Tag Archives: amazon

Amazon Books sales are, for now, a rounding error

Amazon has enjoyed lots of fanfare and curiosity from the openings of its new Amazon Books physical bookstores. But what those locations haven’t seemed to bring in quite yet is sales. As part of its third quarter earnings results, Amazon for the first time reported its physical store sales, mostly to account for its purchase …

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We talk about the Pixel 2 XL’s display problem (The 3:59, Ep. 306)

You may want to hold off on the Google Pixel 2 XL. Or, at least, watch your display really closely.  Reviews of the jumbo version of Google‘s flagship phone have generally been positive, but there are concerns about “burn-in,” or leaving a residual image on a display after the image is actually gone. CNET has been able to replicate the …

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Amazon to offer premium Alexa apps for a fee

Amazon will allow third-party developers to offer premium subscriptions to apps they create using the online retailer’s voice-controlled speaker. The first voice app, or “skill” as Amazon calls it, to offer the subscription is Jeopardy, which allows users to play the popular game show at home. Amazon Prime members who already use the Jeopardy skill will receive six additional Double …

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Apple wants to keep its original shows PG

Apple isn’t interested in producing edgy shows like “Game of Thrones” or “Orange is the New Black,” according to a story by Bloomberg Businessweek. Instead, CEO Tim Cook wants to keep things PG-rated to make sure kids don’t get their hands on anything too salacious. Apple wants to make sure the shows it produces have broad appeal, the article says. …

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Dish extends hands

Fans of Dish Network‘s hands-free channel changing ability are in luck. The satellite TV provider will now let you change the channel on all the TVs in your house using Amazon‘s digital assistant Alexa. Alexa, which is found on Echo speakers, let’s subscribers to Dish’s satellite TV service call out commands to change the channel, search for shows, as well …

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Trump administration pushes expanded drone use

President Donald Trump has relaxed some of the rules governing commercial use of drones, allowing for greater testing of unmanned aerial vehicles by tech companies such as Amazon and Wing, a unit of Google parent Alphabet. A directive Trump issued Wednesday expands testing for flights over people, nighttime operations and at far greater distances and with packages. The program encourages …

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How hard is it going to be to get an iPhone X? (The 3:59, Ep. 305)

There’s now even more proof Apple’s new iPhone X will have very limited supply and be very tough to get. The tech titan told manufacturers to lower the accuracy of the phone’s facial recognition system, called Face ID, to speed up production, according to Bloomberg. Apple disputed this report. Also on the podcast, Amazon unveiled a new in-home delivery service called …

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Does the new Amazon Fire TV burn the competition? (The 3:59, Ep. 304)

Amazon is giving you voice control over your TV. Let’s talk about it.  The reviews are out for the Amazon Fire TV, and we invited special guest David Katzmaier on our show, who’s spent a few days playing with the streaming device. We talk about how it stacks up to the Roku, as well as a Chromecast paired with the …

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Amazon’s Kindle app gets a major update

Amazon regularly updates its Kindle e-reading app for iOS and Android devices, but now it’s rolled out a major redesign that gives the social-reading platform Goodreads, acquired by Amazon in 2013, a much bigger role. Initially anyway, only iOS users will get the new Goodreads features, but Amazon says they’ll be coming to the Android app in the future.  Enlarge …

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TiVo Bolt Vox is a voice

With the Bolt Vox, TiVo finally adds voice controls to its entertainment experience, joining Roku, Apple, Amazon, Google and Comcast Xfinity.  The company’s latest series of 4K-resolution DVR and streaming media boxes combine all the features of the current Bolt models with a new voice remote control and next-gen user experience. In fact, TiVo says the Bolt Vox has the …

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