Commerce

A new year, and new sales taxes on Amazon purchases made in Indiana, Nevada and Tennessee. Sorry, folks!

UPS Botch Your Christmas Deliveries? Amazon Has $20 for You

Didn’t get your last last last minute gifts from Amazon delivered on time? Neither did a lot of other folks. Between weather and high demand, UPS choked. But there’s good news: $20 Amazon gift cards are on the way to the afflicted. https://gizmodo.com/amazons-amazing-free-overnight-shipping-the-best-gift-1488615931 According to the Wall Street Journal and some of our own readers,…

Amazon’s Amazing Free Overnight Shipping: The Best Gifts

Behind on your holiday shopping? No worries. Amazon’s got free overnight shipping on thousands of products through tonight. Here’s the best of what can still get to you—for free—in time for Christmas morning. http://www.amazon.com/b?tag=gizmodo08c-20 Everything below ordered by tonight (12/23) at 11:59 PM EST will get to your house by end of day Tuesday, with…

Today Is The Last Day To Holiday Shop From Amazon, Without Prime

If you’re not a Prime subscriber (and you should be), then today is your last day to do your holiday shopping on Amazon without having to pay for expedited shipping. With Prime you can order as late as the 22nd and still get your free shipping, or pay the discounted Prime rate for one-day shipping…

Amazon Can Take Away Your Digital Books and Movies Whenever It Wants

In light of the holiday season, what better time than now to remind ourselves to give thanks for all that we have. Although, in the case of any digital goods you’ve “purchased,” maybe don’t add those to the list quite yet. Because remember: You don’t actually own any of it. https://gizmodo.com/you-dont-own-the-books-on-your-kindle-5954497 Talking to BoingBoing, one…

The 4K Content Charge Is Being Led By… Amazon

Amazon has even more original content coming in 2014, and all of it is going to be shot in 4K. So many pixels (if you have an ultra high-def TV, that is). https://gizmodo.com/these-are-the-original-pilots-amazon-is-going-to-make-i-510264617 While many movies and some shows are already shot in 4K, Amazon actually plans to deliver 4K content. It has already produced…

You Can Get a Kindle Fire HDX on a Four-Part Amazon Instalment Plan

If you’ve been trying to work out how you might pay for a new Kindle Fire, Amazon might be able to help: it’s pushing a four-part instalment plan for its HDX line. Customers buying its $230 Kindle Fire HDX or $380 HDX 8.9 can stump up 25 percent of the purchase price (plus tax and…

Amazon’s Best-Selling Music of All Time: So That’s Who’s Buying CDs

In an apparent effort to win back some headlines after Beyoncé’s new album broke iTunes last night, Amazon has compiled its best-selling music of all time in the categories of songs, MP3 albums, and physical CDs. It’s not exactly what you’d expect. https://gizmodo.com/beyonces-surprise-new-album-crashed-itunes-overnight-1482524545 Adele sits at the top of the physical compact disc list, joined…

Rumor: Amazon Will Open a Wholesale Store Called Pantry in 2014

USA Today is reporting that Amazon is planning to launch a wholesale store in 2014, which will take on warehouse store businesses like Costco and Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club. The rumor suggests that Amazon will launch a new online service, referred to as Pantry, which will initially carry “2,000 products typically found in the center of…

It’s Surprisingly Useful to Get a 12-Fact Recap About Amazon

Last Sunday Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon was doing early R&D on delivery drones. And whether it was a legitimate revelation or more of a marketing ploy, the idea of Amazon drones burrowed quickly and deeply into the cultural consciousness. Because sure you know about Amazon’s reach and scope. Everyone does because we get all…

Some Good Things Drones Can (Actually) Do

While everyone is freaking out about Amazon’s plan to unleash an army of delivery drones on the world, it’s important to remember that these flying robots can do much more than just move packages. As the technology has improved and dramatically dropped in price, people have been coming up with all kinds of crazy and…

Elaborate Buddhist Temple Made From Discarded Amazon Boxes

And you thought breaking down your Amazon boxes for recycling was creative—Japanese gamer and amateur modeler Upuaza Touryou just trashed the competition, turning his stack of old flimsy cardboard into an insanely elaborate Buddhist temple. The sculpture took five months to assemble, sure, but discarded cardboard boxes have never looked so good. Now, if only…

If you buy a Kindle Fire HDX this week through smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate $20 to the charity of your choice instead of the standard 0.5 percent. A nice little bonus for everyone involved.

Amazon Drones Are Truly Revolutionary [Marketing]

The most thrilling [marketing] advancement in recent years was unveiled last night on 60 Minutes. If you missed it—how could you have missed it?—Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos detailed the [marketing] future of his company for millions [of potential customers]: Amazon PrimeAir. The [marketing] future is here, and it is [vague promises of] 30-minute delivery by…

Amazon PrimeAir Could Deliver Your Stuff On Drones

In a 60 Minutes interview, Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon is working on delivery that’s even faster than Prime. The company wants to use octocopters to deliver your order within a half hour. Bezos says that the project, which is heavily in the R&D stage right now, couldn’t debut before 2015 even if Amazon were…

Moto G Available For Pre-Order On Amazon, $180 Unlocked

The extremely affordable Moto G is now available for pre-order on Amazon for $180 unlocked. As Gizmodo noted, this handset has a guaranteed upgrade to Android KitKat, and the difference in price between the 8GB and 16GB versions is only $20. Ships out December 4. [Amazon] https://gizmodo.com/the-super-cheap-possibly-rad-moto-g-is-available-way-e-1471844968 We’ll also remind you here that the Moto…

You can now buy Pebble’s smartwatch from Amazon, for the princely sum of $150.

Report: The Next Kindle Paperwhite Will Have A Better Screen and Font

A report from TechCrunch based on a prototype viewing indicates that Amazon is making upgrades to the Paperwhite e-reader for release in spring 2014. Screen resolution is set to jump from 212 ppi to 300 ppi and the redesigned unit will supposedly be lighter than the current model. Kobo, which manufactures screens for Amazon as…

The Best Deals And Gear This Week: Pre-Black Friday Edition, New Deals

Sorry about the sheer verticality of this post, but we’ve got a ton of deals to remind you about from this week, along with a list of new ones that could have headlined our regular deal roundups. Please also take this opportunity to follow us on Twitter, as we really want to be able to…

Amazon’s Week of Black Friday Deals Kicks Off Today

You may think it’s just a lazy Sunday morning, but in fact deals (and Dealz) madness is kicking off today. Right now. Go crazy. Amazon (and apparently Sears) is starting the week with a bunch of Logitech PC accessories like surround sound speakers, wireless gaming headsets, and of course mice. The Logitech deals seem like…