Amazon

Link

Amazon Launches Pay-To-Read Serial Novels in ‘Kindle Vella’

Andrew Orr ·

Amazon has launched a service called Kindle Vella that introduces pay-to-read serialized books. In this case, “pay-to-read” means that these books offer the first three ”episodes” for free, with later episodes offered through “Tokens” that can be purchased in bundles.

We designed Kindle Vella as a mobile-first experience because we know readers are becoming more and more interested in stories that can be read quickly on their phones. At the same time, readers want the connection that you get from reading a story or author for a long period of time.

Link

Amazon Wants to Use Radar to Watch You Sleeping

Andrew Orr ·

On Friday the FCC approved [PDF] Amazon’s idea to create a device that uses radar to monitor a person as they sleep.

The use of Radar Sensors in sleep tracking could improve awareness and management of sleep hygiene, which in turn could produce significant health benefits for many Americans. Radar Sensors will allow consumers to recognize potential sleep issues.

That’s a from No Thank You from me.

Link

Amazon and Apple Most Valuable Brands, but Chinese Firms Closing in

Charlotte Henry ·

Amazon and Apple are still the world’s most valuable brands according to a Kantar Brand Z survey. However, as Reuters noted, Chinese firms are hot on their heels.

“Chinese brands are steadily and slowly progressing, and have made significant headway as more companies leverage their own technological developments and demonstrate their abilities to align with the major trends shaping China and the global market,” said Graham Staplehurst, global strategy director at Kantar BrandZ. Five brands more than doubled their value, led by Chinese e-commerce giants Pinduoduo (PDD.O) and Meituan (3690.HK), China’s top liquor maker Moutai (600519.SS), China’s TikTok and America’s Tesla (TSLA.O). Tesla, founded in 2003, was the fastest growing brand and became the most valuable car brand, growing its value by 275% year-on-year to $42.6 billion, Kantar said.

Link

You Have One Week to Opt Out of Amazon’s ‘Sidewalk’ Network Service

Andrew Orr ·

Amazon Sidewalk is the company’s network mesh service that shares your internet bandwidth with Amazon devices. You must opt out by June 8 if you don’t want this because the setting is turned on by default.

The new wireless mesh service will share a small slice of your Internet bandwidth with nearby neighbors who don’t have connectivity and help you to their bandwidth when you don’t have a connection.

By default, Amazon devices including Alexa, Echo, Ring, security cams, outdoor lights, motion sensors, and Tile trackers will enroll in the system.

Link

Amazon Data Breach Exposes 200,000 Fake Reviewers

Andrew Orr ·

Security researchers at SafetyDetectives found an insecure ElasticSearch database that potentially uncovers over 200,000 fake Amazon reviewers.

These Amazon vendors send to reviewers a list of items/products for which they would like a 5-star review. The people providing the ‘fake reviews’ will then buy the products, leaving a 5-star review on Amazon a few days after receiving their merchandise.

Upon completion, the provider of the fake review will send a message to the vendor containing a link to their Amazon profile, along with their PayPal details.

Cool Stuff Found

TMO's Charlotte Henry on MacVoices #21060 With Chuck Joiner

Charlotte Henry ·

Part two of the episode of MacVoices with Chuck Joiner featuring The MacObserver‘s UK Associate Editor and host of the Media+ podcast Charlotte Henry is now available to view. The discussion looks at how tech and politics affect each other. There is also a look at what Amazon securing Thursday Night Football means for sports and streaming. (Spoiler alert, Apple TV+ should still look at getting into sports.) Part one of the conversation, which focussed on the Media+ podcast, is also available to view.

Link

AWS Announces Ethereum on Amazon Managed Blockchain

Andrew Orr ·

Amazon Web Services announced on Wednesday the general availability of Ethereum on Amazon Managed Blockchain.

With Amazon Managed Blockchain, customers get secure networking, encryption at rest and transport, secure access to the network via standard open-source Ethereum APIs, fast and reliable syncs to the Ethereum blockchain, and durable elastic storage for ledger data. Amazon Managed Blockchain monitors node health, replaces unhealthy nodes, and automates Ethereum software upgrades, improving the availability of customers’ Ethereum infrastructure.

Link

Amazon Fire TV: Over 400 Live Streaming Channels Now Available

Charlotte Henry ·

Amazon Fire TV now has over 400 live streaming channels, Deadline reported. Furthermore,  half of these are free, ad-supported offerings. Some features have been updated too.

Nearly 20 programmers are supplying live channel content, among them bundled subscription services like YouTube TV, Sling TV and Philo. Newly integrated on Fire are free offerings like Xumo and Amazon’s IMDb TV and news app. Plex will soon join the fold. Voice commands via Amazon Alexa have also been added to live TV programs. Alexa will respond to commands to “play Good Morning America” or “play the Seahawks game,” for example. Live shows also now appear in the “App Peek” feature of the updated Fire TV user interface.

Link

Apple Feels Schadenfreude as Amazon is Accused of eBook Price Fixing

Andrew Orr ·

Nine years after an investigation found that Apple and the “Big Five” book publishers colluded to fix eBook prices to compete with Amazon, Amazon has now been accused of doing the same.

The lawsuit claims that almost 90% of all ebooks sold in the US are sold on Amazon, in addition to over 50% of all print books. The suit alleges that ebook prices dropped in 2013 and 2014 after Apple and major publishers were successfully sued for conspiring to set ebook prices, but rose again after Amazon renegotiated their contracts in 2015.

Link

Amazon Sidewalk Shares Your Wi-Fi With Neighbors

Andrew Orr ·

Amazon Sidewalk is a new initiative by the company that creates a low-bandwidth network pooled from the personal networks of Amazon device owners.

Amazon Sidewalk is a shared network, coming later this year, that helps devices like Amazon Echo devices, Ring Security Cams, outdoor lights, and motion sensors work better at home and beyond the front door. When enabled, Sidewalk can unlock unique benefits for your device, support other Sidewalk devices in your community, and even open the door to new innovations like locating items connected to Sidewalk.

Of course, there are numerous privacy and security concerns, although Amazon does claim it has “strong encryption” without going into details.

Link

Recall Reveals Amazon Ring Doorbells Could Set Your House on Fire

Andrew Orr ·

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed that Amazon’s Ring surveillance doorbells could set your house on fire. The company has issued a voluntary recall for second-generation devices. A spokesperson for Ring said that customers don’t need to return their device. Instead, the company sent out an email with proper installation instructions.

Consumers should immediately stop installing the recalled video doorbells and contact Ring for revised installation instructions or download them here.  Consumers can check if their video doorbell is part of this recall through Ring’s website or app.

Ring has received 85 incident reports of incorrect doorbell screws installed with 23 of those doorbells igniting, resulting in minor property damage.  The firm has received eight reports of minor burns.

Link

Bookshop.Org Unites Indie Sellers to Battle Amazon

Andrew Orr ·

Apparently this launched earlier this year but I haven’t heard of it until now. Bookshop.org is a virtual bookshop that partners with indie book sellers as a rival to Amazon.

Hunter believes the reason for Bookshop’s quick success is readers’ fondness for their local booksellers. “Bookstores have been in trouble for a while because of Amazon’s growth, but this pandemic has really accelerated it. Amazon has gotten much more powerful, while there are 100-year-old stores that are hanging on for survival,” he said. “I think we were so successful because enough people were conscious of that, and wanted to rally around around their beloved bookstores, because they care about the world that we emerge from this pandemic into.”