Amazon to manufacture self-driving cars after acquiring start-up Zoox for $1bn

Amazon to manufacture self-driving cars after acquiring start-up Zoox for $1bn

Amazon is making strides into developing its own self-driving vehicles, agreeing to buy Californian start-up Zoox in a deal said to be worth more than $1bn (£810m). The takeover was first reported by tech website The Information and was later confirmed by Amazon.  Talks were said to have started between the two companies last month. Zoox’s chief executive Aicha Evans and chief technology officer Jesse Levinson will continue to lead the team as a standalone business after the deal has completed, Amazon said. The takeover is believed to be part of Amazon’s plans to begin…

DStv to add Netflix and Amazon Prime Video on its platforms in a strategic shift

DStv

DStv will add Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to its platforms, in a strategic shift that has seen its parent firm, MultiChoice, sign partnership deals with the giant movie streaming services. Netflix poses a growing competitive threat to MultiChoice and its own streaming service, Showmax, and the partnership move marks a shift in MultiChoice’s strategy from trying to compete with such players to working with them instead. The parent company of DStv and GOtv has been facing competition from movie streaming service and internet providers such as Zuku and Safaricom…

Amazon to launch an Amazon CloudFront Edge Location in Kenya

Amazon CloudFront Edge

Kenya will be the latest country in Africa after South Africa to have the Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), Amazon CloudFront Edge location launched locally. The launch promises customers a fast and secure Content Delivery Network (CDN) that accelerates the delivery of applications, data, and videos to users worldwide, with high transfer speeds. Amazon Web Services says the Amazon CloudFront is expected to be operational in early 2020 promising up to 50 percent reduction in latency for delivery of content with the new Edge location. The AWS’s global infrastructure network,…

Amazon retreats from its China business in defeat, could it also mean anything for its India market?

Amazon CloudFront Edge

Is it possible that the almighty Amazon, global dominator of all things retail and pulveriser of hapless competitors, has finally conceded defeat in China? It certainly seems that way, as the US-based global e-commerce Goliath announced it would bring the curtain down on its Chinese marketplace business in July and will revert to offering only overseas products to domestic Chinese customers. “We are notifying sellers we will no longer operate a marketplace on Amazon.cn, and we will no longer be providing seller services on Amazon.cn effective July 18,” the company…

Amazon backs down on New York HQ Plans

Amazon CloudFront Edge

“After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens,” the company said in a statement. Amazon has announced it will no longer build a headquarters in New York. “After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens,” Amazon said in a statement Thursday. The change would have brought 25,000 jobs to the Queens area, but the company would…

Companies Buy Online Reviews by Offering Amazon Customers Full Refunds in Exchange for Five Star Ratings

An investigation has revealed that fake reviews for internet products are being bought and sold online. The  investigation found companies using Facebook to offer Amazon customers full refunds in exchange for five-star reviews of their products. They are also able to buy bogus five-star recommendations on Trustpilot, one of the world’s leading and most trusted review websites, according to BBC 5 live Investigates. Such online review sites are becoming increasingly popular with businesses and customers. Some three quarters of British adults use them, of which half believe they have seen…

Facebook calls out Google, Amazon and Twitter for also harvesting user data

Facebook wants users to know that it’s not the only one tracking their every move on the internet. The social media giant pointed a finger at Google, Amazon, Twitter and other platforms for using many of the same data collection practices that some privacy advocates are referring to as invasive. In a blog post published Monday, the firm described in depth all the ways it gathers information on you around the web — even if you’re not a Facebook member or are logged out of your account. Facebook has been…

Amazon Japan offices raided in competition probe

Amazon CloudFront Edge

Amazon Japan said its offices have been raided by the country’s fair trade regulator on suspicion of anti-trust violations. The online retailer is suspected of asking suppliers to shoulder costs incurred for selling their products at a discount, according to media reports. The firm said it is cooperating with the investigation by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (JTFC), Reuters reported. JTFC declined to provide more details on the case when contacted by the BBC. It’s not the first time Amazon Japan has been investigated over anti-trust breaches. In 2016, JTFC raided…

Amazon acquires Ring for $1 billion to help boost your home security

Amazon has acquired Ring, a Santa Monica, California-based maker of connected video doorbells and security cameras, for $1 billion. That will see the E-Commerce giant push further into the home security business: it previously acquired Blink, which makes similar products. Plus, it already offers a Cloud Cam that’s designed for use inside your house, and to allow couriers into your home to drop off parcels as part of its Key program. GeekWire notes that while neither firm has shared details on the way forward, it’s expected that the Ring brand…

Amazon Echo Dot ad cleared over cat food order

A television ad for Amazon’s Echo Dot smart speaker that caused a viewer’s device to try to order cat food has been cleared by a UK regulator. The advert, which aired in October, featured a man asking Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa to order Purina cat food. A viewer said the ad caused their Echo Dot device to respond after hearing the ad on the television. The viewer complained that the ad was “socially irresponsible”. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that it would not uphold the consumer’s complaint because it…