Transparent premier
Amazon announces it will broadcast all ten episodes of Soloway’s dark comedy Transparent September 26th on Prime Instant Video. Solloway:
I am beyond excited to share Transparent with the world through Amazon. They’ve been so supportive through this incredible process. Artistically, it’s been a dream come true. I absolutely got to make the show I wanted to make.
The show stars Jeffrey Tambor, Judith Light, Gaby Hoffmann, Amy Landecker, and Jay Duplass. The show follows the lives of a Los Angeles family as they deal with the secrets they have kept from each other. Viewers can watch the pilot for free on Amazon Instant Video.
Third Pilot Season
Amazon debuts its third pilot season, three comedy series and two hour-long thrillers. Viewers can watch the pilots for free on Amazon Instant Video. Based on viewer comments and feedback, Amazon will greenlight selected shows to be made into an Amazon Original Series. The comedies are The Cosmopolitans, Really, and Red Oaks, and the thriller pilots are Hand of God and Hysteria. Roy Price:
We’re delighted to bring Amazon customers the work of these passionate and talented creators and are excited to get customer feedback. It’s an exciting time at Prime Instant Video, with new, original shows coming to the service every month for the rest of the year.
Same day delivery
0 CommentsSame Day Delivery is being launched in Metro Atlanta. Orders placed before 12pm seven days per week are now available for same day delivery.
It will come at a cost: same-day delivery for Amazon customers with a “prime” membership will pay $5.99 per order. Those without the membership will pay $8.99 per order, plus 99 cents per item.
Purchases Twitch for over $1 billion
Amazon acquires Twitch, the live stream video gaming site, for over $1 billion after Google withdraws from the purchase. The deal includes a cash pay of $970 million, nearly 20 percent of Amazon’s reserve revealed in the latest quarterly report. Amazon now owns a “YouTube” type platform with the ability to reach the young men. During 2013, over half of the total viewership watched video game playing for 20 hours weekly. Bezos:
Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of games each month.
New card reader
0 CommentsAmazon introduces new Card Reader through a company based out of Seattle. There are options to bundle the software with the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s Fire Smartphone as well as other options such as receipt printers and cash drawers available for purchase. Merchants app is available both for iPhone and iPad as well as some Android devices and can be found in the app store. The physical card reading device is available for purchase from Amazon for $10.
We want to make accepting payments so easy and inexpensive that it no longer gets in the way of a business owner doing what they love — serving their customers and growing their business.
Amazon Local Register
0 CommentsAmazon unveils a new card payment service for businesses to transact purchases. Registration for Amazon Local Register is available through its mobile app. The iOS and Android versions of the app are free for download. Rivaling Square, which delivers a similar service, businesses can accept credit or debit card transactions with the use of a card reader ($10) available on Amazon’s website. Using the same technology that powers purchases on Amazon.com, the online retailer receives 2.5% of each payment. Amazon says merchants will be credited $10 to offset the cost of the reader. Money is collected through the service is available on the next business day.
Invests $2billion in India
Amazon will invest an additional $2 billion in India to support its growth in the country. Amazon has scaled up rapidly in the country since its launch in June last year. The company has heavily invested in logistics and marketing and has created a network of warehouses across the country. It now sells over 17 million products across 28 categories and hosts about 8,500 merchants on its marketplace.
Fire Phone #1 on Amazon
0 CommentsAnnedroids
Amazon launches Annedroids — its third original programming for kids series. The show revolves around a kid scientist Anne and her human and non-human friends, including a genderless robot negotiating “boy” and “girl” roles. Created by J.J. Johnson and Sinking Ship Entertainment, the series is produced by Amazon Studios, the company’s in-house production company:
[the show] organically showcases the STEAM (Science & Technology interpreted through Engineering & the Arts) curriculum by way of a ‘secret garden’ of science, a junkyard environment where it’s not unusual to see a 16-foot claw-like android helping an 11-year-old kid scientist harness lightning to power up her latest invention – and that’s just episode 1!
Kindle Unlimited
A user on the message board Kboards finds a page on Amazon’s website about a program called Kindle Unlimited, which offers unlimited ebooks from participating publishers for $9.99 per month. Amazon removes the page from its website, but a cache is saved on Google, which says:
Enjoy unlimited access to over 600,000 titles and thousands of audiobooks on any device for just $9.99 a month.
Glass director joins Amazon
Babak Parviz, Google X director and one of the creators of Google Glass, leaves to join Amazon. Amazon and Parviz both decline to comment about his role in the company.
Raises shipping price to $0.01
After France bans free shipping of books, Amazon raises it shipping price from free to $0.01 Euros, which is one penny. In an FAQ for their shoppers, Amazon explains:
We are unfortunately no longer allowed to offer free deliveries for book orders. We have therefore fixed delivery costs at one centime per order containing books and dispatched by Amazon to systematically guarantee the lowest price for your book orders.
Amazon Zocalo
0 CommentsAmazon announces Zocalo, a business-oriented document sharing and storage service. Users can upload files and choose who has access to them within an organization. They can also set a deadline for when the user(s) they send it to should provide feedback on the document. The service costs $5 per month per user and offers each person 200 GB of storage.
Sued over in-app purchases
0 CommentsThe FTC sues Amazon after the company disregards warnings that they need to require a password for in-app purchases so they cannot accidentally be bought by kids or users who are not aware they cost real money:
Amazon has received thousands of complaints related to unauthorized in-app charges by children in these and other games, amounting to millions of dollars of charges. In many instances, parents have complained that their children could not or did not understand that their activities while playing the app could result in charges that cost real money. Amazon has received thousands of complaints related to unauthorized in-app charges by children in these and other games, amounting to millions of dollars of charges.
Amazon does not comment on the lawsuit.
Requests FAA drone permission
Amazon is asking the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to use Amazon Prime Air drones to deliver packages to customers in 30 minutes or less. The aircraft can travel over 50 miles per hour and carry loads of up to 5 pounds. The Company says, about 86 percent of Amazon’s deliveries are 5 pounds or less. The FAA allows hobbyists and model aircraft makers to fly drones, but commercial use is mostly banned. Amazon is asking for an exemption so it can test its drones only over Amazon’s private property, away from airports or areas with aviation activity —and not in densely populated areas or near military bases.
We believe customers will love it, and we are committed to making Prime Air available to customers worldwide as soon as we are permitted to do so.
Requests drone test permission
0 CommentsAmazon sends a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration asking if they can have special permission to test their delivery drones outside of the six sites approved for drone testing in the country. They say they will be able to improve the technology more quickly if they can test them close to their headquarters in Seattle:
Current FAA rules allow hobbyists and manufacturers of model aircraft wide latitude in flying their sUAS [Small Unmanned Aerial Systems] outdoors. Because Amazon is a commercial enterprise we have been limited to conducting R&D flights indoors or in other countries. Of course, Amazon would prefer to keep the focus, jobs, and investment of this important research and development initiative in the United States by conducting private research and development operations outdoors near Seattle.
Denies FTC request
Amazon resists a request by the Federal Trade Commission to require a password for in-app purchases using their application store. They say they are willing to go to court over this issue. A FTC spokesperson says:
The commission is focused on ensuring that companies comply with the fundamental principle that consumers should not be made to pay for something they did not authorize.
However, Amazon claims in a letter to the FTC that they refund applications purchased accidentally:
When customers told us their kids had made purchases they didn’t want, we refunded those purchases.
Creative Galaxy
Amazon adds another series to its original children’s programming produced by Amazon Studios. Creative Galaxy, from Angela Santomero and Out of the Blue, relies on the premise that art is part of our everyday lives. Available to stream on Amazon Instant Video, the first six episodes are free for Amazon Prime subscribers. The show tells the story of space travellers Art and Epiphany who journey the galaxy making art to fix the problems they face. At the end of each show, a live-action featurette allows parents and children to learn how to make the crafts featured in each episode.
Halts pre-orders
In tandem with its dispute with publishing companies, Amazon stops taking advance orders on select Warner Bros. videos, including Lego: The Movie, 300: Rise Of An Empire, Winter’s Tale, and Transcendence. Amazon has not commented on the dispute, but a spokesperson from Time Warner states:
It is general policy not to comment on contract terms or any other proprietary information having to do with our partners.
Amazon customers complain verbally on the site, that Lego: The Movie and other popular titles are not listed on Amazon’s “forthcoming list” and “Kids & Family” page. The dispute between Amazon and Time Warner will not be resolved until a new contract is agreed upon by both parties.
Tumble Leaf
Amazon releases Tumble Leaf, its first original programming geared for kids. The first episode is free on Amazon Instant Video and the rest of the series are available exclusively to Amazon Prime subscribers. Targeted to preschoolers and their parents, the stop-motion animated show features a blue Fox named Fig, his sidekick Stick, and cohort Maple. They live on a ship dry docked adjacent to a beach and a green forest. Created by Drew Hodges and produced by Bix Pix Entertainment, the show is designed to promote “creative thinking and education through a world of adventure and play.”
