Free Video Trials For Amazon Prime Members

While it still may be some time before we see an Amazon Video app on Apple TV, the retailer’s streaming service continues to see improvements. And one of the more interesting developments has been the aggregation of third party video services — including on-demand and soon, in some cases, “live” content. Presumably, like Roku, Amazon is compensated for new … Read more

Amazon Takes On YouTube With New Video Publishing Platform

amazon-video-directBy Narottam Medhora and Anya George Tharakan

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> launched a service on Tuesday that allows users to post videos and earn royalties from them, setting up the world’s biggest online retailer to compete directly with Alphabet Inc’s <GOOGL.O> YouTube.

The service, called Amazon Video Direct, will make the uploaded videos available to rent or own, to view free with ads, or be packaged together and offered as an add-on subscription.

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Amazon Invests in Bluetooth Tracker for Alexa

By Lauren Hirsch

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> is investing between $250,000 and $500,000 in Bluetooth technology company TrackR to extend the reach of its Alexa virtual assistant, according to a source familiar with the matter

Alexa is the cloud-based system that controls the Amazon Echo, a speaker system launched by Amazon in 2014 that has emerged as a surprise hit. “Alexa” is the name the device responds to when users make requests, such as “turn on radio.”

trackr_bravo

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Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… Amazon Echo on sale for $153.71. Amazon Prime Video, now available as a stand-alone service for $8.99/mo. Will Verizon replace FiOS TV set-tops with OnCue IPTV hardware? As Netflix subscriber growth slows, company considers offering downloads.

Amazon to replace top tier Kindle Voyage with…

Back in March, I came across a little nugget indicating a new Amazon Kindle would be unveiled this month. Although, at the time, I wasn’t entirely certain if it was another e-reader (despite being described as such) or a refreshed Fire tablet. Or, perhaps, even an existing product destined for a new market. Well, today, Amazon CEO … Read more

Amazon Expands Original Video Distribution (via ads)

To expand the reach of Amazon’s original video programming beyond Prime membership, the company has launched Season 3 of The Fashion Fund … with ads. While Amazon describes this as an “experiment” to Re/code, given the level of effort required to update the video player, inject commercials into the stream, and even lock down the sponsors, I’d say it’s … Read more

Amazon Opens A Barnes & Noble For You To Ignore

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc is set to open its first physical book store in Seattle on Tuesday, the company said. The brick-and-mortar store, Amazon Books, is a physical extension of Amazon.com with books being selected based on customer ratings and pre-orders on Amazon.com. Popularity on Goodreads and curators’ assessments are also considered for short listing … Read more

Amazon HDMI Cables On Sale Today

The already well-priced Amazon Basics HDMI cables see a discount today. They’re rated for the 1.4 spec – supporting 4k and ARC. And should be fine with everything else as well. The cables come in various lengths, ranging from 3′ to 25′ and I was motivated to pick up four more in a 3′ pair and a 6.5′ pair.