Amazon Fire Phone price drops… again
The Amazon Fire Phone has transitioned from an underwhelming, costly on-contract handset to an alright off-contract choice. The price of the Fire Phone has dropped yet again.
When launched last summer, the Fire Phone lacked an identity. Amazon gave practically no reason to purchase the handset. It was a glorified digital storefront in a phone that had one selling point: four front-facing cameras paired with a gyroscope that to give a 3D-like feel. The other specifications were not too bad, but owners of the Fire Phone would be locked into Amazon’s tight ecosystem. There were no Google services to turn to.
To make it even more difficult to sell, the Fire Phone was way too expensive (and offered only through AT&T).
Starting today, the Fire Phone can be purchased for $179 without a contract or any carrier restriction. This price, which is pretty good for an unlocked handset, also includes a free subscription to Amazon Prime for one year.
Via: Android Police
Come comment on this article: Amazon Fire Phone price drops… again
Deal: Kingston 16, 32, and 64GB microSD cards are up to 69% off on Amazon
If you’re looking to expand your smartphone’s or tablet’s storage space on the cheap, Amazon has Kingston microSD cards going for 60 to 69 percent off their list price.
These are 30MB/s class 10 microSD cards with adapters, with an average review score of 4.4 stars across hundreds of reviews. This promo is not as good as the Gold Box deal from last week, but it’s very close. Check it out:
- Kingston Digital 16 GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-1 30MB/s with Adapter for $7.99 (69%)
- Kingston Digital 32 GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-1 30MB/s with Adapter for $13.49 (66%)
- Kingston Digital 64 GB microSD Class 10 UHS-1 30MB/s with Adapter for $ 49 (60%)
Happy shopping!
Amazon finally starts paying proper taxes in European countries
For many years, Amazon has sent a huge percentage of its European revenues over to Luxembourg. The tiny country levies a much smaller rate of tax than most of the countries in which the retailer operates, allowing it to keep a larger share of sales. With the European Commission breathing down its neck over claims it had agreed an illegal tax deal with Luxembourg, Amazon has quietly begun booking sales in some of its biggest European markets. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company began paying direct taxes on sales in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain from May 1st.
The move comes just as European governments are cracking down on tax practices employed by some of the world’s biggest technology companies. In the UK, chancellor George Osbourne introduced a new law, commonly referred to as the “Google Tax”, in April to punish those diverting revenue overseas by imposing a 25 percent levy on their domestic profits. As a result, Apple, Google and Facebook are now required to report their earnings on a country-by-country basis.
With Amazon making the first move, it’ll put pressure on other major tech companies to follow suit. Despite claims to the contrary, Apple has been accused of not paying its fair share of tax in Ireland, and Google has previously been told by lawmakers that its stance on tax is “devious, calculated and unethical”. Amazon says that it began paving the way for the changes two years ago, but only now are plans coming into force. However, it might be too late to influence the public’s perception of the company.
Filed under: Apple, Google, Amazon
Source: Wall Street Journal
Amazon’s ‘Handmade’ section takes aim at Etsy
There’s a lot to love about Etsy — it’s one of the best places on the internet to find all sorts of stuff like minimalist Captain America prints or laser-cut Deathly Hallows earrings, but shipping windows are kind of a crapshoot. That could change because Amazon is apparently emailing some of the hand-crafted goods emporium’s sellers and offering them to peddle their wares, according to The Wall Street Journal. The forthcoming section on Bezo’s ecommerce behemoth is called Handmade, and invites lead to a survey asking about what categories the wares would fall under (11 total, including baby, apparel, pet supplies) but there isn’t any word about when the section will go live.
WSJ notes that anything regarding fee structure is missing in action as well, adding that there’s a pretty big disparity between what Etsy charges its sellers versus what Amazon does. For example, Amazon’s cut of sales ranges from 12 percent to 45 percent per item, with a $1 minimum per item sold. Etsy, on the other hand, takes $0.20 for every item listed and 3.5 percent of the selling price. The trade-off for sellers would be a much higher potential for sales, but at a possibly lower profit. It’s worth noting that these talks are all presumably very early and nothing is set in stone just yet. What’s it mean for those of us who just want a super-cool Calvin and Hobbes stuffed Hobbes, though? Convenience and hopefully guaranteed shipping for the tiger. That’s something I can get behind.
[Image credit: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Top 6 cloud storage apps for saving across devices [May 2015]
There are many reasons as to why you should backup your smartphone and data to the Cloud. After all, you want to ensure your files are secure and have are in a safe place in case of an accident with your smartphone or tablet. But, it’s difficult to do that when you don’t have access to any cloud storage. I’ve put together a list of my favorite cloud storage apps that offer free storage solutions. Some of them even have fantastic pricing for either hundreds of gigabytes of storage or unlimited storage.
Be sure to check it out below!
Dropbox
Dropbox is my all-time favorite cloud storage app. Not because I have any affiliation with Dropbox, mind you, but I’ve been using it since the day it launched, and have it across all my computers and devices. I haven’t had much need to look elsewhere, as they offer plenty of free storage for what I use. Not to mention the fact that you can get more free space through inviting friends and other minor tasks.
If the allotted space they give you isn’t enough, Dropbox will give your 1000GB of space to use for $10/month or an unlimited amount of storage for $15/mo.
Google Drive
Google Drive is another cloud storage staple, offering 15GB of free data across all of Google’s services, such as Gmail, Drive, and Google+ Photos. You can store just about any data you need in Google Drive, and out of all the apps listed, they do provide the most free storage. Drive is also seamlessly integrated with Docs, Sheets, and Slides, making it insanely easy to store and work on important documents.
If you use up the 15GB, Google has rather cheap storage options, similar to Dropbox’s pricing. For $2.99/mo you can get 100GB of storage or for $9.99/mo you can get 1000GB.
OneDrive
OneDrive is Microsoft’s solution to Cloud storage, and similar to Google Drive, Microsoft gives you a free 15GB of storage. You can get an additional 15GB of storage for free by simply turning on camera upload on either your smartphone or tablet. For the everyday user, 30GB is more than enough to store photos and video.
OneDrive offers cheap storage plans at 100GB for $1.99/mo, 200GB for $3.99/mo, and 1000GB for $6.99/mo. If you go for the 1000GB plan, Microsoft will throw in free access to Office 365, which gives you access to all of Microsoft’s Office applications, and let’s you work on them across all your devices.
Amazon Cloud Drive
Amazon Cloud Drive is, well, Amazon’s solution for Cloud storage. With Amazon Cloud Storage, you have the option to get a three month trial, where you can store unlimited photos for free, and up to 5GB in videos and files. After the trial ends, you’ll have to pay $11.99/year to continue using that service. If you’re just looking for somewhere to store your photos, you can store unlimited photos for free with an Amazon Prime subscription. You may not need to pay that $11.99/year at all.
Amazon Cloud Drive has another subscription option, where you have access to unlimited everything for $59.99 a year, which is a much cheaper solution than anything on this list.
Box
Box is another excellent Cloud storage service, offering 10GB of free storage space. While it does have more of a business focus than personal, the 10GB of free space is still excellent to have in your back pocket. One of the fascinating benefits of Box and its business-focus is that documents can be commented on in real-time, giving you instantaneous feedback. In addition to that, it has a lot of great features to effectively share files between coworkers.
If you need more storage space, the starter pack will get you 100GB for $4.99/mo. The business package, requiring a minimum of three users, will run you $15/mo, but gives you unlimited storage space.
MediaFire
MediaFire is another common Cloud service, offering 12GB of free storage space. One of the unique things about this service is that you can earn up to 50GB of free storage, which should be just enough for the everyday user. It’s certainly not enough for power users, but that’s not to worry, as MediaFire offers some excellent packages, which are all 50% off right now.
For a mere $2.49/mo you can get yourself 1000GB of space. If that’s not enough, for $24.99/mo, they’ll give you up to 100TB of space. And if that’s not enough, I’m not sure what will satisfy your craving for data. At normal prices, you can expect to pay $4.99/mo and $49.99/mo, respectively.
Wrap Up
There are plenty more Cloud storage apps out there, but these six are my top favorites, as they have a wide variety of free storage options. If you need more, a lot of the storage subscriptions are the price of a McDonald’s cheeseburger. It isn’t bad at all. Either way, I’m sure I’ve missed some great ones. What are your favorites?
Come comment on this article: Top 6 cloud storage apps for saving across devices [May 2015]
eBay’s testing Amazon Prime-like shipping service in Germany
Amazon Prime offers many benefits to its subscribers, starting with super-fast shipping on web purchases. Not surprisingly, retail competitor eBay must try to match this. Over in Germany, the company has started trialling a program slightly similar to Prime, reportedly called eBay +, which will be launching in the second half of this year. Buyers there are said to have to pay between €15 and €20 (roughly $17 and $22) per year, an amount that would be reasonable considering the service’s main purpose: free, fast shipping and other undisclosed exclusive benefits.
Meanwhile, sellers who participate in the loyalty program can reap a variety of rewards, including being able to have their products highlighted on search results — the site does plan to charge them “a small annual fee” to be a part of it, however. For now, eBay’s testing it amongst top-rated German sellers, but more groups could be let in before the program’s wider rollout. We reached out to eBay to find out if this could be headed to the US or other parts of the world, and we’ll let you know if and when it gets back to us.
[Image credit: Associated Press]
Via: The Verge
Source: eBay (Translated)
Jide Remix Android tablet now available on Amazon (costs more than $39)
Do you remember the Jide Remix ultra-tablet that was being given away for as little as $39 through Kickstarter a while ago? If you feel you missed out, you can now head over to Amazon to purchase the Android powered, Microsoft Surface look-alike tablet. But it will cost a little more this time.
Jide is a small company that was started by a few ex-Google engineers, they broke off to focus on productivity focused Android devices, and the first result is the Remix tablet that was announced and first made available this year.
A few lucky Kickstarter backers managed to receive their Jide Remix tablet as early as the first week of May. In an effort to help get the name out there, and to get live user feedback on the device so that they can fine tune it as they go, many backers were given the Android tablet regardless their amount of support to the successful Kickstarter campaign. We announced this at the time, and tried to get in at the lowest available barrier to entry ourselves, with $39 being the least expensive accepted donation.
The Jide Remix is a 11.6-inch device with full HD touchscreen display. It is powered by the Tegra 4+1 SoC and 2GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage with support for up to 128GB microSD card. Front and back finds 5MP cameras pointing each direction and a nice sized 8100mAh battery keeps the lights on.
The tablet itself is designed, we hate to say it, near identical to Microsoft’s Surface tablet, at least at first glance. A kickstand supports two levels of viewing and a magnetic click on keyboard turns the device into the laptop form-factor, ready for your productivity tasks.
Perhaps the most important, and maybe even the most appealing feature of the Jide Remix is the operating system. Named Remix OS, it is, at its core, Android 5.0 Lollipop, but we are looking at a custom ROM here that has been modified to bring a more familiar look and experience to your laptop. A built in file manager is a good start, a dedicated task bar along the bottom offers that Windows-like experience and multiple window support takes Android to a new level. Watch out later this year, as they plan to release the OS for you to flash to your favorite tablet.
For more info, or just to grab your Jide Remix tablet, head on over Amazon where it can be had for $399.00.
What do you think of this Jide Remix tablet idea, will it bring new life and purpose to the faltering tablet market?
Amazon’s one-hour delivery service now features local stores
When it’s not busy sending its delivery personnel on the New York subway, Amazon has quietly been working to expand its one-hour delivery service. From today, customers in Manhattan, the company’s first Prime Now location, can shop at a number of local businesses and have fresh food delivered within 60 minutes. D’Agostino, Gourmet Garage and Billy’s Bakery are the first companies on board, offering groceries, cooked meals and freshly baked cupcakes respectively alongside Amazon’s own range of goods. The online retailer is starting small but plans to add more stores across Manhattan over time, with Italian food market Eataly and Westside Market already waiting in the wings. As before, Prime Now’s one-hour deliveries cost $7.99, so be sure to factor that in before impulse buying those delicious treats.
Filed under: Household, Internet, Mobile, Amazon
Source: Amazon (Businesswire)
The top 12 tablets you can buy right now
It’s true, we don’t review quite as many tablets around here as we used to, but that doesn’t mean slates have gone the way of the dodo. Microsoft’s new Surface 3 is as much a budget PC as it is an iPad competitor, while Dell’s sleek Venue 8 7000 reminds us that there’s still a place for high-end tablets. Whether you’re looking to update your own slate or pass one on to someone behind the curve, you’ll find a summary of our top picks in the gallery below or you can head to our complete buyers guide for a full rundown.
Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft, ASUS, Amazon, Acer, NVIDIA
Comcast unlocks HBO and Showtime streaming to Amazon Fire TV
Streaming services that use a cable TV subscription have an annoying wrinkle, where sometimes the provider can block them from working in places for apparently no reason at all. For Comcast customers that was the case for HBO Go and Showtime on Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV stick, but starting today that changes. Like the agreement it reached a few months ago with Roku, Comcast is suddenly playing nice with Amazon’s streaming hardware. Unfortunately, that courtesy still does not extend to Sony’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, but according to Comcast it supports over 90 networks across 18 devices and expects that number to grow, so maybe there is hope.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Amazon
Source: Comcast
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