Upon visiting Berlin’s IFA2107 — Germany’s answer to CES — recently, there was one word I kept hearing: Alexa. In the consumer hardware space, it’s a great time to be Amazon, if the sheer number of hardware companies jumping on the Alexa bandwagon are anything to go by. Only today it was revealed that Amazon is working… Read more »
Amazon’s engineers are cooking up some wild ideas on how to integrate drones into major cities. In the latest patent filing, the e-commerce giant shows how special facilities connected to trains, boats, and vans could be used as storage space and repair stations for drones. The drones would be moved to areas of anticipated demand… Read more »
Amazon may use its drone delivery service to analyze customer’s homes, offering ‘recommendations’ from its store or third-party services like gardening or roof repairs. The patent, granted on Wednesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), shows how the drones would use cameras to take photos during its descent. The photos would then be… Read more »
Amazon has reportedly acquired data analysis and search engine startup Graphiq for around $50 million, according to LA Times, citing four sources familiar with the deal. Launched in 2009 as FindTheBest, the startup offered online spreadsheets comparing vacations, technology, real estate, and more. It would pull data, like prices and ratings, from public sources, allowing… Read more »
The acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon has been the focus of much attention over the last week. And it’s not only retailers that are taking notice. With our increased desire for delivered goods, drone companies are looking toward Amazon as a way to shepherd in the use of drones in mainstream retail. Amazon is,… Read more »
Amazon has presented a few weird ideas for delivery and its latest, a skyscraper beehive filled with drones, is no exception. The patent application is another look at how Amazon plans to integrate drones and improve ‘last mile’ delivery. Most of Amazon’s warehouses are located on the outskirts of cities and it would take too… Read more »
Amazon Friday announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion. Amazon has ostensibly been an online retailer for over 20 years — except some niche retail bookstores and their attempt last year at… Read more »
As part of yesterday’s WorldWide Developer Conference (WWDC) Google launched their foray into home connectivity with the HomePad called by Apple CEO Tim Cook, “breakthrough home speaker with amazing sound and incredible intelligence that will reinvent home audio.” Don’t overlook the last word, in his statement, despite the desire some will have to group HomePad with… Read more »
The cloud computing pricing war is nothing new. In 2014, Microsoft, Google and Amazon entered a fight with the aim to gobble up the biggest slice of the market share by matching each other’s falling prices. What ensued was a price slashing spree in a few days’ span, in some cases dropping cloud computing product premiums… Read more »
A report released this week by global research and consulting firm Ovum has explored the changing identity of the customer in the digital age with the emergence of what they term the “Augmented Customer” — an interconnectedness between customers, retailers, and technology. “With the number of connected smart devices expected to double thanks to advancements in smart home,… Read more »
