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Amazon is the largest Internet company in the world. Originally started as an online book store, there is now almost nothing you can’t buy at amazon.com.

In addition to its ecommerce store, Amazon offers video streaming, music streaming, a publishing company and cloud services. It has also diversified into manufacturing its own branded consumer electronics products, ranging from Amazon Basics cables to Kindle ebook readers, Fire tablets and TV boxes and Echo speakers.

Amazon has its own intelligent assistant, Alexa. Created for its Echo range of smart speakers, Alexa is also supported by a wide range of third-party products, including speakers, TVs, printers, phones, laptops, cars and more. Over 100 million Alexa devices had been sold as of early 2019.

Alexa, Snapchat, Fortnite, ChatGPT and more taken down by major AWS outage

Alexa, Snapchat, Fortnite, ChatGPT and more taken down by major AWS outage | Photo shows a close-up of a red LED lightpanel

A major Amazon Web Services outage resulted in many different platforms and services being taken down for many users in the US. This includes Amazon, Alexa, Snapchat, Fortnite, ChatGPT, and more.

The problem first occurred shortly after midnight PDT. The company identified the cause a couple of hours later and says that it is now “continuing to observe recovery” across most services …

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Amazon announces smarter Echo Show as we await HomePod Touch/HomePad

Amazon announces smarter Echo Show (left) as we await HomePod Touch/HomePad (render, right)

We’re not expecting to see Apple’s long-awaited combo speaker and smart home control panel until sometime next year. We’ve been using HomePad as a placeholder name, but a leak back in the summer suggests it may be known as the HomePod Touch.

The form factor is expected to be broadly similar to Amazon’s Echo Show, and the company has just announced smarter versions …

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Amazon and Apple best deliver on affordable housing promises, as other tech giants falter

Amazon and Apple best deliver on affordable housing promises, as other tech giants falter | Construction workers study plans

One of the downsides of tech giants creating Silicon Valley was the affordable housing crisis it spurred. That has made it next to impossible for those on typical salaries to rent or buy in the area.

Apple was one of a number of tech companies which pledged to help out back in 2019, and so far has delivered more than most …

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Apple was fined $2.1B last year, but could pay it all off in a week

Apple was fined $2.1B last year, but could pay it all off in a week | Close-up of a hand flicking through a stack of $100 bills

Apple was fined a global total of more than $2.1B last year for antitrust violations, but the sum was only the equivalent of just over a week’s worth of free cash flow.

Encrypted email company Proton put together its latest Tech Fines Tracker, in which Google was the most heavily-fined company, with Apple in second place …

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Apple turns to Amazon chips for AI pre-training and more

As reported by CNBC, Apple’s senior director of machine learning and artificial intelligence, Benoit Dupin, made a surprise appearance at Amazon’s AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas today.

Dupin used the opportunity to explain that Apple uses custom artificial intelligence chips from Amazon Web Services for many of its cloud services. Apple is also evaluating using Amazon’s newest AI chip to pre-train its Apple Intelligence models.

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After Click to Cancel, California law protects you when buying digital content

California law makes companies come clean on digital content | Buy button in Apple TV app

After Click to Cancel legislation for subscriptions, California has introduced another piece of consumer protection legislation for buying digital content.

It will force companies to tell you when you won’t actually own the content you think you’re buying – something which has occasionally been true for iTunes purchases …

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Prime Video update will make it easier to see what isn’t free with your subscription

Prime Video update | Logo seen on a TV

An Amazon Prime Video update rolling out today will address one of the biggest complaints made about the service – that it’s hard to tell what is and isn’t included with your subscription without first clicking on it.

Amazon also claims that the new user interface is simpler and more personalized, making it faster to find something interesting to watch …

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Amazon previewing iOS-only smart home mapping feature in redesigned Alexa app

The Amazon Alexa app isn’t just for configuring Echo speakers and managing service integrations. It’s also a smart home controller akin to Apple’s Home app. Amazon is putting that front and center with the redesigned Alexa app launching today. There’s also a new smart home mapping feature that’s exclusive to iOS devices.

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Lucid Apple

Lucid job post hints at addition of Apple and Amazon Music to its EVs – more media apps to follow?

A recent job opportunity on LinkedIn posted by Lucid Motors less than 24 hours ago hints at an incoming new media app infotainment for its EV drivers. According to Lucid’s new role of senior product manager, media partner management, one of the key responsibilities will include working with Apple Music, Amazon Music, and other “media app partners.”

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