Amazon

Amazon today held a media event that saw the introduction of a slew of new products, ranging from an in-home Alexa robot to a new fitness service that mimics Apple Fitness+. We've rounded up all of Amazon's most interesting announcements below. Astro Household Robot Astro is an Alexa-integrated home robot that can monitor the home, help users keep in touch with family, and more. Astro can...

Microsoft today announced that it is opening up the Microsoft Store for Windows to third-party storefront apps, including the Epic Games Store and the Amazon Appstore. Epic and Amazon's stores will be discoverable on the Microsoft Store for Windows and can be downloaded like any other app. As a reason for the change, Microsoft said that it wants to ensure that its "business terms are fair"...

Fakespot, which is known for analyzing reviews from popular websites to determine their accuracy, today had its iOS app removed from Apple's App Store. According to The Verge, Amazon sent Apple a takedown request, which led to the app being pulled. Fakespot's iOS app just launched in June, and it was designed to allow users to log into Amazon and buy items while using the Fakespot engine to...

Apple's AirPlay 2 and HomeKit features have been rolling out to a number of smart TVs, and as of today, the functionality is available on 2020 Toshiba and Insignia 4K UHD Smart Fire TVs. ‌AirPlay‌ 2 is designed to allow iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to stream content to an AirPlay-compatible device, and with built-in support in Toshiba and Insignia TVs, an Apple TV is not required to use ‌AirPl...

Apple and Amazon are facing antitrust disciplinary proceedings in Spain for possible restrictive competition practices around the sale of Apple products, it has emerged. In a >press release, the country's National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) said it had initiated the proceedings against both companies for "possible anti-competition practices in the sectors of Internet sales...

Amazon today announced it has reached an agreement with MGM to acquire the entertainment company for $8.45 billion, following a report last year that claimed MGM had reached out to Apple to gauge interest in a potential acquisition. The acquisition of MGM will likely bolster Amazon Prime Video's catalog of movies and TV shows amid increasing competition from the likes of Netflix, Disney+,...

Amazon today announced that it is teaming up with Tile to add Amazon Sidewalk integration to Tile's Bluetooth trackers. Amazon Sidewalk, for those unfamiliar, is a network of Amazon Bluetooth devices that's designed to improve the connectivity of devices like the Ring and Amazon Echo. Tile will now be joining Amazon Sidewalk, and through this integration, Amazon Echo and Ring devices will be ...

Amazon has today introduced its second-generation Echo Buds with a 21 percent smaller design and enhanced active noise cancellation. The second-generation Echo Buds introduce a white color option, and it is difficult to see past the clear design cues that Amazon has taken from the AirPods Pro's charging case, which looks almost exactly the same with an elongated design, a single centered...

Amazon maintains lists of its best selling products, and right now, the best-selling smartphone that's available from Amazon is an Amazon "Renewed" iPhone 8, which is priced starting at $178. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. That's super cheap for an ‌iPhone‌, and cheaper than Apple's own refurbished price for the same device, so in our latest YouTube video, we...

GameOn, Amazon's mobile gameplay recording platform, has been released on iPhone and iPad. The app lets game players capture video clips from a range of mobile titles that support screen recording and share them on the platform or to other sites. Amazon is the owner of Twitch, one of the market's biggest platforms for gameplay streaming. However, Twitch features long videos that can last...

Amazon has announced it is acquiring Wondery, the podcast startup that reportedly held talks with Apple last month as it shopped for a buyer. In a press release, Amazon said that Wondery had signed an agreement to join Amazon Music, bringing popular podcasts like "Dirty John" and "Dr. Death" into the streaming service's existing podcast offering. We're pleased to announce that Wondery has...

Amazon has added a new feature to its Alexa app for iOS devices, which is designed to allow users to type Alexa commands rather than having to use voice commands to interact with the personal assistant. In a statement provided to The Verge, Amazon says that Type with Alexa is a new feature that's available as of today in public preview capacity in the United States. Alexa iOS users can type...

Apple recently released the HomePod mini, a new $99 version of the original HomePod that's smaller, cuter, and, most importantly, competitively priced. At $99, the ‌HomePod mini‌ can better compete with affordable smart speakers from companies like Google and Amazon. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The ‌HomePod mini‌ has been praised for its high-quality sound at...

As AWS re:Invent kicks off, Amazon Web Services today announced new Mac instances for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, allowing AWS customers to run on-demand macOS workloads in the AWS cloud for the first time. Amazon says that the new feature extends the flexibility, scalability, and cost benefits of AWS to all Apple developers as those creating apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple...

Apple and Amazon are set to face antitrust scrutiny in Germany over a policy that forbids independent sellers from retailing Apple products on Amazon, Bloomberg reports. Germany's antitrust regulator, the Federal Cartel Office, has launched a probe into Apple and Amazon over the policy of "brandgating." The policy allows the makers of branded products, such as the iPhone, to have...

Amazon today announced that its Luna cloud-based gaming service is available in the United States as part of an early access test, with Luna able to be used on Macs, PCs, Fire TV, and iOS devices through web apps. Amazon is not able to develop a native app for the iPhone because of Apple's restrictions that would require each cloud-based streaming game to be submitted to the App Store...

For the last few years, Amazon has been hosting an epic Prime Day sale that offers up deals and discounts on a huge range of products, and like 2019, this year's Prime Day will actually take place over two days, kicking off at midnight on October 13. As usual, Amazon already has some early Prime Day deals on its website exclusively for Prime subscribers, with early discounts on Alexa devices ...

Last year, Apple, Amazon, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance, which includes Ikea, Samsung, and Philips, announced a new working group known as "Project Connected Home over IP" that set about developing an IP-based open-source connectivity standard for smart home products, with a focus on increased compatibility, security, and simplified development for manufacturers. The group has today announced a ...

Amazon has today announced "Halo," a new wearable with health and fitness tracking capabilities, reports The Verge. The Amazon Halo wristband consists of a sensor module and a band that attaches to the top of it. The sensor contains an accelerometer, a temperature sensor, a heart rate monitor, two microphones, an LED indicator light, and a button to turn the microphone on or off. The Halo...

Amazon will add podcasts to its Amazon Music and Audible services, according to a confidential email obtained by The Desk. Amazon said in the email that it would soon allow Amazon Music and Audible users to subscribe, download, and stream free podcasts on the services. Podcasts will also be available to customers of Amazon Music's ad-supported free tier, in addition to its premium paid...