microsoft has ended support for the operating system and is releasing no more security patches. At least that was the case before this problem came to light, causing the company to change its mind and give users one more hit of update goodness.
While Microsoft's latest security whoopsie did leave Microsoft licking its wounds a little, there was cause for celebration for OneDrive for Business users as storage was boosted to 1TB -- and the cloud is becoming ever more important with predictions suggesting 50 billion online devices by 2020. Microsoft was also able celebrate finally having a launch date for the Xbox One in China. In other security news, AOL email service was hacked leading to the leaking of customer data and a new report suggested that just about every website dealing in pirated material is also home to scams and/or malware.
Does Mom want a tablet? Amazon is hoping so
If there is one thing Amazon loves, it's a good sale. The company seems to always be discounting one product or another, and a favorite target is its line of Kindle Fire tablets. That's the case now, this time in honor of your mom.
The company has slashed prices on its lineup of tablets in an effort to convince customers to grab one for dear old mom before her day arrives on May 11th.
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