Amazon’s One Hour Delivery Service is Live
Posted: December 18, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Amazon Prime Now, Android Wear, Coffee, EyeEm, Photo sharing, Texting Leave a commentPrime Now from Amazon is live, at least in New York. Geekwire.com says the one hour delivery service will be rolled out in other cities through next year. It promises to get daily essentials like paper towels and shampoo to you within an hour of ordering.
Texting on a smart watch…sometimes you really don’t want to say things out loud…over and over. The verge.com reports that Coffee for Android Wear is an app with replies you can swipe through for most any scenario…and it’s free.
When just sharing your photos isn’t enough, there’s EyeEm. Thenextweb.com says it lets friends see and share the same edits to pictures. It’s on both iOS and Android. Photo geeks, rejoice!
Apple Watch Production Should Start Next Month
Posted: December 11, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, Apple Watch, e-card, Robinhood, Stock trading, Surprise Leave a commentApple and suppliers have solved yield issues with some components, and macrumors.com says Apple Watch mass production should start in January. Apple is projecting shipping 24 million watches next year.
Those people who are too lazy to even grab a gift card at the store are in luck…Amazon has launched ‘Surprise.’ Engadget.com reports you can send an e-card with a voucher for a gift. Ahh, the personal touch!
Stock trading for free hits the iPhone with an app called Robinhood. Techcrunch.com says you can track, buy or sell. There’s a waiting list, but sign up now, and you could be trading in a couple months.
Privacy Based App Store Coming
Posted: December 10, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, apps, Blackphone, Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Netflix, original series, Privacy, PrivatOS, Spaces Leave a commentThe ultra-secure Blackphone is getting its own privacy-focused app marketplace. Bgr.com says it’s called Spaces, and will roll out with a major system update to the PrivatOS early next year.
People who love their Netflix and especially binge watching series will be cheered about this…the verge.com reports that over the next 5 years, the streaming content provider plans to have 20 original series running!
Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick can now run web apps. Techcrunch.com says as an incentive to lure app developers, Amazon is allowing them to make money from their apps on Amazon.
White Label Products From Amazon For Prime Customers
Posted: December 4, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Elements, iPhone 6, Phablet, Prime, Private Label, Wickr Leave a commentAmazon has rolled out Elements-private label household products for Prime members today. Geekwire.com says the first two products are diapers and wipes. The company is promising a very granular level of ingredient information.
9to5mac.com has picked up a report from Kantar data that shows the iPhone 6 Plus captured 41% of all US phablet sales third quarter. The iPhone 6 was the best selling iOS device.
Thenextweb.com reports that Wickr, the ultra secure, self-destructing messaging app, is now available on OS X, Windows, and Linux. Like on mobile, there’s multi-layer encryption, and no storage on servers.
Amazon Tablets & E-Readers On Fire
Posted: December 1, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, Chromebook, e-books, e-reader, Fire, Google, iPad, libraries, tablet 3 CommentsGeekwire.com says Amazon Fire tablet sales tripled and e-reader sales almost quadrupled on Black Friday. Amazon was the #3 tablet seller last holiday season, but then fell off to 5th. No word on the hapless Fire phone’s sales.
Speaking of e-readers, gizmodo.com reports that 95% of US public libraries now carry e-books. This is according to a survey by Library journal, and it’s an increase from 89% that checked out e-books last year. Most carry a little over 20,000 e-titles.
Apple’s tablet sales have slowed up to now, and 9to5google.com says Google sold more Chromebooks to US schools third quarter than Apple sold them iPads. Chromebook’s $199 price is given as the primary reason.
Fire Sale on Amazon Fire Phones
Posted: November 26, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Bing Maps, Clearflow, e-paper, Fire phone, Microsoft, Navteq, Nokia, smart watch, Sony Leave a commentYep, there’s a fire sale on Amazon Fire phones. Already 99 cents with a 2 year AT&T contract, geekwire.com says now you can buy an unlocked one for $199, down from $649 when it came out. How long before they have to promise that Bezos will deliver yours in person?
Sony may roll out an e-paper smart watch next year. Gigaom.com reports that in addition to the face, the entire band will be an e-paper display. Taking a page from Apple’s playbook, Sony will try for style.
Microsoft has just launched Clearflow for its Bing Maps. Engadget.com says they use Nokia’s Navteq system, but use live data from main roads to essentially guess traffic on unreported routes. Good luck!
Amazon’s Warehouse Robots
Posted: November 21, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Biotech, Bleeding, NextGlass, Robots, VetiGel, Wine Leave a commentAmazon has tripled warehouse picker productivity with an army of orange robots, Geek.com says. The robots bring moveable shelves to the pickers, who grab your item and get it on its way to you. The Tracy warehouse is one of 3 equipped with them.
A biotech startup called Suneris has created a plant based polymer gel that can stop a wound’s bleeding in just 20 seconds. Cnet.com reports VetiGel is being FDA tested…it’s already coming out for vets to use on animals.
A free iPhone app claims to use your personal taste to predict whether or not you’ll like a wine you look at at a store. 9to5mac.com says NextGlass takes your input, reads the label, and gives you the verdict.
A Hardware Hit for Amazon- Fire TV Stick
Posted: November 19, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 21 megapixel, Amazon, Chromecast, Code, Disney, DSLR, Fire TV Stick, Frozen, iPhone 7, Sony Leave a commentIn need of a hardware hit after the Fire phone, Amazon is getting it. Techcrunch.com says the Fire TV Stick is their fastest selling hardware ever. The Chromecast competitor is $39, after an advance bargain deal of $19.
Bgr.com reports that next year’s iPhone 7 may have a digital SLR quality camera. It may use a two-lens system to pull that off. What’s not clear is if it will use the just announced Sony 21 megapixel camera sensor.
Code.org has teamed up with Disney to create a coding tutorial starring Anna and Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen.” There are also short videos from women in tech, encouraging young girls to learn programming and go into tech.
Interactive Shopping Maps From Target
Posted: November 17, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Google, Interactive, Kickstarter, Roost, Shopping, Smoke Alarm, Target Leave a commentTarget has added an enticement for holiday shoppers. Geekwire.com reports they’ve added interactive maps of all their stores to their iPhone app. They’ve also added free shipping for target.com buys to battle Amazon.
The European ‘right to be forgotten’ by Google may be extended worldwide. A French court has ruled that way, according to 9to5google.com. Google is reviewing the ruling and considering its options.
There’s a way coming to connect to your dumb smoke alarm. It’s a Kickstarter called Roost…a 5 year battery in a 9 volt size that also connects to your smartphone with an app. $55 buys you two, and it’s out late Spring.
More Picture Space For Your Smartphone
Posted: November 14, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Android, family, iOS, iPhone, Kindle, Photos, PhotoShrinker, Selfie Leave a commentIf you take a lot of selfies, and are always running out of space, there’s a new app called PhotoShrinker. Techcrunch.com says it’s out for iOS and Android, and will compress your photos to a tenth their original size, making room for more. The shrunken pix look fine online, etc. but save a normal copy for any you intend to make large, actual prints from.
Appleinsider.com reports that the iPhone 6 is outselling the larger 6 Plus by a 3 to one margin in the US. The study comes from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. The average storage size is now 48 gigs, which shows that more people are buying the 64 gig and 128 gig models…which means more profit for Apple.
A nice feature in the latest Kindle software just being pushed out…gigaom.com says Family Library lets people with Amazon accounts linked to family members share ebooks others have downloaded.
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