LG Electronics had a lot to show off at their Press Conference yesterday but the star of the show was their new Smart InstaView Refrigerator. Yes, at a CES where it’s all Alexa all the time LG rolled out a refrigerator that is not only powered by LG’s own webOS smart platform but also leverages Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service.
To call the FABRIQ speaker cute is a fair assessment. It is fair… but it is incomplete. Because while the FABRIQ is a small, cute, Bluetooth speaker, it is also a smart speaker that integrates with Amazon Alexa, has an affordable $49 price, and offers multi-speaker connectivity. Those last two points, price, and multi-speaker connectivity are an especially nice combination.
Securifi’s Almond 3 Smart Home WiFi System provides expandable wireless coverage for your entire home while also acting as a smart home hub and home security system. The complete system comes with three Almond 3 routers, all of which have touchscreens for simple setup and maintenance and starts at $399.99. It’s an impressive combination of router, home automation, and security. The Almond 3 system sets up a mesh WiFi network throughout your home, meaning that it uses an expandable number of routers to blanket your home with reliable coverage. One Almond 3 will be enough to cover most 1,300 square…
We’ve got two TCL 4K Roku-enabled televisions in our house, and I feel like TCL is one of those brands that isn’t yet well-known, but they should be. TCL products are extremely well made, they work exactly as promised, and they are generally well priced.
I love my Amazon Echo and the way Alexa controls so many of my smart home features; I love the simplicity and power of the Logitech Harmony Hub and Remote, and I especially love the fact that the two now work together. A new Amazon Alexa Skill makes it all possible.
Good riddance! Amazon has finally banned the ultra-shady practice of providing free products for honest and unbiased reviews. This creepy practice was showing up in nearly every review of a second or third tier knock-off product I’d read over the past several months. It seemed especially prevalent in the smartphone accessory category.
Amazon just introduced an updated Fire TV Stick which is priced at $39.99 and due for release on October 20, 2016. The new device looks and acts a lot like the old one with the addition of Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant.
How did you do on Prime Day? Amazon reported its biggest day ever, 60% bigger than last year’s event and ~20% bigger than either Black Friday or Cyber Monday from 2015! Still, some people had difficulties accessing deals, including a high-profile linked deal with Amazon’s Rewards Visa card. The deal provided a promo code “VISA30” that offered $30 off a purchase of $150 on Prime Day when you used the Amazon Rewards Visa for payment. Here was what the offer said:
Good(ish) news-Amazon is bringing back Prime Day tomorrow, July 12th! Prime Day was a bit underwhelming last year, but Amazon is hyping it up big time this year, so hopefully they’ve learned from past mistakes. In the meantime, they’re previewing sales across multiple departments, so it’s really more like Prime week!
Did you get an email from Amazon telling you that you have credit from the Apple eBook Antitrust Settlement? I just got mine, and it was a doozy …
This is a public service announcement for anyone considering buying a Kindle: be sure to get the extended warranty. Why? Because Amazon doesn’t repair them (at all) when they break; the best option you will get (after a bit of haggling) is $20 off a new one. You’ve been warned.
Do you have Amazon Prime? If you do, you probably take advantage of Prime videos and certainly use the free shipping. But it seems like Prime Music tends to be the forgotten child of Amazon’s services, especially in the face of competitors like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music. But Prime Music is free with Prime subscription, and it’s rapidly improving!
The Amazon Fire Tablet has been an affordable tablet since it debuted at $49.99. Today they’re making it even cheaper and more irresistible for only $39.99! How cheap is that? Well, let’s see what else $40 could and could not get you…
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,”.
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.
Halloween is a great excuse to express yourself artistically by wearing fun costumes, carving up pumpkins, and decorating your house. For game retailers, it is yet another excuse for a great sale! And Amazon is doing what it usually does instead of a sale – it is offering a load of games and apps for FREE!
Phones come and go every year, and nobody notices very much. Generally they are superseded by a new model, the Galaxy S6 replacing the S5 or the iPhone 6S replacing the 6…but sometimes they just disappear. Such is the case of the critically slammed and commercially failing Amazon Fire Phone, permanently killed off after less than a year.
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?
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 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 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.