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Massive Interest in Amazon’s Alexa: Voice Assistant Has Over 1,000 Skills

June 5, 2016 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

We live in an all-connected world in which Amazon’s Echo speaker, and its descendants, Tap and Dot, are the royal family. Amazon’s products are growing in popularity as more consumers prefer ‘smart’ speakers for their homes.

But the interest for internet-connected homes has also spurred interest in the developer world in the form of add-ons dubbed “skills.” These allow devs all around the world to teach Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa new tricks, like ordering you a pizza or calling you an Uber.

Today, Amazon announced that the app store for Alexa’s skills – so to speak – has surpassed 1,000. Given that the Echo has only become universally available last June (it was invitation only before that), the new milestone is definitely notable.

At the same time, Alexa’s voice and functionalities have also been integrated into other connected devices, such as the Fire TV; thanks to Amazon’s open platform, third-party hardware makers could also implement the assistant into their products.

What’s even more impressive is the quick acceleration of this third-party “app” ecosystem; only in January of this year, Alexa’s skills section only contained some 130 apps.

In the announcement, Amazon highlighted the more notable additions to Alexa’s selection of skills, such as those from Domino’s, Capital One, Fitbit, SmartThings, Uber, and more.

According to Rob Pulciani, director of Amazon’s Alexa, the community size of the third-party developer around its personal assistant has reached into the “tens of thousands.” That means developers are at least interested in toying around with Alexa, even if not all of them are actually creating new apps.

While Alexa’s capabilities have steadily improved over time, Amazon now needs to solve the problem of discovery. Alexa’s skill section – its personal “app store” that pairs with the connected speaker or other Alexa-powered devices – is at this point merely bare bones.

Search is rocky, and there are no top charts or categories to browse through, as with other app stores. Seeing that there are more than 1,000 apps already, Amazon needs to figure out how to highlight the best of them, so users can actually find them.
Image Source: Wall Street Journal

New Amazon 6-inch Tablet Costs $50, Planned for this X-Mas

September 8, 2015 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

The new Amazon 6-inch tablet costs $50, which is half the price of the cheapest Fire device. As the massive retailer struggles to sell their pricier tablets, the only way further is downwards.

The new Amazon 6-inch tablet is aimed at those buyers that are looking for a more simple device and aren’t willing to cough up major doe for streaming videos.

According to close sources, the Seattle-based company is planning to release their 50 bucks, 6-inch screen tablet in time for this year’s holiday season. This means that it will be one of the cheapest tablets on the market.

Amazon will offer a straightforward tablet which will be effectively disposable. Rumors have it that it will sport inferior specs, but for $50 we don’t need anyone telling us that.

The 6-inch tablet will be able to stream videos and users have the possibility of shopping on Amazon.com. Basically, you won’t be doing much with it. Durability, screen quality and battery life will be highly inferior if you dare to compare them with Apple’s iPad and even Amazon’s high-end Fire tablets.

The device will not have a stereo speaker built-in. In its stead, you will find a mono speaker.

The 50 bucks tablet is part of Amazon’s new product line that also includes other tablets with better specs. Also, bigger screens – 8-inch and respectively 10-inch.

Amazon Fire HD 6

Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive dubbed Lord and Savior of the first world, has always sought new ways to undercut the company’s hardware competitors. Amazon outsources almost everything when it comes down to manufacturing their new cheap-as-hell devices.

Much of the development was done overseas by a company called Shanghai Huaqin Telecom Technology Co. – Taiwan-based Compal Communications Inc. also plays a major role.

Amazon’s Lab126 did some of the grunt work, but not much, people close to the matter noted.

The cheapest Kindle costs $79. It could have been $50, but Amazon just couldn’t drop the retail price because the e-reader screen tech vendors wouldn’t settle for a bargain.

Cheap is really good, more so if you’re a cost-conscious buyer. But, is Amazon aware of what they are giving up? Are buyers aware that they will have an inferior experience? Will they tolerate it or will they dispose of their new purchase in a matter o weeks?

Everyone bashed Amazon and Bezos last year for pricing their Fire smartphone the same as Apple’s last gen iPhone. Regardless of packing it with a free Prime membership, which costs $99, nobody cared. Even when the massive on-line retailer cut down on the phone’s price tag sales didn’t change.

After their smartphone flop, Amazon laid off almost the entire group of engineers that worked on the Fire. The group was known to help develop Fire TV set-top boxes, Kindle e-readers, the Fire slate and other gadgets and devices.

Amazon’s cheapest Fire tablet, which currently sells for $99, includes adverts – they appear as screen savers. Want no ads and the same tablet? You’ll have to pay up $114.

It is unknown at the current moment if the Amazon 6-inch tablet will include ads or not.

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Amazon Dash Was Hacked For Data Tracking

August 18, 2015 By Nancy Young Leave a Comment

Earlier this year, in March, Amazon rolled out the Dash Buttons, which allow customers to reorder household goods like detergents, toilet paper and diapers with just a press. Amazon’s smart device is adhesive and sends a notification to the users’ smartphones for canceling or proceeding with placing the order.

The $5 buttons have received mixed reviews, with some praising Amazon’s initiative that saves them time, and others thinking out loud whether the buttons shouldn’t have been free. Then, there are those worrying their ten month old will be pressing the button non stop and those complaining about Amazon’s prices and lack of product variety.

While some spend their free time criticizing the single purpose buttons, the Amazon Dash was hacked by Cloudstitch CTO, Ted Benson, who wanted to enlarge the device’s horizons and make it do other stuff. Like track data.

Benson broke down his Amazon Dash button’s functioning mechanisms and noticed the device sends out a signal every time the users press it. He didn’t want to crack open Amazon’s button and tinker with the hardware, so instead he turned towards the network to see what he can do there.

After the unique signal from the button gets picked up, Benson set up a script that will do anything he wants. His experiment involved one Dash button keeping tabs on his baby’s diaper getting changed and another device recording when his baby woke up from his naps. All the data was automatically recorded in a Google Spreadsheet.

But how do you prevent the hacked Amazon dash from ordering any products? The answer is simpler than you could imagine. Just skip the initial configuration process after you receive the device. If you don’t enter an SKU, the button won’t know what to order for you.

However, there’s still a catch, even if you tackle the accidental household products ordering. Amazon’s Dash can act on its own, but the hacked, modified button will require something else. You’ll have to leave your computer on at all times. Also, make sure your computer is always connected to your network so it can pick up the button presses and upload data points to the spreadsheets.

If you’re no stranger to Python coding, Benson offered all the instructions and the script you need for hacking your own Amazon dash. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for the next hacker to set out a demo for turning on the coffee machine in the mornings or automatically locking the doors at night.

Image sources 1, 2, 3

Amazon Confirms Windows 10 on USB Flash Drive

July 19, 2015 By Kenneth Scott Leave a Comment

Amazon has confirmed that they will be selling Windows 10 on an USB Flash Drive starting August the 30th.

Forbes contributor Antony leather was talking about this exact thing last week – a rumor regarding Windows 10 availability on an USB Flash Drive.

This makes it even more appealing, to be honest. Having an OS on an USB Flash Drive which you can carry around with you everywhere may entice a lot of customers to buy the dongle. Most importantly, it’s way faster than your average DVD.

If you go on Amazon right now, you’ll be able to see the Microsoft Windows 10 store page for it’s Home, and Pro Versions.

The Windows 10 Home product will cost $119,99, and the Pro versions – which can come in English, or Spanish; will retail at $199,99.

Microsoft has announced that Amazon is their prime merchant of their, at the current moment, unreleased OS.

It’s strange, to be honest. The dongle isn’t available on Microsoft’s official store, and neither at Best Buy. A Microsoft spokesperson has replied to a few questions from VentureBeat, regarding the unavailability to buy from other online retailers – ” Windows 10 will be available on USB drives for purchase in retail channels shortly after launch. The suggested retail prices for Windows 10 in the U.S. are the same as Windows 8.1.”

The official release date for Windows 10 is set to 29th of July, and it can be downloaded for free across 190 markets across the world.

We expect an announcement to be made soon regarding Windows 10 on DVD.

Rumors have been plaguing the interwebz that Microsoft will tax Windows 10 users after the first free year of usage. They are incredibly false. Microsoft has stated time, and time again, that their product will support the device which was installed on for the entirety of its life-time.

Gordon Kelly, which also is a Forbes contributor has noted that owners of Windows 7, or Windows 8.1 are eligible for a free upgrade within the first year, but Enterprise owners – basically, different editions; of Windows 7, and 8.1, won’t be able to upgrade. Neither those who have pirated copies.

Edge is going to be the next step from Internet Explorer.

This is quite strange, because in March of this year I remember Microsoft saying that everyone could upgrade to Windows 10 – which was a way to combat piracy in China.

We will provide a mechanism for non-genuine Windows 10 PC devices to ‘get genuine’ via the new Windows Store, whether they are upgraded versions of Windows or purchased.

Now, this feels like a bait-and-switch strategy which I seriously don’t like. We’ll have to wait for the official release date, and see for ourselves what Microsoft statement is true.

Are you going to upgrade to Windows 10 at the end of this month? Or are you going to wait a couple of months for reviewers to tackle the new OS?

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Amazon Reveals New Kindle Paperwhite

June 18, 2015 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

The new Kindle Paperwhite will go on sale on June the 30th.

Amazon has worked hard to redesign their Kindle device, and the company has managed to stick with the same price – even though it has a ton of added features, and improvements.

The new Kindle Paperwhite sports 300dpi which doubles the existing resolution that his older sibling has. Amazon also announced that they have a new font available for the Kindle called Bookerly. It’s specially designed to work on Kindle’s new screen, and it will offer a more pleasant reading experience – it’s super easy to read at any point size.

Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos has stated that – ” The new Kindle Paperwhite obsesses over the details that matter most to readers – we’ve added our highest-resolution display so the words are crisp and clear on the page, a new font that is crafted exclusively for reading Kindle books, and a new typesetting engine that makes pages beautiful.”

Battery life stays mostly the same, even thought the screen can output a better resolution. Also, as I said before, the price will remain the same – that’s $119. The WiFi, and 3G variant will be a little bit more expensive, and it will result in you coughing up $189. You can pre-order yours right now on Amazon.

Their new Paperwhite will be on par with the Voyage device – both of them are offering crisp, and excellent quality images, and text.

A spokesperson for the company has noted that – ” With twice the pixels as the previous generation Kindle Paperwhite, the display delivers laser-quality text, making it easy to read comfortably at any font size, including at smaller fonts so you can fit more words on each page.”

The really good thing about Amazon’s new Kindle Paperwhite is the fact that it feels and looks just like the old one – why fix something that ain’t broken?

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Google has Started a Cloud War!

May 20, 2015 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

The cloud wars are real, and they are being fought on common ground – or at least, that’s what Google hopes!

Google has just cut down on prices for its Compute Engine by 30 percent, and has made Amazon, its primary challenger, re-consider their strategies.

The big G has also introduce a new a new Preemptible Virtual Machine – it’s able to deliver short-term computing capacity at a low, and fixed price. If Amazon doesn’t change its tactics immediately, they will most likely lose a ton of clients to Google.

The Google Cloud Platform Blog states that – ” Compared to other public cloud providers, Google Cloud Platform is now 40 percent less expensive for many workloads. Starting today, we are reducing prices of all Google Compute Engine Instance types as well as introducing a new class of preemptible virtual machines that deliver short-term capacity for a very low, fixed cost.”

This means that in the US a standard instance will be 20 percent cheaper, and a micro-instance will be 30 percent less. Europe, and Asia haven’t received the same treatment yet, and the price reduction will come in the near future, maybe even next month.

Google states that their clients have the upper-hand when it comes down to saving money – they will be paying 40 percent less than what other individuals are paying using a competitors services wink wink Amazon.

Microsoft, and Amazon are most likely to counter Google’s offer, so be patient and don’t move just yet from a service to another. Most analysts think that the services will get even more cheaper in the years to come, eventually leading to it being completely free.

Now, Google introduced their Preemptible Virtual Machines, that cost $0.015, and they are 70 percent cheaper than their non-preemptible siblings. But there is a catch to this. Google doesn’t guarantee that their VM’s will run continuously. This shouldn’t pose as a problem, because you use them only in a cluster, and if one drops, the cluster won’t suffer – also, you’ll receive a notification 30 seconds prior to it going offline.

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Amazon Giveaway – Free Android Apps and Games

May 15, 2015 By Roxanne Briean 2 Comments

Everybody loves free stuff – the more, the merrier the world could become; and of course we love it when Amazon has a giveaway of android apps, and games.

The offer is available until this Saturday, May the 16th, and all of the free goodies can be redeemed on Amazon’s Android store – you’ll need their app installed on your device.

Games

Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series

Only episode 3 I’m afraid, so you’ll need to play the first 2 if you want to be sucked into the game’s universe. I’ve played the first two on my PC, and to be honest, they didn’t mark me, so I said meh when the third episode was released. A couple of friends of mine are loving the hell out of it, but for me, it lacks a proper dialogue, it seems like everything is happening way too fast, I’m not interested in the characters because they feel vapid, and when they die, I just don’t care.

The graphics are nice – and that’s a stretch. Their The Walking Dead game series was absolutely amazing from every point of view, too bad that this one lacks the ability to make me want to play it every day.

Five Night’s at Freddy’s 3

If you’re looking for something that would make you stay awake in bed late at night Five Night’s at Freddy’s 3 is for you.

The indie point-and-click survival horror game made its début on Android devices on March the 7th of this year, and has since received mixed to positive reviews regarding its gameplay, story, and the ability to scare your panties off.

Bloons TD 5

Your basic tower defence game that features cartoonish graphics – they praise themselves as having unrivalled depth and replayability. It also features 2 player co-op play. With 250+ random missions, I don’t think you’re going to get bored soon of its scenery. Tower defence games are the perfect pass-time activity while you’re waiting to get to work during your daily subway commute.

Biker Race Pro

Your run of the mill biking game. You got 96 challenging tracks, and pretty easy controls. It’s nothing special really. If you’ve played one of them, you’ve played them all.

Angry Birds Seasons HD

Well, I’m an Angry Birds fan. I’ve played all of them – I haven’t gotten into any leader-boards, but at least I’m having the time of my life saving my sweet babies from those vicious, and unconscious piggies. 550+ levels for pure enjoyment make this free game a must!

Sorcery 3

This is new to me. I haven’t heard of it until now. It seems like an adventure game that lets the player explore the world and fight monsters, and demons, mythological creatures too. IGN states that it’s -” Some of 2013’s best interactive storytelling”. Have I’ve been living under a rock? Need to download it as soon as I have some spare time on my hands.

Cooking Dash Deluxe

A casual game that gives the player responsibility over cooking stuff – 5 exotic restaurants for you to take care of, and a whole lot of recipes to make right.

Grudgeball: Enter the Chaosphere

Based on CartoonNetwork’s – The Regular Show, Grudgeball is your average dodgeball game at first glance, but once you spend a couple of minutes playing it you realize that you’re eating from God’s plate. It’s incredibly fun, so be careful how much you play it at work – it can get addictive, and you can say bye-bye to your productivity for the day.

Rebuild

After the zombie apocalypse has eradicated most of humanity, you are tasked to rebuild the world as you see fit. Gather survivors, defend your safe havens, reclaim one building at a time, rediscover technologies – humans can’t get pass the decade without a selfie stick – and the most important, and fun thing of all – kill zombies!

Peppy Pals Beach

A fun game for your children. Great visuals, funny cartoonish animals and surprisingly fun mini-games.

Amongst others.

Apps

Photo Studio Pro

125 filters, 40 effects, and basic transform operations like resize, crop and rotate. The great thing about it is that the developers are constantly updating it with various tools, filters, and effects.

Deep Sleep with Andrew Johnson

An app that helps you get rid of insomnia, and to relax your mind and let go of your worries. At least, that’s what the descriptions says. I’m not a fan of apps that think they can help me with my sleeping problems. Listening to sounds has been proven to work, but interacting with an app, I don’t know, it sounds sketchy.

AVG Antivirus Pro

AVG is one of the greatest antivirus software available, and when it’s free you shouldn’t miss the opportunity of downloading it.

Smart Office 2

It’s an office suite that lets the user wiew, create, edit and share Microsoft Office documents – including PDFs. It has a ton of features. It usually costs $10, so be happy that it’s free!

G-Stomper VA-Beast Synthesizer

Get into making repetitive trance and house music NOW! Or don’t do that, because it’s horrible. It’s the perfect tool to create music on the go using your smartphone, or tablet, but please don’t create repetitive 4/4 club music. The world has had enough of Ancient Deep House Volume MLXVI.

Amongst others.

Don’t forget to check the full list of free apps and games available only for Android. Sorry Windows Phone, and iOS users, but Amazon is in love with a little green droid.

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