The new entry-level Kindle is thinner, lighter and still $80
The luxurious Kindle Oasis is no longer the new kid on the block. Amazon just unveiled its new entry-level Kindle device, which is more portable and packs in twice as much storage as the last model. And yes, it’s still $80 (with Amazon’s “Special Offers” ads). Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the resolution for its 6-inch E Ink screen has been improved at all — you’ll have to bump up to the $120 Paperwhite for sharper text (that model is now available in white, as well).
At least the new Kindle has a few features to make up for that: it’s the first model to ship with Bluetooth audio support for blind readers (for connecting to wireless headsets and speakers). And you’ll also be able to easily email yourself notes and highlights in PDF and spreadsheet form. That note exporting feature will eventually roll out to other Kindle models, but Amazon isn’t saying if it can bring the Bluetooth feature to any others (like the pricey Oasis, for example).
Amazon says it also sports a “more rounded design,” which should make it easier to hold. Otherwise, it looks unmistakably like a Kindle. Tough luck if you were hoping for the return of physical page flipping buttons, though.
Ultimately, the revamped Kindle is an iterative update for Amazon, one that aims to make it tempting as tablets get ever cheaper. It would have been nice to see the company aim for an even lower price, as it’s often had previous models on sale for $60. At this point though, the $120 Paperwhite, which has both a backlit screen and a much better display, remains the best overall Kindle value.
Feds finalize rules for commercial UAVs
The Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation announced on Tuesday that they had completed the first set of operational rules for commercial UAV flights in the US. Any UAV under 55 pounds and flying for “non-hobbyist purposes” will be subject to the regulations when they come into effect in August. The agencies expect these rules to create 100,000 new jobs and generate $82 billion for the economy over the next decade.
The rules are set up to help integrate UAVs into the existing airspace regulations. Under them, drones under 55 pounds will only be allowed to operate during daylight hours (until dusk if they’re equipped with warning lights). There are strict height limits and drones are not allowed to fly over people. They can only be flown by a someone who’s at least 16 years old and who holds a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating.
Most importantly, drones must be operated within the pilot’s line of sight. This means that a number of potential commercial applications — including Amazon’s delivery service as well as internet infrastructure, automated surveying and new media — are all still forbidden. The rules do allow for operators to apply for a waiver if they can prove the flight route is safe. However, it seems unlikely that the FAA would be willing to grant Amazon one given the scope of the company’s delivery drone trial program.
Source: FAA
Your iBooks price fixing credit is on its way
Don’t fret about your piece of Apple’s e-book price fixing settlement — the check is in the mail, virtually speaking. The attorneys behind the class action lawsuit have revealed that digital credits from the case will start reaching book buyers from various online bookstores (including Apple’s iBooks as well as Amazon and Barnes & Noble) as early as June 21st. What you’ll get depends on what you bought, mind you, and it’s not exactly a windfall.
You’ll receive a $6.93 credit for every title you bought on the New York Times bestseller list, and $1.57 for every e-book beyond that. While that’s twice the estimated losses from Apple’s alleged collusion with major publishers, you probably won’t go on a spending spree. It certainly won’t look as good as other tech-related settlements unless you snapped up a lot of e-books during the relevant period. Look at it this way, though: if you are a bookworm, there’ll likely be enough credit for a good summer read.
Via: MacRumors
Source: BusinessWire
Tumblr to launch live video with an hour of wacky streams
It seems Tumblr is planning to jump on the live video bandwagon to join Facebook, Twitter and Amazon. The blog platform has posted eight updates on a subdomain that features a logo with the words “Live Video on Tumblr,” accompanied by a caption that says, “Launches Tuesday, June 21.”
Each update shows an upcoming time on June 21 and a brief description of what Tumblr will be streaming then. For instance, a post for 4pm ET says the company “will broadcast live from the surface of Mars.” The rest of the schedule includes a Harlem Globetrotter teaching you how to play basketball, inflating a “very big thing in a very small room” and learning the “metaphysical truth about your Tumblr.”
The programs appear to be part of a Tumblr power hour between 4pm and 5pm ET, which is presumably when the company will take the wraps off its live video service. Not much else is clear about the tool, as the company has not yet made an official announcement.
Without a full feature set for comparisons, it’s hard to tell if Tumblr will be able to measure up to live video’s big players. But Tumblr does have a large base of content creators with massive followings that could help it eke out a niche in the self-broadcast space.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Live Video on Tumblr
Paris fears Amazon Prime Now will ‘destabilize’ its economy
Amazon has brought its one-hour grocery delivery service Paris, and the city is not happy about it. Prime Now is available to Premium subscribers who pay €49 per year (Prime is called “Premium” in France) with free two-hour deliveries and €6 for one-hour shipping. Besides groceries, the company will shop “thousands” of other products. However, it’s the food deliveries that have most unbalanced Paris and its mayor, Anne Hidalgo. “This service could seriously destabilize the retail balance in Paris,” she says.
PrimeNow launched in the US and parts of Europe without much fanfare, but France is known to be protective of local businesses, and has laws to back it up. Hidalgo says the biggest problem is that Amazon only informed city hall of the service several days before it launched, according to Le Figaro. France has clashed with the retailer in the past, and passed a law banning free book shipping to protect local shops. As a result, Amazon famously charges a single “centime” (penny) to ship books.
From a consumer standpoint, however, there’s a lot to like about it. As a Paris resident, I can get fresh, high-quality produce from the famous Rungis wholesale market (above), which normally sells only to restaurants and markets. I can also get croissants and other baked goods or even a laptop without having to leave my apartment. Best of all, the service operates until 10 pm every day, including Sunday, when most stores and supermarkets are closed.
That said, the city of Paris is also concerned about extra pollution and traffic in the city. It recently banned vehicles built prior to 1997, and by 2020, will ban pre-2010 vehicles from daytime driving. The city will ask the French legislature to “establish safeguards that ensure [Amazon’s] services don’t constitute unfair competition against retailers and craftsmen.” If that sounds like an idle threat, remember what happened to Uber.
Source: Le Figaro
Amazon’s Echo Dot is a great way to bring Alexa to more rooms
I haven’t been shy about my love for the Amazon Echo. I wake up with it, and aside from my phone, computers and TV, it’s one of the gadgets I rely most on most throughout the day. So when Amazon announced the $90 Echo Dot, which brings all of its larger sibling’s features to any speaker, I was onboard before you could say “Alexa, what’s the weather?” I couldn’t wait to bring Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant, which is the heart of soul of the Echo, into my bedroom (ahem) and office. It took a long while for the Echo Dot to finally reach me (Amazon, once again, refused to make it available early for reviewers), but after a week of living with it on my nightstand, I’m finding it just as useful as the original.
Let’s make this clear up front: You still can’t buy an Echo Dot on its own. The only way to order one is to ask Alexa on an Echo or Fire TV to order it for you and wait several weeks. Amazon is clearly positioning it as a secondary device, which makes sense for most people, but also seems like a bafflingly restrictive choice in this day and age. Perhaps the company just wanted to limit its first available units to Echo users, especially since it’s had trouble producing enough devices in the past.
The actual process of buying the Echo Dot was smooth and easy — almost worryingly so. It’s strange to just say a few words and then have a $90 gadget headed towards your home. You’ve been able to buy things via the Echo with voice commands for a while now, but that’s something I’ve never done before the Dot. At most, I would ask Alexa to add a few items to my shopping cart or wish list. It reminds me of when, in 2009, I bought my 50-inch plasma TV via Amazon’s iPhone app — a moment of ludicrously convenient big-ticket consumerism that I remember to this day. Now, you don’t even need to look at a screen before you fork over money to Amazon.
Setting up the Echo Dot is only slightly more involved than with its larger sibling, mainly because you have to plug in an auxiliary cable, in addition to a power cord. You’ll have to use Amazon’s Alexa iOS or Android app to get the Echo Dot connected to WiFi, which typically only takes a few minutes. The Alexa app is also where you can manage the Echo Dot’s settings, as well as its “skills,” or connections to third-party services. You can also go through voice training with the app to help your Echo Dot understand you better.
The Dot feels like a large hockey puck: It’s basically the top part of the original Echo sitting on its own. There are two buttons on top for disabling the microphone and enabling Bluetooth pairing. To control the volume, you just need to turn the top portion of the device, which also lights up with LEDs to show you the sound levels. While it has a small built-in speaker, the entire appeal of the Echo Dot is its ability to connect to a beefier system. Once it’s plugged in, it’ll turn anything, even a decades-old amplifier setup, into a smart speaker. It’s also a useful accessory if you’ve already invested in modern speaker systems like Sonos. The Echo Dot has the same beam-forming seven microphone array that sits atop the original Echo, so it’s just as accurate when it comes to hearing your commands, even in moderately noisy rooms.
Currently, I have a large Echo set up in my living room and the Echo Dot about 30 feet away in my bedroom. When standing between them, they’re equally as fast at determining my voice commands and bringing back responses. (It’s truly weird occasionally hearing a symphony of Alexa responses in my apartment.) Since they’re plugged into power continuously, the Echo devices are better about listening for potential voice commands than phone virtual assistants like Siri and Google Now. Alexa doesn’t have to worry about conserving battery life, after all.
With the Echo Dot connected to an older Logitech speaker on my nightstand, it worked like a charm. Audio quality was solid, and being able to shout Alexa commands from under the comfort of my duvet felt downright luxurious. The only potential issue? Your speakers, naturally, need to be turned on for the Echo Dot to work. In the interest of energy conservation, that’s not something I’m willing to do 24/7. So I’ve taken to disconnecting the Echo Dot from my bedroom speaker most of the day, and instead relying on its embedded speaker for simple commands. When I want to listen to music or online radio, I just plug the speaker in. It would be nice if future versions of the Echo Dot gave you an easy way to automatically switch between its speaker options (or better yet, do it automatically).
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
The Echo Dot sounded great when connected to my elaborate home theater setup, which consists of a Denon S910W receiver and Pioneer Elite tower front and center speakers (I don’t use my rear speakers for music). Just like with the original, you can ask the Echo Dot to play your playlists from Amazon Music, as well as other services including Pandora and Spotify (after connecting to them with the Alexa app). While actual music performance will depend on the service you’re listening to, I didn’t hear many hints of compression with Pandora streams, which is among the lower-quality options. True audiophiles will still prefer using something like the new Chromecast Audio on big speaker setups, though, since that gives you the option of using an optical cable to let your amplifier handle audio processing. Your only option with the Echo Dot is a standard 3.5mm cable.
If you live in a smaller apartment, there’s a good chance you don’t actually need two separate Alexa devices. If I shout loudly enough from my bedroom, the Echo in my kitchen usually hears me. Still, it’s nice being able to have a closer device for voice commands, especially if you’re trying to set an alarm late at night. If you’re looking for a secondary Echo device and don’t have any extra speakers, Amazon’s $130 Tap speaker might be a better option for you. And if you just want to jump into Amazon’s ecosystem, the original Echo is still a great product at $180.
The Echo Dot is the very definition of a niche device. It’s meant to be connected to expensive gear that many people don’t have, and the future of voice-powered digital assistants is still uncertain. But for Alexa addicts who have decent sound systems, it’s the perfect virtual companion.
Logitech beta testing Harmony integration with Amazon Echo
It looks like Amazon’s Echo, Echo Dot and Tap could soon be enjoying integration with Logitech’s Harmony remote control if an email circulating from Logitech is any indication.
Logitech is inquiring if customers are interested in registering to participate in a special beta test to see how the company’s Harmony remote pairs with Alexa to provide important feedback. Harmony users can start and stop activities via Alexa voice commands with the new integration plans and provide Logitech with feedback on how well it works together.
They’re definitely on to something here. Combining the functionality of the Harmony remote and Alexa’s voice commands could soon mean you won’t even have to lift a hand to complete various Activities, and that sounds like a pretty convenient future for all.
Source: Zatz Not Funny!
Blue Origin will livestream its next launch on June 19th
Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight outfit Blue Origin has kept their first three New Shepherd rocket launches under wraps in the past, only posting videos and announcements after the the booster safely returned to Earth. But for its fourth test flight, the company will be streaming the whole thing live from its West Texas launch facility.
New Shepard launch set for Sunday at 10:15 am ET. Live webcast starts at 9:45 am ET at https://t.co/WTXblOKlvk #GradatimFerociter
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) June 17, 2016
The unmanned test launch happens Sunday, June 19th at 10:15 AM ET, and the livestream starts half an hour earlier at 9:45 a.m. Expect this latest launch to include even more drama that the last three, as the team plans to intentionally crash land the crew capsule in order to observe how things might unfold under catastrophic conditions. In this case, that means a faulty parachute and, probably, a crew capsule smashing into the Texas desert.
“On this upcoming mission we also plan to stress the crew capsule by landing with an intentionally failed parachute, demonstrating our ability to safely handle that failure scenario,” Bezos wrote in an email announcement last month. “It promises to be an exciting demonstration.”
The livestream will be available on BlueOrigin.com
Amazon angers FAA by shipping industrial chemicals via UPS
The FAA wants to slap Amazon with a $350,000 fine for suspected violations of the Hazardous Materials regulations. According to the agency, Amazon has been caught shipping volatile, potentially dangerous chemicals without proper care and attention. In this case, the firm handed a gallon container of a drain cleaner to UPS for a flight between Louisville and Boulder. This wasn’t any old carton of Draino, however, but a chemical called Amazing Liquid Fire, looking like the sort of homemade explosive that’d be pulled from shelves the day it went on sale.
Unfortunately, the bottle leaked, causing panic amongst the nine UPS employees who had to handle the package. They all had to be treated with a chemical wash after reporting the sort of burning sensation you only get when you’ve touched commercial-grade drain acid. Naturally, the FAA wants Amazon’s head, saying that it failed to inform UPS what it was and that the package was improperly sealed. It’s also annoyed that Amazon didn’t provide emergency instructions, which probably caused undue panic to the aforementioned UPS employees.
According to the FAA, this isn’t the first time that Amazon’s cavalier attitude towards package transport has enraged officials. It says that the firm has broken rules 24 times between February 2013 and September 2015. UPS has confirmed, however, that the affected employees were fine after receiving treatment. Amazon, meanwhile, told Reuters that while it won’t discuss specific cases, it sees defects in its packaging as an “opportunity for continuous improvement.”
Via: Gizmodo
Source: FAA, Reuters
Amazon Reportedly Preparing to Launch New Music Streaming Service
Amazon is planning on launching a new standalone music streaming service that would compete against Apple Music and Spotify, reports Reuters. The new service will be priced similarly to rival services and will feature a “competitive catalog.”
The service will be offered at $9.99 per month, in line with major rivals, and it will offer a competitive catalog of songs, the sources said. Amazon is finalizing licenses with labels for the service, which likely will be launched in late summer or early fall, the sources said.
Amazon currently offers Prime Music to Amazon Prime members as a perk, but the service only boasts a catalog of 1 million songs. Comparatively, both Apple Music and Spotify boast catalogs of over 30 million songs.
The online retailer is looking to launch a new streaming service because it “believes a comprehensive music service is important” in its effort to be a “one-stop shop for content and goods.” Amazon Prime, in addition to free shipping options, currently offers subscribers access to the Prime Video streaming service, Prime Music, unlimited photo storage and the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, which includes 800,000 free ebooks.
Reuters suggests Amazon’s music strategy will be two-pronged, with basic streaming for Prime users and a more robust alternative for an extra fee. Amazon recently debuted Amazon Prime Video as a standalone service, allowing users to subscribe for $8.99 a month without paying for the full $99 Amazon Prime bundle. The standalone Prime Video service is identical to the service offered with Amazon Prime.
Amazon Music with Prime Music, the company’s current music app, is free on the App Store and allows users to play their digital music purchased from Amazon.com. The app also allows Prime members to listen to its catalog of a million songs ad-free as well as curated playlists and radio stations.
Tag: Amazon
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