iPhone Claws Back Market Share from Android; Tesla’s Gigafactory Will Be Solar Powered; Amazon Prime Bows Cashback Rewards Visa Card
Posted: January 11, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, Cashback rewards, Chase, China, Galaxy S7, Germany, Gigafactory, iPhone, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, Powerpack, Prime, S7 Edge, Samsung, Solar City, Solar Panels, Tesla, UK, US, Visa Leave a commentAccording to the latest data, Apple’s iPhone picked up 6.4% in market share in the US for the 3 months ending last November. 9to5mac.com also says that Apple did the same in 7 of 9 other key markets. The iPhone 7, 7 Plus, and 6s were the 3 most popular phones in the US for the period, combining for 31.3%. Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge where next, grabbing 28.9% share. Apple snagged a whopping 9.1% in the UK…mainly crushing the hopes of Windows phones.They did drop 5.4% in China to local brands and lost out 3.2% in Germany, where Android picked up share.
Theverge.com reports that Tesla plans to power its Gigafactory with a 70 megawatt solar installation on the roof! That would make it 7 times larger than the present largest rooftop solar array. Excess power picked up would be stored by Powerpack storage units for use after dark, etc. The solar panels will all come from Solar City of course. Tesla acquired them last year.
If you need a reason to spend even more money with Amazon, have they got a deal for you. TechCrunch.com says Amazon is partnering with Chase to offer Prime members an Amazon Prime Visa card with 5% cash back on Amazon purchases. The card would give 2% back for restaurants, gas stations, and drugstores, and 1% elsewhere. There’s no annual fee on the card. Amazon is believed to have between 58 and 69 million members, or roughly half of US households. The card is available today.
Looking Ahead, Apple Sees AR in iPhone’s Camera App; One Day Amazon Prime Membership Sale
Posted: November 17, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, AR, Camera app, iPhone 8, Prime, Sale, VR Leave a commentIt’s no secret…Tim Cook has noted several times that augmented reality will become a huge thing. 9to5mac.com reports that Apple has a team working on tech from several of its acquisitions to integrate AR into its camera app. Cupertino hopes people will be able to aim the cam at something in the real world, and have the software recognize it, like facial recognition for everything. The end game seems to be releasing smart glasses that integrate with iPhones. Some VR and AR features could come as soon as next year with the iPhone 8…which one source has already claimed will be ‘a clear piece of glass with mixed reality.
If you don’t have Amazon Prime, here’s your chance to get it at a discount…but only tomorrow, November 18th. Amazon will cut the price from $99 per year to $79 for 24 hours for new members only. A lot of us save it in shipping alone, but you also get Prime Video, Prime Music and more.
Amazon’s Music Unlimited Service; Apple Really Magic Keyboard
Posted: October 12, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, Apple Music, Changeable keyboard, E ink, Macbook, Magic Keyboard, Music Unlimited, Prime, Sonder, Spotify Premium, touch strip Leave a commentAmazon has kicked off its new Music Unlimited service. Geekwire.com says it starts at $4 a month to use on a single Echo smart speaker, Echo Dot, or Amazon Tap. The Echo works well, and getting millions of songs for half the price of Apple Music or Spotify Premium should be a heck of a draw. To use it on unlimited devices, it’s $7.99 a month for Prime members, $9.99 otherwise. Prime members already have access to a couple million songs with their membership.
There’s been plenty of reporting about Apple adding a smart touchscreen strip above the keyboard on the upcoming MacBooks to replace the function keys. Apparently, morphing function keys isn’t the only thing like that they are working on. A leak out of China picked up by bgr.com says Apple is working on an even more magical Magic Keyboard…one with a changing, color E ink display on the keys that can change up depending on the user’s needs or application in use. Apple is apparently working with a startup called Sonder on this, and is working to buy Sonder. The Really Magic Keyboard could be out in 2018.
Tentative Date for Tesla Autopilot Update; Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Apology & Recall; Clarkson Netflix Show November Start
Posted: September 16, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Autopilot, CPSC, Elon Musk, Galaxy Note 7, Jeremy Clarkson, Prime, Recall, Samsung, Tesla, The Grand Tour Leave a commentElon Musk has announced that Tesla hopes to begin a worldwide rollout of V. 8.0 of their Autopilot software next Wednesday. Bgr.com says this is barring any last minute issues popping up. The revised version will utilize radar a lot more than previous versions…which primarily used it to supplement cameras. The update will be pushed out over the air as in the past.
Samsung’s president has issued a video apology for the fires and explosions of Galaxy Note 7s. According to 9to5google.com, they have replaced 130,000 of the 2.5 million bad handsets so far. They have implored people to power present devices down until they can be replaced. Since the Consumer Product Safety Commission stepped in, Samsung has said that replacement phones will be available no later than September 21st, and now you can take yours in and get your money back, then just go buy the new one when they are available.
The new car show starring the original Top Gear guys: Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond, will premiere on Amazon November 18th. It’s called The Grand Tour. If you’re a Prime member, you can watch it free, or pay a monthly video subscription of 8 bucks a month.
Could the Reviled iPhone ‘Camera Bump’ be Going Away; Apple Car on Hold; Amazon Prime’s Explosive Growth
Posted: January 26, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, Apple Car, Camera bump, iPhone 7, Prime, Project Titan, Spherically curved photosensor Leave a commentA clever Apple patent filed in 2013 and granted today points to the hated camera bump on the back of iPhones going away. 9to5mac.com reports that Cupertino has come up with an interesting way to defy physics, and make a smaller lens. Physics determines just how thin you can make a sensor and lens arrangement for any given aperture while retaining quality. But instead of the usual flat sensor, the patent describes a ‘spherically curved photosensor’ that would allow the distance between the lens elements and the sensor to be reduced, allowing for a thinner camera module…and no bump. It’s unclear if this will make it into the iPhone 7.
After the exit of Steve Zadesky, who was running Apple’s semi-secret car project dubbed Project Titan, macrumors.com is hearing that the Apple Car is on hold due to execs not being happy with progress being made on it’s development…especially Jony Ive. Rumors are that the Titan team feels Apple’s deadlines and goals are unattainable. Apple has apparently wanted final engineering specs for the car by 2019 or 2020…now, it looks like that deadline will slip for certain.
Amazon Prime’s US membership grew by 35% to 54 million in 2015. Think about that. The figure is according to a report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners picked up by geekwire.com. When they went to $99 a year for the package of free shipping, videos, and audio, a lot of people predicted a fall off in members, but the exact opposite has happened. Prime members spend an average of $1100 a year with Amazon, compared to $600 for non-members, so Amazon can afford free Prime shipping as a bit of a loss leader.
‘Googlemobiles’ Will Be On The Loose This Summer
Posted: May 15, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Free Shipping, Google, Mountain View, Prime, Self Driving, Third party merchants, Walmart 1 CommentDon’t look now…but look later! ‘Googlemobiles’ will be hitting the public pavement in Mountain View this summer. Yes, according to the official google blog, self-driving Google cars will be tooling around…albeit with a safety driver aboard, and limited to 25 miles per hour. Google notes that 94% of crashes are caused by human error. The second generation Google cars still look like a VW Beetle that’s been hit with an ugly stick, but there’s plenty of time to get the styling right later after self driving is perfected.
Amazon may be working on making its Prime membership more valuable to members. Cnet.com reports that they have been reaching out to third party merchants, looking into letting them shop goods directly to customers, instead of drop shipping the goods to Amazon first. This would make a lot more goods in on the free two day shipping, and also expand the selection of goods available to you that way. It’s likely that the reports that Walmart is going to test free 3 day shipping this summer for a $50 annual fee is pushing Amazon to sweeten their Prime membership, which is $100.
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.
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