Amazon’s latest Kindle Paperwhite packs text that’s twice as sharp
Don’t want to shell out $199 for the Kindle Voyage just to get an Amazon-badged e-reader with extra-crisp visuals? You won’t have to after today. Amazon has launched an updated version of the Kindle Paperwhite whose e-paper display touts the same 300 pixels-per-inch density as the Voyage, giving you text that’s twice as sharp as on the last-generation model without paying extra for the privilege. You’ll accordingly get easier-to-read layouts (including Amazon’s in-house font, Bookerly) that take advantage of that slicker screen. The new Paperwhite will ship on June 30th for the same $119 (with ads) as its ancestor, which undercuts Kobo’s Glo HD and makes it the sweet spot in the Kindle line. Unless you really want the Voyage’s advanced light and touch sensors, this new mid-tier model will likely be enough.
Filed under: Amazon
Source: Amazon
HTC One M9+ and One E9+ land in the US via Amazon
Although HTC has no plans to sells its increasingly wide range of One smartphones outside of Asia, third party Amazon retailers have taken the job upon themselves to bring the One M9+ and One E9+ to the shores of US.
The two handsets caused a bit of a stir following their launch, as they were first HTC models equipped with a QHD (2560×1440) display, besting the One M9 flagship’s more standard 1080p resolution. A fingerprint scanner also debuted on the One M9+. There are a couple of other hardware differences too, so here’s a quick recap of the specifications.
The One M9+ features a 5.2-inch QHD display, 2.2GHz octo-core MediaTek X10 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage with support for a microSD card, a fingerprint scanner, a Duo 20.7MP rear camera and 4MP Ultrapixel front facing camera. The M9+ is a feature packed device and comes with quite a hefty price tag of $799 in the US.
The One E9+ is a larger 5.5-inch QHD handset, with the same X10 SoC, 3GB of RAM, same internal memory and front camera setup. Both smartphones also feature dual-SIM compatibility, Boomsound speakers and the usual array of wireless connections. However, this model loses the fingerprint scanner and duo camera configuration, and is also made of plastic rather than metal. Hence it’s cheaper retail price of $499.
A rather large word of caution before you run off to buy the One M9+ or One E9+ though. Neither of the handsets work with LTE in the US, as they are international models that do not support the correct frequency bands. Furthermore, the One M9+ model specifically states that it won’t work on Sprint or Verizon networks at all, but others should be fine.
This might not be a problem if you’re a regular international traveller. Otherwise, it is certainly worth cross checking your carrier and the handset’s supported network bands, which can be found on the official specification pages for the M9+ and E9+.
If that hasn’t put you off, here is the list of available products:
- One M9+ gunmetal grey – $799
- One M9+ silver gold – $799
- One E9+ grey – $499
- One E9+ rose white – $499
Are there any takers out there?
Amazon doesn’t want states regulating courier drones
If you thought Amazon was already fighting tooth-and-nail for permission to fly delivery drones in the US, you haven’t seen anything yet. The internet shopping giant has warned a House oversight committee that states and cities “must not be allowed” to regulate unmanned aircraft that get the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval. There should be only one set of rules for airspace, purpose and qualifications, Amazon says. It’s not hard to see why the company would be nervous — it could be very tricky to run a nationwide courier drone service if some states have strict requirements or ban these services entirely.
It’s not certain how the committee will respond to the demands. With that said, Amazon is likely to keep up the pressure as long as possible. Remember how Jeff Bezos’ crew were desperate to avoid charging state sales taxes, and did so only when they had no real choice? Yeah. Amazon may well continue its struggle so long as there’s any chance of establishing a single American rulebook for robotic shipments.
Filed under: Robots, Transportation, Amazon
Source: Reuters
Amazon: Hey public, can you deliver this package for us?
Amazon may be considering yet another way to get packages from its distribution centers to your front door. No, it doesn’t involve more drones or warehouse bots. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon wants to hire members of the general public to act as impromptu delivery drivers — kind of like what Sidecar does — rather than paying UPS to deliver the goods. The service, which could be called “On My Way”, would store packages at local brick-and-mortar retailers in urban areas where the company’s new couriers could grab them.
This idea comes after Amazon saw its shipping costs jumped a whopping 31 percent last year. The company, much like Google and eBay have, is looking to save money on that last and most expensive leg of the deliver: getting it to your door. But given that UPS charges just $8 a pop for the 3.5 million parcels Amazon sends out every day, Amazon will need to hire a lot of drivers if it wants to see any sort of significant cost savings. There’s also the issue of who’d be responsible for lost or damaged packages. As such, Amazon has no timeline for moving forward or any guarantees that it won’t scrap the idea entirely.
[Image Credit: shutterstock]
Filed under: Internet, Google, Amazon
Source: Walls Street Journal
Deal: Amazon is offering 60% off a selection of Bluetooth speakers
Amazon is currently offering up to 60 percent off a selection of Bluetooth speakers, as part of its Father’s Day Portable Speaker deal-of-the-day.
There are a total of 16 products included in the offer, available in a range of prices, styles and speaker types, starting from the very moderately priced Philips BY100V/27 mini portable speaker for just $18.49 (discounted from $29.99). At the more expensive end you’ll find the stylish looking House of Marley EM-JA006-MI with a bamboo front cover, at a price of $129.99 (originally priced at $219.99).
If you are in the market for something to take outdoors, there’s the TDK A28 Weather Resistant speaker priced at $74.99 or the Outdoor Tech OT4200 Big Turtle Shell for $129.99. The latter features an IPX-5 rating, integrated microphone and big battery that offers 16 hours’ worth of playback time and can be used to charge up your gadgets via USB.
Amazon’s own AmazonBasics Bluetooth Speakers are also included in the deal, in a variety of different color options. It features a little 3W speaker, 10 hours of play time on a single charge, and 30 feet of Bluetooth range all housed in a tiny 3.3 x 1.7 x 2.6 inch package.
The offers ends on July 17th July, leaving around 14 and a bit hours to grab yourself a bargain.
Engadget giveaway: win a Fire HD 6 courtesy of Amazon!
Father’s day is rapidly approaching and what better way to honor the man whose wits you may have stretched to the limit, by giving him access to brain-building literature and the occasional action flick. The Fire HD 6 tablet offers access to Amazon’s vast store of books, movies and, of course, impulse purchases of all kinds. There’s multiple user logins in this version of Fire OS (since sharing is caring) and it’s got a solid build to handle inevitable mishaps. The battery life is respectable, too, so extended viewing of films or photos on its sharp 1,280 x 800 display won’t be an issue. Amazon was nice enough to give us five of these slates so an equal amount of dads (or whoever, let’s be honest) can enjoy one. All you need to do is head down to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning one of these sturdy slates.
- Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
- Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. Five (5) winners will each receive one (1) Amazon Fire HD 6.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
- This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Engadget and AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
- The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
- Entries can be submitted until June 17th at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
Filed under: Announcements, Amazon
Amazon wants you to unlock your phone with your ear – does that even make sense?
Keeping smartphones secure has been a key concern since mobile devices became more than just calling and texting machines. These pieces of technology now hold information that could literally ruin our lives if they fall on the wrong hands.
This is why we have all kinds of techniques for keeping our data private. There’s usual patterns, PIN numbers and passwords, but things have been getting a bit more complex. Just as the industry keeps making technology more powerful and convenient, they are also adopting more advanced ways of keeping your private data secure.
These methods include bio-metric techniques like finger-print reading, voice recognition and even eye reading (as we have seen on the ZTE Blade S6). Now we are finding out Amazon is also getting creative and just got granted a patent for ear scanning technology.
The idea is that our ears are just as unique as our fingerprints, so allowing your smartphone to take a picture of this body part (or at least part of it) would help it identify whether it is being handled by its owner or not. The phone could then unlock and allow you to answer your calls.
Does this even make sense?!
So, like all other gimmicks, this sounds like one very cool feature you could really show off at parties. It even seems convenient for a minute, but the hype dies down after you start thinking of possible use case scenarios. Then you realize it doesn’t even make sense!
We can all agree the best use for this would be to allow users to unlock their phones while answering a call, right? I mean, it’s the only reason why you would ever put your phone anywhere close to your ear.
My main issue is that there is no real reason why you would want to unlock your phone when answering a call. Voice calls are pretty much the only function that bypasses security in all phones… as it should be. You don’t want to have to unlock your phone every single time you answer a call! By the time you unlock your device, the other person may have hung up already.
Now, there is one function that could be useful about this technology. It could identify the distance between the speaker and your ear, allowing the device to adjust volume accordingly. Aside from that, it’s pretty much for people who REALLY don’t want others answering their calls.
Will Amazon do anything with this technology?
Now, the real question: will we ever see this technology coming to the market? Regardless of whether it’s a good idea or not, we are not sure Amazon will ever use this patent. The patent was just passed, but Amazon filed for it back in 2011. The online retailer may very well have slashed whatever plans they had for it by now.
Not to mention, this feature would be for phones. It makes no sense to put it on Amazon tablets (or any tablet, for that matter). The Amazon Fire Phone did horrible, and even though Jeff Bezos swears more iterations are coming, we don’t know how much risk they are willing to take with it.
Amazon has been known to be quite adventurous about these bio-metric features, though. The Amazon Fire Phone did have head tracking technology, after all. I am just not sure it’s what they need in order to bring the Fire Phone brand out of its grave.
They need something game-changing and awesome. While it’s cool, ear reading won’t make me buy an Amazon smartphone. But tell us, guys. What do you think? Maybe I am just being cynical and you would actually love something like this.
Amazon’s first transparency report details data requests for 2015
Amazon has finally published a bi-annual transparency report (PDF), revealing the kinds of data requests it received from the government in recent months and how the company responded to them. Apparently, from January 1st to May 31st, 2015, the e-commerce giant got:
- 813 subpoenas – Amazon provided all the info requested for 542 of them
- 25 search warrants – the company issued authorities every info they needed in 13 instances
- 13 court orders – the court got every info it asked for a total of four times out of 13
- 132 various requests from outside the US
- 1 removal request, which Amazon granted
- Between 0 and 249 national security requests, including Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court orders. The company can’t legally publish the exact number, so you’ll have to take a guess.
In the blog post announcing the report, Amazon Web Services Chief Information Security Officer Stephen Schmidt made it clear that the company was never part of the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program. He also said Amazon believes search warrants should be a requirement if authorities want to access a customer’s information, and that it won’t support any legislation that mandates putting backdoors on websites. Schmidt, however, didn’t explain why the corporation used to be very secretive about these numbers. It’s even the last tech company in the Fortune 500 to come out with a transparency report, according to ZDNet, despite being criticized for years by industry watchdogs like the EFF.
Reading between the lines of Amazon’s 1st transparency report, they’ve almost certainly received a NSL or FISA order. http://t.co/MRfT5dVdiQ
– Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian) June 13, 2015
Source: Amazon
Start putting together IFTTT recipes with your Amazon Echo
The functionality of Amazon’s Echo digital assistant expands beyond the hardware itself. Now, Amazon Echo supports IFTTT recipes. After connecting the Amazon Alexa Channel, users have access to an additional 121 channels with various commands. It works with Twitter, Evernote, Todoist, Gmail, and many other services. For example, start listening to music with the Amazon Echo and, if paired with the Twitter channel, a tweet could be sent containing the song title.
Source: Amazon Alexa Channel (IFTTT)
Come comment on this article: Start putting together IFTTT recipes with your Amazon Echo
Amazon to launch ‘Catastrophe’ comedy series on Facebook
Amazon is slated to debut British comedy Catastrophe in the US on January 15th, but you won’t find the pilot episode on Prime. Instead of bringing the series straight to its video platform, the e-commerce company will post the 30-minute pilot on its Facebook page. In fact, viewers in the country can exclusively watch it on the social network for 48 hours (and for free!), starting on Monday, 7PM Eastern time. This might be the first time Amazon has taken this particular approach. It typically gives viewers free access to the first episode on Prime, so they can leave feedback and help the company decide which titles to pick up.
Amazon secured the exclusive rights to show Catastrophe in the US shortly after the series’ first season started airing on the UK’s Channel 4. It stars Twitter star Rob Delaney as an American man who knocks up an Irish woman played by Sharon Horgan and moves to London to be with her and his baby. The pilot, by the way, will make its way to Prime Instant after its 48-hour stint on Facebook. If you’re a subscriber, you can stream it and the rest of the first season episodes starting on June 19th.
Source: Amazon (Facebook)
AIVAnet 