Commerce

Woody Allen’s First Ever Television Series Is an Amazon Prime Exclusive

Now that Amazon’s managed to churn out some non-terrible original content of its own with Transparent, it’s looking to make a quality half-hour comedy. And apparently, Woody Allen’s going to be the one to make that happen with his first television series ever. Of course, Allen won’t have to play the awful pilot game—his so-far…

Amazon Might Soon Look Like This

Amazon’s been testing a new design for its homepage, and it appears that this rather dark-and-stormy front page has today been appearing for far more users across the U.S. Amazon has apparently been working on a design refresh since July. Now, it seems Amazon is selectively using this new front page on a variety of…

Every Title in the Calvin and Hobbes Kindle Library Is $2 Right Now 

The world is full of shitty things. Bill Watterson’s clever, poignant comic series Calvin and Hobbes is not one of them. And now, compendiums of the illustrated saga of a boy and his sage toy tiger available on Amazon are currently $2 for Kindle editions. The prices usually range from $13 to $19, so that’s…

Hope You Weren’t Banking on Amazon’s Free Overnight Shipping This Year

If you are a human who is both lazy and inconsiderate, you’ve found comfort these past few years in Amazon’s last-minute free overnight shipping selections. Bad news, fellow sloth. While that offer had been on the table up until early this morning, it’s over on the day you need it most. Humbug! Amazon’s free overnight…

Amazon Pulls Werewolf Novel Sequel for Surprisingly Non-Werewolf Reasons

Amazon is no stranger to independent publishing drama. But when it pulled books in the past, it at least purported to have some sort of legitimate reason. In the case of High Moor 2: Moonstruck (the story of one werewolf gang’s quest to keep its existence hidden and the extreme lengths to which it goes…

If you’re still in the market for a Christmas gift, you’re in luck. Amazon has the Kindle Fire HDXon sale for $300. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals. [Amazon]

NASA Built a $349 Million Test Tower, Then Immediately Shut It Down

Welcome to Reading List, a collection of some of the best digital reads in technology and science. We have stories that take a deep dive into Amazon’s ebook empire, a perplexing survey into NASA’s $349 million abandoned test tower, an investigation into how online media works through the eyes of one ambitious startup, and philosophical…

Meet Amazon’s #1 Reviewer, a Quirky Woman Who Loves Battery Chargers

Ali Julia may or may not be her real name. But to the complex and influential world of Amazon reviews, Ali Julia is a name to be reckoned with. The mysterious Boston woman with an affection for computers and battery chargers is the number one ranked reviewer on Amazon. She sounds a little quirky, too.…

The Best-Selling Music on Amazon This Year Was Somehow Not Taylor Swift

Amazon just released its list of top-selling MP3 songs and albums of the year, and surprisingly Taylor Swift was not at the top slot of either. Shake it off, girl. In the album category, Tswift lost to Pentatonix, whom I had honestly never heard of, but apparently is some sort of a cappella funtime gang?…

Amazon Now Offers One-Hour Delivery in New York City

Amazon has announced that a new service called Prime Now will provide one-hour delivery for a range of “daily essentials.” The service launches in Manhattan today. The company says it plans to introduce Prime Now to additional cities in 2015. Prime Now—available just to Prime subscribers—will ship books, toys, and other everyday items to your…

PSA: Order Your Christmas Gifts From Amazon by Friday for Free Shipping

Friendly reminder: if you’re ordering gifts from Amazon and you want to get them with free shipping by Christmas, you have to order them by Friday, December 19. Make your list, check it twice, etc. But that’s not the last day you can order, period. Prime members can still get free two-day shipping up until…

Amazon Echo Teardown: A Dark Tower of Voice Control

Amazon’s Echo speaker promises to make your life better by being a Siri for your kitchen, an always-listening assistant you can ask for help when your hands are covered in batter. The folks at iFixit got one, and naturally started ripping it apart. Once you dive in, it looks like spare parts for the Death…

Amazon Instant Just Got 4K Streaming

Amazon’s streaming video service just got an upgrade. Starting today, Prime Instant Video offers 4K Ultra High Definition streaming at no extra charge, so people with compatible TVs will have the option to watch Transparent and a limited selection of movies and television in 4K HD. A number of Sony Pictures movies like American Hustle…

You Can Now Barter With Amazon Sellers

Amazon has today added a new Make An Offer option to its site, which allows customers to negotiate prices with sellers. At first the option will be available on 150,000 items in Amazon’s collectibles and fine art section. You’ll be able to submit a price you’d be willing to pay to the seller, who will…

Amazon to FAA: We Might Just Take Our Delivery Drones Elsewhere

In the technology world’s equivalent of a teenage sulk, Amazon has told the Federal Aviation Agency that “without approval of our testing in the United States, we will be forced to continue expanding our Prime Air R&D footprint abroad.” It’s now more than a year since Amazon announced its Prime Air delivery service. But things…

Forget Drones, Amazon Is Testing Old-School Bikes for Speedy Delivery

After tantalizing us with the possibilities of delivery by drones, then bringing us back to Earth with delivery by taxis, Amazon has now resorted to perhaps the most obvious and time-tested method of getting something somewhere fast in a big city: bikes. In New York City, Amazon has started to beta test bike messenger delivery,…

Amazon Is Testing a Restaurant Delivery Service To Compete With Seamless

Seamless and Grubhub should be very afraid: Amazon is testing a restaurant takeout and delivery service called Amazon Local in Seattle. If you live in the Seattle area, you can browse for where you want to get your food and order online, then Amazon arranges how you get it. Right now, 141 restaurants have signed…

Amazon Sent This Farmer a Piece of Its Conveyor Belt Instead of a Book

Just days after Amazon showed off its autonomous Kiva warehouse robots, the mechanized minions are already showing signs of revolt. A pair of Texas goat farmers say they received what appears to be a piece of a conveyor belt from the retail giant, instead of the book about chickens they were expecting. Christian and Lisa…

In another desperate bid to get rid of its handsets, Amazon has cut the price of its Fire Phone to $200 for an unlocked device (it still comes with a free year of Prime).

Amazon’s New Local Handyman Service Looks Super Useful

We’ve known for a while now that Amazon wanted to start offering local services. Now, the store for everything is selling TV-mounting services ahead of all the TV sales on Black Friday. And you know what? That sounds like a pretty useful addition to the Amazon family. The company is now testing Amazon Local Services…