Walmart May Launch A Video Streaming Service, To Battle Netflix And Amazon

Walmart may be the next giant to enter the video streaming wars according to a report from The Information. Walmart is reportedly considering launching its own video streaming service to battle Netflix and Amazon Prime Video utilizing Microsoft Cloud Servers in a five year deal. Walmart wants to undercut its competition by pricing its service at $8 per month or lower. Additionally, Walmart is said to be considering an ad supported free tier of service as well.

Walmart isn't new to video streaming game it already owns Vudu, a service for buying and renting movies. Vudu launched its own ad supported streaming service Movies on Us a few years ago which has failed to take off to date.

According to the report the $8 per month price comes from the idea that Netflix and Amazon are more popular with customers on the East and West Coasts. Customers may move toward a lower cost option. Currently, Netflix prices its service between $8 and $14 per month while Amazon Prime Video is roughly $8 per month.


Source: The Information

Amazon Buys Smart Camera And Doorbell Maker Blink

Blink’s cameras start at $99 with the company’s video doorbell said to make its debut in 2018 for $99 for existing customers. Apart from availability Blink’s products are also easy to set up they operate on batteries that the company says will keep its cameras and doorbell working for two years.

Blink is also working on a video centric home security system, presumably available sometime next year.

Amazon confirmed the purchase with The Verge, saying:

"As one of Blink’s distributors, we already know customers love their home security cameras and monitoring systems. We’re excited to welcome their team and invent together on behalf of customers."

Essential Phone Gets Permanent Price Drop To $499, Previous Buyers Get $200 "Friends And Family" Code

Essential Phone was first announced and went on sale in May. The high end Android phone later started shipping to customers in late August. At the time the price of the phone was $699, but a few days ago some retailers started discounting the device by $100. This evening Essential announced that the phone was getting a permanent $200 price drop to $499 on its web store.

Niccolo de Masi the president of Essential, stated that anyone who bought the Essential Phone before October 22 will be able to get a $200 “friends and family” code for use on its store. The code can be used to reduce the price of a new Essential Phone purchase, which means if you have one of these codes the price of the phone will go down to $299. The code can also be applied to the purchase of the company’s Essential 360 Camera add-on for the phone, which basically makes that accessory free. Those folks will have to submit their details to claim the $200 store code at the source link below by November 15.


Source: Essential, $200 "friends and family" code

Essential Phone Is Now Available For Purchase

Andy Rubin’s startup, Essential is finally opening up orders for its first phone... the Essential Phone. The unlocked bezel less device is now available from Essential and multiple retailers for $699.

In the United States you’ll have three primary options for picking up an Essential Phone. First, through Essential’s own online store. If you’re at all interested in checking out the company’s modular 360-degree camera, this is the portal to buy through since you’ll be able to get it for $50 on top of your order rather than paying the standard $199 price. You can also add a protection plan that lasts two years for an additional $99.

In the United States, you’ll have four options for picking up an Essential Phone. First, through Essential’s own online store. If you’re interested in checking out the company’s modular 360 degree camera this is the portal to buy through since you’ll be able to get it for $50 in addition to your order rather than paying the standard $199 price. You can also add a protection plan that lasts two years for an additional $99. 

If you’d prefer to buy elsewhere Essential Phone is available through Sprint, Best Buy, or Amazon as well. Best Buy lists the phone as a Sprint model but the bands listed on the product page still support all major US carriers. Sprint is offering a deal that cuts the price of the phone in half for early buyers taking the monthly payment price to just $14.58 per month for 18 months. Essential is offering pre orders of the unlocked model through Amazon with a September 1st release date.

The Essential Phone is available to Canadian buyers through TELUS.

Essential also confirms a few more details about the phone, Essential says "Technology moves so quickly that companies rush to release a new phone each year, but most times even that isn’t fast enough. This deluge of devices isn’t good for your wallet or for the planet. Essential Phone will get guaranteed Android OS updates for 2 years and will get monthly security updates for 3 years, so your phone will always be secure and have the latest features."

Andy Rubin's Essential Secures Funding From Amazon, Promises Phone Release Date Next Week

Essential, Android creator Andy Rubin's smartphone startup announced its phone earlier this year but has yet to say when it will actually become available. 

In the time since, the company has announced retail partners and exclusive carriers for each region including Sprint in the U.S. and TELUS in Canada. Now the company announced it secured investment funding from a few investment giants including Amazon and Tencent Holdings.

The $300 million infusion was confirmed by Essential to the Wall Street Journal. Essential also announced that Amazon and Best Buy will be launch partners in addition to Sprint being the exclusive carrier for the Essential Phone in the US, though all versions will be unlocked and usable on all U.S. networks.

Amazon Prime Video Rumored For Apple TV Fourth Generation

Apple and Amazon are rumored to be close to an agreement which would bring Amazon’s Prime Video app to the Apple TV fourth generation according to a new report from. 

According to people familiar with the two companies, Amazon employees are expecting that the tvOS App could arrive in the third quarter of the year allowing Amazon Prime Video subscribers to stream TV shows and movies to Apple’s fourth generation set top box. 

Currently, Amazon does provide an iOS app allowing users to stream to the Apple TV using AirPlay but it lacks the elegance and simplicity of a native tvOS app. 

According to Apple, the decision not to release a tvOS app prior to this was entirely up to Amazon.

Amazon Echo With Touchscreen Revealed, In Leaked Images

The leak images come from AFTVnews and Evleaks, who has a particularly good record of leaking upcoming products. Codenamed Knight, it is expected later this month and will be the company’s flagship Alexa device.

The device has a slant that angles upwards so that the assumed 7 inch touchscreen will be visible when looking down from above. From the leaked image the interface shows the time in the top left corner with calendar events beneath. The backdrop is of clouds assuming users will be able to customize wallpapers.

Below the display there is a pretty large speaker grill. Similar to the recently announced Echo Look, there also appears to be a camera above the display in the center.

Source: Evleaks, AFTVnews

Google Is Reportedly Working On An Amazon Echo Competitor

Nest revealed that it would soon work with Amazon’s Echo speaker last month and a report from Re/code said that the Nest division while it would surely love to was not currently working on a competing product. 

Rumored details are just that at the moment, but it wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to think that maybe the Google OnHub team is working on a future product. 

Tony Fadell went on record saying the Google OnHub was a “collaborative effort between the two companies” ultimately using Nest’s Thread technology. The Google OnHub featured some of the same functionality that another Nest product a yet to be announced wireless hub codenamed Flintstone was supposed to provide.


Source: Google OnHub

Amazon’s Move To Release A $50 Tablet

Amazon is preparing to hit tablet market this holiday season with a $50 device that has a 6 inch screen. That's half the price of the company's current 6-inch Fire HD tablet, and even less expensive than the company's Kindle reader, which starts at $79.

The current 6 inch Fire HD tablet is one of the cheapest tablets worth buying, and while the idea of an even cheaper tablet sounds wild. There are no specs yet but WSJ suggests the new $50 device will test the limits of cost savings.

Amazon could also be exploring other ways to make the $50 target price possible. The company's current Fire HD tablets may be as cheap as they are because of lock screen ads, and Amazon could expand ads like those to reach the $50 mark.

We'll be sure to keep you posted as more detail become available. What's your thoughts? Comment below...

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Amazon Announces Fire TV

Amazon’s Fire TV has three times the power of any of the competitors listed above. It’s packs a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and a dedicated graphics processor for fast, fluid playback. It also has dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi to enable instant streaming with a feature called “ASAP” that pre-loads videos based on what you’ve watched previously. The more you use Fire TV, the more accurate ASAP gets.

Amazon Fire TV has a remote and a search aspect that Amazon is hyping. The entire interface is incredibly fluid and easy to navigate, and the remote contains a microphone that can be used for quick voice search. This is a huge improvement over most set-top boxes that require you to search by typing a query one letter at a time.

In addition to its ability to stream video, Fire TV can play games, stream music, create slideshows of your photos and even launch a kid mode dubbed FreeTime that includes tons of free content from Amazon Prime. Fire TV isn't a closed ecosystem with apps like Prime Instant Video, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and Vimeo currently supported and more on the way.

Fire TV is available now from Amazon for $99. Fire TV is currently being offered with a 30-day free trial of both Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Source: Amazon

Asus Chromebox Preorders Now Available For $179

Asus today started accepting preorders for the device through a number of online retailers. Amazon is currently accepting orders and listing an expected release date of March 17th for the new Chromebox.

The new Chromebox from Asus will actually arrive in three CPU configurations. Preorders today start for the dual-core 1.4GHz Celeron 2955U model, while an Intel Core i3 will also arrive March 14 as will an i7 model for outside of North America. Other specs include 2GB RAM, a 16GB SSD, 4 USB 3.0 ports, SD card reader, HDMI, DisplayPort, Bluetooth 4.0, and dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n. That’s all inside a case that measures 4.88″ x 4.88″ x 1.65” and comes in at 2.2 pounds. 

You can preorder the Asus Chromebox from Amazon now. 

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Hits The US This Week For $399

Last month Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy Note 8.0 at Mobile World Congress, and today they revealed pricing and availability for the US. The Galaxy Note 8.0 Wi-Fi will hit retail stores on April 11 and sell for a suggested price of $399. Customers who wish to pick up the device can find it at Amazon, Best Buy/Best Buy Mobile, H.H. Gregg, Newegg, P.C. Richard & Son, Staples and TigerDirect.com.

Highlights of the device include an 8.0 inch HD display (1280 x 800, 189ppi), 1.6GHz Quad Core processor and 2GB of RAM, 5-megapixel camera on the back can shoot 1080p video, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera can handle video chats at 720p resolution, 16 GB internal storage with a microSD slot for expansion, built-in IR blaster, and a large 4,600 mAh battery.

“The Galaxy Note defined an entirely new smartphone category and the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet redefined the tablet experience for consumers,” said Travis Merrill, vice president of Samsung Electronics America, Inc. “With the Galaxy Note 8.0, we fully expect to ignite the mid-size tablet market Samsung pioneered with the first Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Note 8.0 is small enough to fit in your pocket or purse and packs the power needed for full mobile entertainment and productivity.”

We just received a demo unit to check out, but we felt that the unique device deserved some more attention and not a rushed 48-hour review. Be on the lookout for our full impressions and check out Samsung’s presentation below from MWC to get an idea of what to expect from the Note 8.0.

Source: Samsung

Amazon Buys Speech Recognition Firm Ivona

Amazon on Thursday announced it is buying Ivona, a firm specializing in text-to-speech technology.

The Poland-based Ivona's technology verbalizes written text messages. Amazon has been using Ivona's technology for its Kindle e-readers since 2009. Ivona also supplies "Explore By Touch" and "Voice Guide" navigation for Kindle Fire models. Explore By Touch gives readers an auditory cue when they swipe their fingers across the Kindle Fire's menu (for instance, the title of a book would be read aloud if it was swiped.) In Voice Guide, any action the customer performs on the device is read aloud. In Amazon's example, when you open a new book, it would say "The Hunger Games. Book opened." Both features are aimed at vision-impaired customers.

While the technology appears to be the exact opposite of Apple's Siri, Amazon's purchase might signal increased hands-free features that could be employed on a rumored Amazon phone.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Source: Mashables

Kindle Fires Can Be Ad-Free For $15

The Internet has been in a tizzy since we heard that Amazon would not be allowing the removal of the "special offers" package from the new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD units. If you weren't aware how all this works, previous Kindle readers were available at a little bit lower price, but included ads to help support them. For a small fee, you could have these removed.

We first heard that Amazon would be including this on all the new Kindle Fire devices, and apparently that they would not be offering an ad-free experience. Ars Technica has received word from Amazon that they will be allowing users to go ad-free for a one-time payment of $15.00 This hasn't yet been updated on the Amazon special offers website, but we're inclined to believe the fine folks at Ars Technica. 

Short version -- if you were worried about having non-removable ads on your new Kindle Fire or Kindle Fire HD, there's nothing to fear. They can be removed if you pay Amazon a $15 fee. 

Amazon Debuts 4G LTE Kindle Fire HD To Lineup

Amazon announced its first tablet with 4G LTE connectivity, the Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE. The 8.9-inch tablet will be offered for $499 and includes 250MB of data per month, 20GB of cloud storage and a $10 Amazon credit for just $49.99 a year. Amazon’s latest tablet will operate on AT&T’s 4G LTE network and includes an upgraded 32GB of internal storage. The Kindle Fire HD with 4G LTE will be available for preorder today and begin shipping on November 20th. Amazon also announced a new front-lit Kindle Paperwhite eReader and three other Kindle Fire tablets during its press conference on Thursday.

RIM Considering Splitting Business

According to a new report, RIM may be planning to split its handset and messaging divisions up. This rumor originated from U.K. newspaper The Sunday Times. The publication claims that RIM is considering breaking off its device business into a separate company or straight up selling it, with both Amazon and Facebook named as possible buyers. As for the messaging side of things, RIM could decide to open its platform up to competitors like Apple and Google to help raise some income. It's also said that another option for RIM could be to keep the company together but to sell a stake of it to a larger firm, like Microsoft.

This certainly isn't the first time that we've heard that a big change for RIM may be in the works, and there's even been rumors claiming that the company may open up BlackBerry Messenger to iOS and Android, although that's something that we recently heard won't be happening. We do know that the BlackBerry-manufacturer has hired JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to help explore its strategic options, but so far RIM hasn't shed any light on what it may end up doing. I'm sure that RIM is weighing all of its options, though, and it'll be interesting to see what route it ends up taking. What do you all think RIM should do? Should it sell off its handset business or open up BBM to other platforms? Or should it just keep doing what it's been doing?

Grab A Refurbished Kindle Fire For $139 Today Only UPDATE: SOLD OUT

Amazon has a stock of refurbished Kindle Fires up for grabs on their site. The 7″ e-Reader/tablet hybrid is the second best-selling tablet behind Apple’s iPad, and at the extremely discounted price of $139 is a no-brainer for anyone who has an investment in Amazon’s ecosystem. The Kindle Fire allows you to consume Kindle Books and Amazon Video on Demand, and enjoy thousands of Android applications featured on Amazon’s own app store.

If you want to score a refurbished Kindle Fire for $60 off the $199 retail price, you’ll have to act fast. The deal is one of Amazon’s featured Gold Box deals, and will run out at the end of the day today or as long as supplies last. We expect these things will sell out fairly quickly, so be sure to get an order in soon if you’ve got your eyes on this device.

Update: as of 3:13 Amazon has sold out of there refurbished Kindle Fire for $139

Angry Birds Space Download Now Live

 

If things go according to plan, Angry Birds Space should now be available on the Amazon Appstore right here. The game will be available for free with ads, $0.99 for the ad-free version, or $2.99 for a special HD version made for Kindle Fire. 

Amazon Kindle Fire gets unofficial Android 4.0

Amazon’s popular Kindle Fire tablet now has access to an unofficial Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update. Members of the xda-developers forum recently managed to get a “pre-alpha” version of Android 4.0 running on Amazon’s new slate. The installation is based on the popular CyanogenMod 9 and while the ROM is working well in this early stage, there are still a number of bugs that need to be ironed out. It should also be clarified that this custom Ice Cream Sandwich ROM will remove all of Amazon’s customization features from the tablet, such as its user interface and deep integration with Amazon services. Hit the break for a video of Android 4.0 in action on the Kindle Fire and provided you understand the risks involved, follow the read link for all the tools you’ll need to install Android 4.0 on your Kindle Fire.

Microsoft and Nokia also casually considered jointly buying RIM

Amazon casually considered a bid for troubled BlackBerry maker RIM this summer, and apparently it wasn't the only one. Now, the Wall Street Journal's anonymous sources report that Microsoft and Nokia "flirted with the idea" of teaming up to buy RIM, too. The Journal suggests that this wasn't anything more than a simple idea that came up at one of the regular meetings between senior executives from all three companies — perhaps it could have even been a joke — but it's still pretty crazy to imagine Microsoft and Nokia executives pondering how profitable it might be to divide RIM's businesses and intellectual property among themselves