Articles about Amazon

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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Wearable technology has yet to really make an impact, but its time is coming. There are more and more products being released by many of the world's top tech firms, and shows focusing on wearables are popping up across the globe.

Amazon today joins in the wearables craze by launching a one-stop shop where customers can find and buy the latest in wearable technology, including activity trackers, smart watches, and wearable cameras. There are products on offer from the likes of Samsung, Jawbone, GoPro, Basis, and Misfit.

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After weeks of negotiations, changes to terms and all sorts of other shenanigans, Microsoft finally completed its acquisition of Nokia's Devices and services arm. Developers, and the eager average user, have now had a little time to play with Windows Phone 8.1, and Mihaita is one person who feels it is a big step in the right direction. The release of Microsoft Remote Desktop for Windows Phone 8.1 is something that will be welcomed by owners of Microsoft handsets who need to access their computers on the move.

Another release -- not software this time -- Microsoft's fiscal announcement showed that the company had $20.4 billion revenue It wasn't just Microsoft sharing financial figures this week -- Apple also revealed its latest accounts for Q2. And Microsoft joining forces with Nokia was not the only new marriage -- Microsoft and AOL also came together in a new content deal. Joe waxed lyrical about the Surface platform, suggesting that Microsoft needs to do more to promote it -- and a new campaign aims to draw in a new audience using everyone's favorite… cake! And with the Chromebook 2 being delayed, Microsoft stands a chance to gain more ground.

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Amazon has been continuously adding video content to its Prime service, and now with its Fire TV on the market, this becomes a bit more important. Granted you can get Prime video on other set-top boxes, but the Amazon offering takes the integration to a new level.

Now the retailer announces a new exclusive deal, this time with HBO. Titles include "The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Big Love, Deadwood, Eastbound & Down, Family Tree, Enlightened, Treme, early seasons of Boardwalk Empire and True Blood, as well as mini-series like Band of Brothers, John Adams and more. Seasons of Girls, The Newsroom and Veep will also become available throughout the multiyear deal", Amazon says. Game of Thrones is the big missing piece of the puzzle here, though that isn't really surprising.

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I have just recently finished my review of the new Amazon Fire TV, a box I found tremendously likable and easy to use. However, that doesn't mean it's for everyone. Not all of us utilize Prime for our video content.

However, it’s not the only game in town. Other companies are making competitive boxes, though I can't say I've had occasion to try them all. For instance, I do not have, nor have I used, the offerings from both WD and Apple. However, for the three I have used, I have some early impressions to share that could, hopefully, serve as a bit of a guide towards your next purchase.

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The set-top box market recently grew a bit more crowded, as Amazon unveiled its offering, taking on stiff competition from Apple, Roku and Google. However, with a strong ecosystem for content, the retailer seems up to the challenge.

Like its Kindle Fire tablet line, the little box runs a highly customized version of Android, but don’t let that fool you into thinking the Play store will be there -- it isn't. You are living in the Amazon universe now, but the company doesn't force it wares on you, as there are other services you can also use.

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It's nearly a week since Microsoft ended support for Windows XP, but there are still around a quarter of Avast customers who plan on sticking with the old dog a little longer. What is perhaps more shocking is the revelation that over one fifth of those surveyed had no idea that support was coming to an end! For those living more on the cutting edge, good news came for Chrome users who found that their browser of choice gained support for Office Online. Microsoft may be leaving users of Windows XP out in the cold, but this is to be expected after so long. Users of Windows 8.1 who have opted to forego the pleasures of installing the recently released Update will find that their operating system is also not supported, as no further security updates will be made available until the confusingly named Update is used to update Windows 8.1 to Windows 8.1 Update. Got it? Good! Some business users who had trouble grabbing the download have been granted slightly longer.

Post Build, following Microsoft's announcements about universal apps for Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone, app prices are changing -- but consistency seems to be an issue. The hotly anticipated Windows Phone 8.1 was released to developers, but Mihaita was on hand with a guide that allows anyone to grab themselves a copy of the latest update. If you're on the lookout for a new Android handset, Joe puts forward a compelling argument in favor of the HTC One M8.

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