It looks like Amazon and Apple may have decided to kiss and make up: A new report says the two Silicon Valley rivals are close to to a deal that would make Amazon’s video app available on Apple TV. [More]
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Amazon Won’t Say Why Next-Day Shipping Option Sometimes Vanishes
By 5.2.17
When you’re looking at an item page on Amazon, you may see a note that says, “Want it by tomorrow? Order it within 45 minutes,” and realize that yes, you do need that printer cartridge the next day. What’s confusing for some shoppers, though, is that sometimes same-day or next-day delivery is available on the item page, then disappears when they go to check out. [More]
Amazon’s Alexa Inches Closer To Human With Ability To Whisper, Raise Voice
By 4.28.17
Sure, talking to a speaker definitely isn’t the same as talking to your friend, but if you have an Echo — or other device with Alexa integration — it may soon seem more like a human-to-human convo. [More]
Amazon Now Working On Self-Driving Vehicles For Deliveries
By 4.24.17
Between drones, leased planes, and its own fleet of Flex drivers, Amazon has a decent foothold in the transportation-and-delivery market. But now the company apparently has an eye on the future, and it involves driverless vehicles. [More]
Google Home Now Recognizes Specific Users’ Voices, Allows For Multiple Accounts
By 4.20.17
In a move to differentiate its Google Home voice-activated assistant from competitors like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, or Microsoft’s Clippy (yes, we know it’s Cortana, but we prefer Clippy), Google has tweaked its Google Home assistant to allow for multiple users, each of whom can supposedly be uniquely identified by their voice. [More]
Diapers.com, Soap.com, And Sibling Sites To Be Folded Into Amazon On Wednesday
By 4.17.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
The Amazon-owned Quidsi family of websites, including Diapers.com, Soap.com, and BeautyBar.com, is dead, but customers of those sites still have questions: Where can they shop now, and what will they do if they have a problem with an item ordered on the sites? [More]
Amazon Reportedly Exploring Purchase Of BJ’s Wholesale
By 4.17.17
After decades of being the face of online-only retail, Amazon is increasingly inching into the bricks-and-mortar world: pop-up stores; planned supermarkets without checkouts; a reported interest in buying Whole Foods — and now the possible acquisition of BJ’s Wholesale Club. [More]
Don’t Even Think About Going To The Bathroom Or Getting Sick On Jeff Bezos’ Spaceship
By 4.13.17
The funny thing about the body is that sometimes we just can’t control what it does. That could be a problem for consumers who score a ticket on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space vehicles, where three bodily functions are being banned. [More]
Amazon Was Thinking About Buying Whole Foods: No, Really.
By 4.12.17
What do you get when you combine a flailing health food chain and an e-commerce giant that’s desperate to get into the grocery business? We could have found out, since Amazon was reportedly thinking about buying Whole Foods. [More]
Amazon Debuts Tool Allowing Parents To Track Kids’ Activities
By 4.12.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Many parents monitor their child’s activity when using a computer, phone, or tablet, but the task of checking individual apps and browsing history can be daunting. Amazon thinks it has the answer, at least for kids using its FreeTime program, in a new Parent Dashboard. [More]
Hackers Targeting Amazon Third-Party Sellers
By 4.10.17
If you’ve seen something with a too-good-to-be-true price in the Amazon Marketplace lately, there’s probably a good reason for that. Or, rather, a bad one, as it seems some fraudsters’ new favorite trick is to hijack unsuspecting Amazon sellers’ accounts and fleece shoppers for every penny they can. [More]
Showtime Now Lets Users Download Movies, Shows To Watch Offline
By 4.6.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
In the middle of watching Homeland season 2, but won’t have a WiFi connection on your next trip? No worries, you don’t have to pause your binge: Showtime now allows subscribers to download shows for offline viewing. [More]
Thursday Night Football Will Be On Amazon Prime For 2017 Season
By 4.5.17
There’s no knowing who will win the Thursday Night Football matchups yet to come in the 2017 NFL season, but we do now know who’s won the right to stream them this year, and it’s Amazon. [More]
Amazon Stops Fight With Feds Over Kids’ In-App Purchases; Parents May Finally Get Refunds
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Almost a year after Amazon was found liable for unfairly billing parents for kids’ in-app purchases, consumers are one step closer to getting refunds for those unauthorized charges after the Federal Trade Commission and the e-commerce giant decided to stop fighting over the process. [More]
Amazon Debuts ‘Amazon Cash’ As A Way For The Unbanked To Shop Online
By 4.3.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Shopping online can provide savings and convenience, but more than 25% of U.S. households have either no bank account or rely on non-bank products and services to handle their finances. In an attempt to reach those potential customers, Amazon has launched “Amazon Cash.” [More]
Amazon Vs. Walmart Battle Means Lower Prices For You; Headaches For Manufacturers
By 3.31.17
Amazon can now deliver many things in one or two days, so Walmart has to have lower prices for the many customers who can wait. Similarly, Amazon has to undercut Walmart’s grocery prices if it’s going to stake out any significant portion of that $800 billion market. For shoppers at either of these two retail giants, this can mean lower prices, but it’s also forcing manufacturers and suppliers to rethink how they do business. [More]
Amazon Wants Frustration-Free Packaging For Cereal, Cookies
By 3.30.17
Packaged food companies spend gobs of cash designing boxes and bags to catch supermarket shoppers’ eyes, but what’s the point of that flashy design when you’re shopping online? Amazon is hoping that companies like Mondelez and General Mills will agree to optimize packaging for shipping instead of shelf appeal. [More]
Amazon Will Shut Down Diapers.com And Wag.com Parent Quidsi
By 3.29.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Seven years ago, Amazon acquired Quidsi, what was then a five-year-old competitor that ran the sites Diapers.com and Soap.com. Since then, the company has been running independently and expanded its offerings. Now Amazon is shuttering Quidsi’s brands, saying that it’s been unable to make a profit since the acquisition. [More]
