Amazon is raising the stakes of showrooming for retailers once again, folding its “Flow” technology, previously found in a standalone app released by its subsidiary, A9, into its main shopping app for iOS. “Flow” is visual product search, allowing users to photograph an object and see details about it on Amazon, which is even simpler than the previous norm of barcode recognition. Amazon’s competitive pricing is its main advantage in comparison to retailers, and by more effectively using other retailers as showrooms for the products it sells, it has the potential to further extend its dominance in more consumer categories.
Tag: amazon
Reports: Amazon To Launch Console
According to reports, a senior game publisher has seen prototypes of Amazon’s Android-based gaming console. According to VG24/7, the console will be priced at around $300, and it will be about the size of the PSone. The device is reported to be ready for launch this year. Whether the report is true, it’s no secret that Amazon is interested in a device – be it a set-top box or a game console – on which to feature streamed content for the living room, if only to differentiate itself from Netflix, who are clearly dominating the streamed content space. It also wants to boost its Prime Instant Video service, and this device would be a perfect conduit to do just that. It’s doubtful that we’ll see something of precisely this iteration, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Amazon put out hardware designed to lure consumers into its ecosystem in this calendar year.
Amazon Considers Pay-TV Service
According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon has approached three big media conglomerates looking to distribute their content online. The idea is to start a paid, online TV service for channels that are presently available on cable and satellite. It would be a big compliment to Amazon Instant Video, the service that allows for Netflix-like streaming of TV shows and movies, and it would allow for Amazon to finally have a step up on Netflix in terms of content. But how it would work remains murky: would it be a subscription-based package? Or would users only pay to stream some specific channels? It’s all up in the air, but the potential is vast if Amazon can indeed pull it off.
Kindle & Surface Gain Tablet Share Over Holidays
Early holiday shopping data is trickling in, and we now know that Amazon and Microsoft both gained significant tablet market share over the 2013 holiday season. According to Chitika, Amazon is now at 9.4% market share, a 0.6% increase, and Microsoft is at 2.3%, which represents a 0.5% increase. Apple’s tablets are very clearly out in front, with a 76.1% market share, but there were clear chunks taken out of that lead over the past two months. The holidays didn’t spell entirely bad news for Apple; they were the only company to see good holiday news in the smartphone market, as usage numbers increased again last month.
Amazon To Shoot Originals In 4K
Amazon is planning to shoot its original content in 4K, the ultra-HD format that will be the industry standard in the living room…eventually. For now, 4K is practically a proof-of-concept with the lack of 4K TVs on the market and even less content available. It’s a ‘chicken or the egg’ scenario as TV manufacturers require content and content creators require an audience. Nevertheless, Amazon is positioning themselves at the forefront of innovation and will unquestionably give 4K some much needed momentum.
Amazon Prime Air May Bring Drones To Life
Some people assume drones are only a military invention, but Amazon is debunking that urban legend with a new program called Amazon Prime Air. It would utilize drones to drop packages at people’s houses across the country in what Amazon is saying would only take 30 minutes or less. In a segment on 60 Minutes, CEO Jeff Bezos said that the project is about five years from full roll-out, largely because of FAA regulations and municipal legalities that the company is sorting through. Nonetheless, the future is here: get ready to see drones piloting packages to your door – what you want, when you want it.
Kindle Fire Gets Second Screen Upgrade
In a long-anticipated move, Amazon’s Kindle Fire now has second screen integration to play your downloaded shows on other screens around your house or apartment. The updates, which will be rolling out over the air in the near future, will also include support for PS3 and 4, which means that the Fire devices will be able to “fling” shows to those platforms as well. It’s another move in the ever-growing world of second screen and user control over how and where they view their purchased data.
Watchlist: Amazon Set-Top Box
Amazon is planning a trojan horse for the living room–a proprietary set-top box. The device itself will look to compete with the likes of Roku and Apple TV, but more importantly it will serve as a gateway to Amazon’s marketplace. I would expect the price point to be relatively low given their history in the tablet marketplace. All of this, of course, is speculation as we do not have product details or a release date, just a lot of chatter.
Amazon To Release Set-Top Box
According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon is going to release a set-top box that will stream online video to your TV. Code-named “Cinnamon,” it will also include apps for playing games, streaming music (from third parties, as well as Amazon), and it will be released in time for the holiday shopping season. Amazon’s end game isn’t just to provide the content to stream, or just sell the box; it is aiming to make most of its money on what people purchase while using the devices, much like it does with the Kindle eReaders and Fire tablets. What’s more, the “Cinnamon” could get more people so subscribe to Amazon Prime, which includes the instant-video function. Pricing for the device itself is unclear, but it’s expected to be competitive with Apple TV and Roku.
Amazon Announces Fire HD
It wasn’t much if a surprise that Amazon announced the Kindle Fire HDX, but the Kindle Fire HD, at $229, is indeed unexpected. It’s got a similar construction to the 7-inch HDX, but inside it packs a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and a brand new OS, nicknamed “Mojito.” It ships out on October 2nd, and represents Amazon’s best bet for reviving the Kindle line. Whether or not it’s enough to save the Kindle – whose sales haven’t exactly been stellar – remains to be seen, but it’s clear that many companies are trying to get their cheaper tablets out ahead of Apple’s early-October blitz of new hardware and software.
