Amazon is getting into buy-now-pay-later. The company just announced a partnership with Affirm, a major player in the BNPL space. Customers now have the option of paying in a range of monthly installments at the checkout for purchases of USD 50 or more. In a statement, the companies said they had already started testing the … Read more
Click to enlarge: An email to GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser this week from a comedian and internet troll posing as Jackie Bezos, mother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. (GeekWire screen capture) In my five-plus years at GeekWire, I’ve often wondered what it would take to get Jeff Bezos’ attention and how I’d react if the … Read more
China has not finished curbing the impact of local internet services on the world’s most populous market. After an increasing series of regulatory raids in recent months, the nation released draft guidelines on Friday regulating the algorithms that companies run to provide referrals to users. In a 30-point draft guideline published on Friday, the Cyberspace … Read more
Apple has agreed to change several rules for its app store as part of a settlement with developers who filed a class action lawsuit against the company. The main change is that Apple is “making it clear” that developers can send emails to users “using payment methods outside of their iOS app.” The company has … Read more
The Estes New Shepard model rocket uses standard model rocket launch equipment, including a single C6-3 or C6-5 engine. (Estes Industries via YouTube) Rocket fans can soon follow in Jeff Bezos’ footsteps when it comes to owning a New Shepard suborbital spacecraft. Just be warned that everything will be scaled down: the Blue Origin New … Read more
Voice skins have become a very popular feature for AI-based voice assistants to personalize some of the more anodyne aspects of helpful, but also boring and robotic speaking voices that you get from services like Alexa. Now, a startup developing voice skins for various companies to use in their services, as well as third parties … Read more
This article contains minor spoilers for season two, episode three of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’. This week’s episode of Lower Decks, “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris” manages to put two references in its title: an episode from the first season of The Next Generation called “We’ll Always Have Paris” and the name of one Main … Read more
Charlie Bell (LinkedIn Photo) Long-time Amazon Web Services boss Charlie Bell has reportedly taken a job at Microsoft. Bell, a member of Amazon’s senior leadership team and long-time lynchpin of the company’s cloud business, left the Seattle company this month after more than 23 years. Business Insider reported Wednesday that Bell was joining Microsoft. The … Read more
Hims & Hers co-founder and CEO Andrew Dudum said Thursday his company was in the process of distributing 10,000 primary care and mental health visits to displaced Afghan refugees. Founded in 2017, San Francisco-based Hims & Hers has built a multi-specialty telemedicine platform connecting consumers with licensed healthcare professionals. In one blog entry, Dudum wrote … Read more
The US has suffered a spate of major cyberattacks targeting everyone from federal prosecutors to meat suppliers, and the White House is hoping some talks with key companies will lead to long-term security solutions. The Washington Post reports that President Biden, certain cabinet members and relevant security officials are holding talks with technology giants ADP, … Read more