Storage is something that a person living in the digital age can never get enough of, and if you find yourself a little low on available space, then you might want to have a look at Amazon. Today, the company is hosting a one-day sale on a variety of different storage devices, from SD cards and flash drives to SSDs and external hard drives. Some of the discounts on offer are pretty solid, so let's dive into them.
Today, eBay made an announcement most probably wouldn't expect: it's been working behind the scenes on AI-powered assistive technology. In a broad sense, the open-source HeadGaze project, as it's called, uses the front-facing camera on the iPhone X and 3D information from Apple ARKit to allow users to navigate apps by moving their head. eBay has also created an app called HeadSwipe using HeadGaze technology.
After the failure of the Fire Phone, it was completely unexpected that the Amazon Echo would end up causing both Google and Apple to scramble to catch up. But while Amazon practically created and continue to lead the new smart speaker market, it has ironically failed at the very thing it created the Echo for: helping Amazon customer buy stuff. It turns out, only a minuscule percentage of users shop via Alexa and it’s not that hard to see why.
Amazon has quietly started rolling out collaborative wishlists, hinting at the upcoming wider launch of a feature that users have been requesting for years. With this new type of wishlist, Amazon customers can create and maintain a single shopping list together, a useful feature for households, couples, families, and more. Only some users have access to the feature at this time, however.
Earlier this year, eBay announced plans to begin changing the way it handles payments on its marketplace. As part of this plan, it dropped PayPal as the primary payment processor for purchases and announced its intention to begin managing end-to-end payments itself. While it won't be ready to flip the switch on that initiative until later this year, we now know that eBay will begin supporting Apple Pay when it does.
Amazon's Prime Day event doesn't technically kick off until 3 PM Eastern this afternoon, but the company is getting the ball rolling on some deals a little early. More specifically, many of Amazon's devices have already been discounted, so if you're looking to pick up something like an Echo or a Fire TV, there's no need to wait for Prime Day to actually begin. This is probably the lowest we'll see many of these devices go until at least Black Friday, so it might not be a bad idea to hop on these deals while you have the chance.
Summer means Internet retailer deals and eBay isn't going to be left out this year. Starting later this week, the company will launch a special promotion that offers 100 different items at the flat rate of $119 USD including shipping. That rate is a discount over the regular price for these items, which includes fitness trackers and smartwatches, televisions, digital cameras, and more.
Walmart is adding a 3D virtual shopping tool to its website, enabling users to engage with potential purchases in an interactive way. The tool can be used directly within an Internet browser, though it also supports generic / cardboard VR headsets so users can look around as if they're standing in the 3D space. Many items within the tours are clickable with additional information.
Amazon Prime savings are rolling out across all Whole Foods stores in the US as of mid-week, Amazon has confirmed today, whether you shop in-store or using Prime Now. The discounts were one of the big promises Amazon made to shoppers back when it announced it would be acquiring Whole Foods, linking its Prime subscription with the brick & mortar grocery chain.
A surprise Supreme Court ruling could make your next online shopping spree more expensive, after deciding that states can impose sales tax on internet purchases made from out-of-state retailers. The issue had been pushed to the fore by South Dakota, which had argued that its recent law insisting on applying tax even to purchases made online beyond the state's borders should be upheld.
Amazon is rolling out Hub by Amazon across the US, after its apartment building delivery system began accepting packages in a limited roll-out last year. The computerized lockers are the private version of Amazon Locker, intended to be installed in apartment communities so that deliveries can be secured even when recipients aren't home.
Still don’t think Google is out to get Amazon? Just take a look at its most recent “strategic partnership”. The search giant has just inked a deal with one of China’s biggest e-commerce companies, JD.com. While most of what ‘s involved with the transaction is buried in marketing-speak, one thing is clear: Google wants in on JD.com’s empire, which practically means penetrating markets still free from Amazon’s grasp.