Amazon

Amazon releases Prime Video app for Mac with downloads, AirPlay, and more

Amazon has released a Prime Video app for Mac that includes downloads, AirPlay, and other features.

As they say, better late than never: Amazon has released a Prime Video app for macOS, which can be downloaded for free from the Mac App Store. Offline downloads are supported by Prime Video for Mac, and you can choose your preferred video quality for both regular streaming and downloads. (When streaming, Amazon estimates 5.8GB of data usage per hour at the "best" setting.) The figure for downloads is slightly lower, with Amazon quoting 2.9GB per hour of video downloaded.) When...

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People can now be detected by some Echo speakers.

Ultrasound-based motion detection is coming to fourth-generation Echos and Echo Dots. Newer Echo and Echo Dot speakers will be able to use ultrasound to detect occupancy in your home and turn on and off other connected devices like lights and your Fire TV starting this week. The fourth-generation Echo and Echo Dot speakers can now emit a "inaudible ultrasound wave" to detect if there are people present in a room, as announced at Amazon's fall hardware event in September. In the Alexa...

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Why are the colors green, red, orange, and yellow flashing on my Alexa

Why are the colors green, red, orange, and yellow flashing on my Alexa?

Here’s what your Alexa smart speaker is trying to tell you! You've set up one of Amazon's Echo smart speakers, and it's great for playing music, checking the weather, and setting an egg timer — all without having to use your hands. But then it begins to flash different colors at random intervals: red, green, yellow, orange... it's almost as if it's trying to communicate with you. That is, in fact, the case. There's an easy way to figure out what your...

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To avoid holiday shipping delays Amazon will spend several billion dollars - visual media factory

To avoid holiday shipping delays, Amazon will spend “several billion dollars.”

Amazon, like you, wants to avoid holiday shipping delays. The company announced today that it will spend "multiple billions of dollars" to avoid problems during the holidays, which could include everything from product delivery issues to keeping items in stock. The funds will be used to increase worker pay, reduce shipping costs, and address supply chain issues. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said today in the company's third-quarter earnings release, "It'll be expensive for us in the short term, but it's the...

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Amazon's new TVs will support Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit in the near future

Amazon’s new TVs will support Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit in the near future

Both are still unavailable on standalone Fire TV streaming devices. Amazon is now producing its own televisions, and the company's Omni and 4-Series Fire TVs were released on October 27th. Amazon is making another last-minute announcement as the 4K HDR sets begin to reach customers: it plans to add support for Apple's AirPlay 2 and HomeKit features "soon." AirPlay 2 allows you to stream content from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to your TV. The Omni and 4-Series TVs will also be...

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