Amazon

Amazon Echo Now Ubers!

Beginning today you can now officially hail an Uber ride.  Connect your Uber account to Amazon Echo and you’re off and running. The functionality allows you to hail a specific class of ride , “Alexa, ask Uber to request an Uber X,”.


Amazon Now Allows Two-Factor Authentication

One of the weakest links in online accounts is  the password. You re-use them and make them easy to guess. Then if (when) there is a breach on a site you used your password you scramble to change it everywhere. Luckily there’s a better way to secure that password and it’s two-factor authentication.




How Much Did My Local Library Membership Save Us This Summer?

I just went through my Amazon account, and determined I’ve read 25+ books this summer for free. Some of them were older titles, like Gear Diary Book Club selections, while others were relatively new. Plus issues of Consumer Reports and Runner’s World, all for free thanks to the local library. But how much did we really save?


Amazon Prime Video Adds Offline Viewing for iOS and Android!

Every time we take a road trip, Sarah and I have the same conversation: What movies/tv shows have we purchased for our son so he can be entertained on a long ride? We have a small library of shows and he’s usually pretty content to cycle through those. But we always lament that we can’t download from Amazon Prime…until now!


Amazon Underground Aims to Deliver Truly Free Apps

Amazon has revamped their App Store, and in place of the “Free App of the Day”, there’s a segment called “Amazon Underground“. Silly name aside, this category consists of 100% free apps-no upfront cost, and ZERO in-app purchases! Amazon is eating the costs associated with freemium apps to boost their app downloads, and it is working on me!


Amazon Offering $5 Prime Pantry Credit for No-Rush Shipping!

Amazon seems to be offering $5 Prime Pantry credit for Prime members who select No-Rush shipping instead of Prime’s standard Two-Day method. This $5 credit may replace the prior $2 Video, eBook or MP3 credit being offered to Prime Members who select a slower shipping method.


Jet.com is No Amazon…Yet

Jet.com wants very badly to beat Amazon. That’s been the bulk of their marketing push heading up to today’s launch, and when you shop around on the site, they consistently try to show you Amazon’s price versus theirs. After cross-shopping for a few minutes though, I was deeply unimpressed — both on price and ease of use.


Amazon’s New Kindle for Kids Bundle Is Great for Everyone!

Amazon really wants to capture the family media market. They’ve already pushed the Kindle Fire as a great kid-friendly tablet, and now they’re selling a similar bundle using the entry-level Kindle. When you look at the whole package though, it’s great for more than just kids-anyone interested in a Kindle should look at the Kindle for Kids bundle!


Are iTunes Purchase Confirmations Too Slow?

This weekend I used some Google Play credits to grab a quick game for my phone. Immediately, I had an email from Google letting me know a game was purchased in my account with my credits. It’s not that weird, except that I had made some purchases in iTunes recently, and it took TWO DAYS to get a confirmation email!


Amazon’s New Home Service Will Do Everything You’re too Lazy to Do

As of Monday, you can not only have Amazon deliver your groceries, but the next time you need a TV mounted, or have your light fixtures fixed, or even have a kids room painted, you’ll be able to just request it, add it to your Amazon shopping cart and not have to deal with Google searching for the best companies.



Amazon Prime Music Gets Ad-Free Prime Stations with Unlimited Skips

Over the last couple of weeks my wife has been saying “I am really liking this Amazon Prime Music“, because of added content and features that work with our Echo ‘smart speaker’. Today Amazon unveiled an updated iOS app that opens up streaming of Prime music with unlimited skips to Prime members, making the experience more ‘Pandora like’.


Amazon Celebrates Google Play Birthday with $100 worth of Free Apps

Celebrating their Google Play birthday today, Amazon is sharing their joy with everyone by offering an unheard of amount of paid apps for FREE today. We don’t know exactly what time this deal will end, but with over $100 in apps (a total of 34) this is a HUGE free apps sale for some of the more popular Android titles. With popular names like Ruzzle, Easy Tether, Guardians of the Galaxy and Repix, there are PLENTY of Apps for everyone to use. All you have to do to take advantage of the birthday festivities is install the Amazon Appstore on your…




Amazon Prime Pantry: Leave the Heavy Lifting to the Delivery Service

I just received my first order from Amazon using their Amazon Prime Pantry shopping service. If you haven’t heard of this before – join the club. I stumbled upon it while browsing Amazon and the lightbulb went off in my head. Like many small businesses I’m forever running errands to stock my office fridge.


Why I Cancelled My Kindle Unlimited Subscription

A few weeks ago, I was reminiscing about my favorite science fiction book from my childhood. It was an anthology of short stories, and some intense Googling determined it was out of print. My search led me to the local library, and after poking around for just a few minutes, I canceled my Kindle Unlimited subscription.


Amazon Does Odd Shipping Date Math

Last night I placed an order on Amazon and noticed something odd about the displayed delivery options. Look closely at the shipping times below. As a Prime member I should receive Free Two-Day shipping on eligible items.   However when you look at Amazon’s current delivery options for an order placed today (Monday) it appears the are adding a day to the definition of Free Two-Day shipping.   Does the Amazon calendar strike you are odd or am I missing something? A holiday time warp perhaps?


Amazon Announces Family Library for Kindles!

Amazon announced a big Kindle update today, but the biggest new feature is probably Family Library! Basically, you can now link your household Amazon accounts (and Kindle libraries) together for sharing. This is great news for my house, where Sarah and I have each had Kindle libraries and have physically swapped devices to share books! Check out all the details on Amazon.