Last week Amazon released its series of Echo smart speakers in India, and now the company seems to be set to offer its Amazon Prime Music service for free to its Prime members. This means, Prime members will soon get free access unlimited ad-free music streaming across genres and languages.

According to a page (via Raju PP) on Amazon Prime India website, “Prime members will soon get to enjoy ad-free music streaming across million of songs in English and multiple Indian languages across multiple devices. All this will be included with your Prime membership at no additional cost.”

Amazon’s Prime subscription costs Rs 999 for an annual membership. Very recently, the subscription has been increased from Rs 499 annually, which was an introductory price for India. The Amazon Prime membership in India offers free fast delivery, early access to deals, unlimited Amazon Prime Video streaming services and free delivery on Prime products.

Amazon also offers special discounts for Prime members, where either only the members are eligible for the discount, or the members get additional discount on top of the over all discounts. Then, Prime membership also gives users access to Amazon’s Prime Video service, which means access to a lot of TV shows and movies for free, some of which are exclusive to the platform. There is also the Amazon Prime Music service, that the members enjoy.

The free Amazon Prime Music service is expected to be available at a later date, and it is believed that Amazon will charge an additional subscription fee for the same. The Music Unlimited offers more songs and apparently, it also allows users to control and curate their music collection in a much better way. That apart, the Prime Music launch seems to be perfectly timed with the Amazon Alexa devices picking pace in the Indian market. 

Jeff Bezos just had another successful shot at being crowned the richest person on planet earth, and this time, the status appears to be staying for longer. In what could be one of the few instances, the Amazon CEO took the top spot for the second time, overtaking long-time billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaire Rankings put Bezos on top. This morning, Amazon stock opened more than 8 percent higher than Thursday’s close, adding close to $7 billion to Bezos’ net worth. Although Microsoft’s stock also witnessed a 7 percent jump, it wasn’t enough to bring down Bezos’ ranking. Bezos recorded a net worth of $90.6 billion compared to $90.1 billion of Gates’ net worth by 10:15AM (7:45PM IST).

Jeff Bezos is the richest person in the world again after adding $6.8 billion to his net worth overnight http://t.co/lRct1KdnCU pic.twitter.com/sU5CRgOrzv

— Forbes (@Forbes) October 27, 2017

Bezos became the wealthiest person in the world for the first time three months ago, when his company’s stocks recorded an all-time high, shortly before Amazon’s Q2 earnings. However, his glory lasted a few hours as the same day Amazon reported a big miss on its quarterly earning, leading to the drop in his net worth as well. 

As Forbes notes, even today, Amazon’s stock is only ‘close’ to its previous high. Irrespective of the short stint at the top spot earlier this year, Bezos featured in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans at number two spot.

The current positioning of Bezos is still subject to change, as Forbes will be continually updating its scores based on real-time rankings.

Last year in July, when Amazon debuted its Prime service in India, it announced a special discount on the annual subscription. While the actual cost of the annual subscription was Rs 999 for a year, Amazon offered it half the price, that is Rs 499 for the first year. Now, it has been over a year that people have been using the service at the same discounted price. However, the happy hour is about to end, with the subscription set to go back to Rs 999. The introductory offer ends this Monday, that is October 30.

Do note, if you have recently subscribed or mean to subscribe to Amazon Primebefore October 30, you will still be paying just Rs 499 for the service. Hopping on board the Prime train after Monday, would mean paying a thousand bucks for a year. However, this trick doesn’t work best for people who are in the middle of their subscription right now. Unless of course, their subscription is expiring before Monday. Basically, the current Amazon Prime members have to option but to renew their subscription at the full Rs 999 price.

The Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited free one day and two day delivery over 11 million products online, free standard delivery without minimum purchase, exclusive deals on bestselling products and instant access to Amazon Prime Video with the latest movies and TV shows. Amazon Family, offers members who are young parents a 15 percent off on diaper subscription all year-round and soon adding to this bouquet of many benefits, Prime members also have instant access to a strong catalogue of songs across international and national selection with Amazon Prime Music. 

Amazon also keeps special discounts for Prime members, where either only the members are eligible for the discount, or the members get additional discount on top of the over all discounts. Then, Prime membership also gives users access to Amazon’s Prime Video service, which means access to a lot of TV shows and movies for free, some of which are exclusive to the platform. There is also the Amazon Prime Music service, that the members enjoy. 

Additionally, this year Amazon held its first Prime Day sale in India. Reportedly, the e-commerce site registered 100 percent year-on-year growth during the two-day sale. Amazon attributed the success of first ever Prime Day sale in India to the May 2015 debut of its Global Selling Program in the country. Under the program, Amazon has over 23,000 sellers who are selling over 65 million products through 10 global Amazon marketplaces. 

Pre-orders for the iPhone X went live today via Amazon India and Flipkart. Within a few minutes of the pre-orders beginning, the iPhone X has already gone out of stock on both the e-commerce platforms. The base variant of the iPhone X with 64GB storage is priced at Rs 89,000, while the high-end iPhone X 256GB retails at a whopping Rs 102,000.

The iPhone X will go on sale from November 3, and the product has already received an overwhelming response. However, it isn’t known how many units were up for pre-orders on Amazon India and Flipkart. But it has been reported for many months now that Apple will be facing shipping delays with the iPhone X.

Even at a global scale, Apple is predicted to reach a balance of demand and supply only by 2018. Nonetheless, the response Apple has received for the iPhone X on the first day does say a lot about the anticipation people have for the device.

The iPhone X being the anniversary edition has introduced many firsts for Apple, the highlight being its bezel-less OLED display. Ditching its famous Touch ID fingerprint recognition, Apple introduced Face ID on the iPhone X. In terms of specifications, the iPhone X flaunts a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED Super Retina Display. It is powered by an A11 Bionic 64-bit chipset paired with an M11 motion co-processor. 

In the photography department, the iPhone X sports a dual-camera setup which includes a 12-megapixel wide-angle sensor of f/1.8 aperture, and a 12-megapixel telephoto sensor of f/2.4 aperture. The dual cameras are accompanied by a quad-LED TrueTone flash. Up front, the iPhone X houses a TruDepth 7-megapixel camera of f/2.2 aperture,  with an upgraded Portrait Mode and a new Portrait Lighting feature.

{BGR}

Apple‘s most expensive iPhone X, priced at Rs 89,000, is all set to mark its debut in India on November 3. However, customers can pre-order the device starting October 27. While we are a couple of days away from the pre-order dates, the smartphone is already listed on e-commerce sites like Flipkart and Amazon India.

Apple’s anniversary edition iPhone X will be available in two variants – 64GB and 256GB priced at Rs 89,000, and Rs 102,000 respectively. Flipkart is offering a no-cost EMI starting Rs 9,889 per month, while standard EMIs start from Rs 3,042 per month. Additionally, if the purchase is made using an Axis Bank Buzz Credit Card, then you can further avail five percent discount. Apart from Flipkart, the iPhone X is also listed on Amazon India’s mobile app. While the app doesn’t really reveal much in terms of offers, it does have a ‘Notify Me’ option where users can enter their email ID and get notified once the pre-order for the smartphone goes live.

Apple iPhone X is the biggest-ever overhaul to the iPhone lineup yet. Apple claims that the iPhone X has the sharpest display ever on an iPhone. Apple has now opted for an edge-to-edge OLED screen with Super Retina Display and more than 2 million pixels. With the home button/Touch ID sensor gone, Apple has now introduced a new biometric authentication feature – Face ID. As the name suggests, this feature scans your face to unlock the iPhone.

The iPhone X’s camera has a dual-lens 12-megapixel rear camera with dual optical image stabilization, consisting up of a wide-angle f/1.8 aperture lens, and a telephoto f/2.4 aperture lens. The 7-megapixel front camera supports Portrait mode and has auto image stabilization and exposure control. The phone run on iOS 11 out-of-the-box. The smartphone features a 5.8-inch OLED display bearing a resolution of 2436×1125 pixels. It is powered by an Apple A11 Bionic processor paired with 3GB of RAM. 

Reliance Retail will pose the biggest challenge to top e-commerce players Amazon and Flipkart next year due to its wider reach and tremendous penetration of telecom arm Jio, said an IT industry veteran. Consolidation would be the name of the game in e-commerce space next year, with small firms shutting shop, leaving fewer players in an environment of intense competition, former CFO of Infosys T V Mohandas Pai said.

“In e-commerce, the biggest threat to Amazon and Flipkart will be Reliance Retail because Reliance Jio (Reliance Industries Ltd’s telecom arm) is there all over India; they can easily connect to all the small, small retail stores and supply to them and improve their business dramatically,” he said. “Reliance Retail will be the biggest challenger to Flipkart, Amazon next year,” Pai told PTI.

“In retail, India will have three players — Amazon, Flipkart and Reliance. Reliance has a wider reach, more physical stores, better distribution and more money to invest in India than the other two.” V Balakrishnan, another former CFO of the Bengaluru- headquartered IT major, said telecom companies are in a sweet- spot because they are becoming like utility play but added that “they have to own the data”.

“Data and content become very important because telcos per se will become utilities. I think Reliance is making the right moves to own the data and own the content. That will give them strategic advantage in the market,” Balakrishnan said. Meanwhile, speaking on the Indian start-up scene in general, Pai said funding has become discerning, except for large companies to which big firms are pouring in money.

“There is keener competition for funding; investors are more cautious. But the investment is going on and startups are coming up,” he added. Pai said 2018 will be a better year for start-ups as the country’s economic growth would improve. “Next calendar year, start-ups will heat up again because many of them have done well and they are going to raise the next round of financing next year.”

“Next year will be good for start-ups. What is hot (in start-up space) is artificial intelligence, machine-learning, agri-tech and med-tech (life science and medical technologies),” he said. Balakrishnan said funding has become very selective in the start-up scene. “Earlier, all kinds of start-ups were funded. Now, unless you have a strong business idea, the funding environment has become challenging.”

“The start-up environment is good. They are all getting funded. Last year, some $8 billion funding in start-ups was received. B2B companies are the flavour of the market now. And a lot of funds have raised money. “Big boys (like Amazon, Flipkart and PayTm in e-commerce) will attract more capital. Smaller companies will struggle,” he said.

Internet fraud is constantly increasing, with fresh reports emerging regularly of scams committed. While e-commerce sites such as Amazon India are usually the ones to goof-up, this time the e-commerce giant is on the other side of the matter. In a new case of fraud, Amazon India has been reportedly duped of Rs 50 lakh by a 21-year old man in Delhi.

According to a report by HT, Shivam Chopra, a hotel management student, had ordered as many as 166 expensive mobiles from the Amazon India and got massive refunds for the same. How, you ask? Well, the report suggests that every time after ordering a new smartphone, Shivam would raise a request for a refund by claiming the shipping package to be empty. Amazon would give him the refund in the form of a gift voucher.

Chopra, who is a hotel management graduate from Delhi’s Rohini college, failed to get a permanent job and that’s when this idea struck his mind. In March this year, just to check if the plan works fine, he ordered two phones, and when he asked for a refund for the two phones, he got the whole amount back.

Reports say that Chopra would sell the phones online on sites like OLX or sell them in Delhi’s Gaffar Market. A resident of Tri Nagar, Delhi, he used multiple SIM cards and Amazon India accounts to place his order. After placing the order from some random area he would guide the delivery man to a place where he would accept the package and pay with cash. Amazon India realized that it was being duped when they noticed a similar pattern of orders from one particular area. They immediately filed a FIR, which later led to the arrest of the 21-year-old man. Fake IDs and a number of mobile SIM cards provided by an accomplice made his job easy. 

According to the report, neither the police nor Amazon elaborated on the process of verification of such refund demands. The individual who supplied these SIM cards to Chopra has also been arrested. The police seized 19 mobile phones, 12 lakh in cash, 40 bank passbooks and cheques from Chopra’s home. He had also kept Rs 10 lakh with someone else for safekeeping.

In a statement to PTI, an Amazon India spokesperson said, “We continue to work closely with the Delhi Police and thank them for all their efforts in the investigation.”

Earlier this year, a woman duped Amazon India for Rs 70 Lakh where she replaced the original product with sub-standard or fake goods before raising a return request. A total of 104 electronic gadgets including high-end smartphones, TVs and cameras were replaced by her in this way.

Blue Origin, a commercial space company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, plans to launch humans into space within the next 18 months, CEO of the space firm Bob Smith said. These people Blue Origin plans to launch into space will be everyday citizens, not astronauts, Smith said at the first meeting of the newly revamped National Space Council – an executive group aimed at guiding the US space agenda.

Blue Origin has not yet indicated exactly how much the tickets will cost, CNNMoney reported. The firm earlier announced its plans to launch space tourists by 2018. A 2019 launch would put Blue Origin’s first space tourism trip slightly behind its competitor SpaceX, headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. “Within the next 18 months we’re going to be launching humans into space,” Smith was quoted as saying.

“These won’t be astronauts…these will be everyday citizens,” Smith added. SpaceX plans to take two tourists on a trip around the moon sometime in the last quarter of 2018. Sending paying customers to space is part of Blue Origin’s early business strategy. The company wants to conduct frequent launches to the edge of space — where passengers can briefly experience weightlessness and marvel at the view. 

First things first, it’s pronounced ‘Tenor’. It caused me a world of confusion when we first heard the name, and we called it everything from ‘ten-dot-O-R’ to ‘ten-point-zero-R’, but I’ve finally figured out what this brand is called. We’ve had our fair share of oddball brands with weird names, including the likes of Phicomm and Verykool, but 10.or definitely takes the cake. Once I was over my initial amusement over the name, I proceeded to dig into the brand’s credentials.

By digging, I mean flipping the box over and looking at the address of the importer: Amazon Wholesale India Private Limited. Think of 10.or as the AmazonBasics of smartphones; the focus here is on meeting a simple-but-high standard of quality, while remaining affordable. Priced from Rs 7,999, the 10.or E is the company’s first smartphone in India, and is, as expected, selling exclusively on Amazon India. We’ve reviewed the phone, and here’s what we think.

Before we get into the details, lets first establish what the AmazonBasics philosophy is, and build from there. Head on over to Amazon India and take a look at its list of AmazonBasics products. The idea is simple: good quality products at affordable prices. Everything from design to build quality is functional and focused around improving the usage experience. I’ve owned and used a handful of AmazonBasics products including a tripod, Bluetooth speakers, home scissors and cables, and have found them all to be excellent for the price.

Although not explicitly carrying the AmazonBasics brand name, the 10.or E could be considered an AmazonBasics smartphone. Made by an OEM in China and marketed by Amazon India, the 10.or E is uncomplicated and straightforward in its approach. There’s nothing special about the device, but that isn’t necessarily an issue. At this price, I would expect a basic set of standards to be met, and the 10.or E meets them admirably.

Priced from Rs 7,999, the 10.or E doesn’t promise the world, but it does promise and deliver what buyers would typically seek. There are two variants, with the more affordable one offering 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, while the Rs 8,999 option comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. You also get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 SoC, a fingerprint sensor at the back, and a 4,000mAh battery.

However, the phone exceeds expectations in two departments; you get a 5.5-inch full-HD screen, as well as near-stock Android 7.1.2 out-of-the-box. There is of course also Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection on the screen, as well as a 13-megapixel primary camera and a secondary 5-megapixel camera at the front. Another pleasant surprise comes in the form of flash for both cameras. Simply put, the 10.or E is the best-specified phone in its price segment, and wins half the battle right there.

After using the device, I wasn’t disappointed. With the Snapdragon 430 SoC, you get a basic level of competence and performance, helped along by the light and uncomplicated nature of the near-stock Android operating system. Multi-tasking, basic gaming and ordinary usage are all as you would expect from a device in this price range.

I’ve reviewed the Rs 8,999 3GB RAM variant, which is naturally a bit better with resource management and multi-tasking than the more affordable variant. What you can reasonably expect is reliably performance with relatively quick loading times, no significant lag or stutter, and no major heat issues. The phone is also built rather well for the price.

While smartphones are moving to the use of metal in the build and structure, the 10.or E is unapologetically plastic. It’s a unibody design with a matte finish, so it doesn’t look cheap or affordable in any way, which is excellent. It also keeps the weight of the phone down, despite the fact that the phone is large. The fingerprint sensor is at the back below the camera, while the buttons are on the right and the dedicated SIM and microSD trays are on the left.

(Camera samples shot on the 10.or E)

What perhaps hampers the look of the 10.or E a bit is the massive chin are forehead. It’s fair to say that 18:9 aspect ratio smartphones have spoiled me to an extent, but there’s also a hint of poor design here. The chin is bulky for no reason at all; there are no capacitive buttons to justify it, since the phone uses on screen buttons and has its fingerprint sensor at the back. The rest of the device only suffers from looking too plain, but it’s important to remember that this is a device priced under Rs 10,000. With that in mind, looking plain isn’t really a problem.

Considering that the phone’s camera is an important factor in any smartphone purchase today, the 10.or E does not skimp on quality here. You get flash on both the front and back, which will appeal to buyers who take a lot of selfies. Pictures are decent enough, although video resolution is capped at 720p for both cameras, and there’s no slow-motion video recording. In good light, you won’t have any complaints with the pictures you take, which is just what we’d expect from a Rs 8,000 phone. Additionally, the fingerprint sensor is usually accurate, but is a bit slow to unlock the device. The wait time isn’t painful by any means, but it itsn’t quite as fast as you can expect on devices that cost a bit more, including the Redmi Note 4. 

Once you get over the name and you’re used to explaining to people why you’re using a smartphone brand that no one has heard of before, the 10.or E is a rather pleasant smartphone for the price. With a reliable chipset, a full-HD screen, flash on both cameras and a big battery, the 10.or E defies its price tag to offer you serious value for money. And while you may not want to trust an unknown brand, you can be assured of quality purely thanks to the fact that this is, deep down inside, a product backed by Amazon India.

Although the 10.or E starts at Rs 7,999 for the 2GB/16GB variant, you’d be doing yourself a favor by spending the extra Rs 1,000 on the 3GB/32GB option. So put aside your brand worries, and pick up the 10.or E if you’re shopping for a phone under Rs 10,000. It’s truly among the best options you can buy in this price range.

Source: {BGR}

Following the substantial growth of Amazon Prime service in India, the company is now planning to increase the price for the premium service to Rs 999 per year. Essentially, the Amazon Prime service, which guarantees exclusive deals and one-day delivery with other benefits, was rolled out in India last year with an introductory price of Rs 499.

According to ET, Amazon India will also be adding new benefits to the Amazon Prime service for its customers with the new price going almost double the introductory price. “Seeing the engagement on the Prime program and the value of benefits, we feel it is the right time to move away from the strike-through pricing and move to Rs 999. It will happen in a few days,” says Akshay Sahi, who heads the Amazon Prime operations in India.

Sahi did not reveal when exactly the price will surge. Considering the festivities around, the new price for the plan is likely to come into effect after festival sales are wrapped up. Amazon Prime subscription also includes membership to its Amazon Prime Video streaming services giving users the access to latest movies and exclusive shows or video content. 

Amazon just announced a slew of products, and all of them are priced under $150 (approximately Rs 9,900). The latest product lineup includes second-generation Echo at $99 (approximately Rs 6,600), Echo Plus at $150 (approximately Rs 9,900), Echo Spot alarm clock at $130 (approximately Rs 8,600), a new Fire TV at $70 (approximately Rs 4,700), the Echo Connect at $35 (approximately Rs 2,300), and lastly  Echo Buttons priced at $20 (approximately Rs 1,400). The Echo and Echo Plus will be available on October 31, while the Fire TV will be released on October 25. As for the Echo Connect and Echo Spot, they will be available for sale on December 13 and December 19 respectively.

Starting with the second-generation Echo, the smart speaker comes in six different colors – Charcoal Fabric, Heather Gray Fabric, Oak Finish, Sandstone Fabric, Silver Finish, and Walnut Finish. Recalling its basic features, the Echo is powered by AI assistant Alexa. You can command Alexa to perform functions like playing music, make calls, set alarms and reminders, among others. The new Echo comes with Dolby-powered speakers, and 360-degree omni-directional audio output. It is also equipped with seven microphones allowing you to launch Alexa even when music is blasting from the speaker. Amazon appears to have borrowed a little from Apple’s HomePod with the fabric body on the Echo.

The smart home hub, Echo Plus is also powered by Alexa, and comes in silver color. With the Echo Plus, you can control smart products at home like lights, thermostats, locks, garage doors, and more. The Echo Plus is available in two variants where one comes with a Philips Hue bulb integrated. The Echo Plus is also equipped with Dolby speakers, and seven microphones like the new Echo.

The Echo Spot comes with a small 2.5-inch screen where you can watch video flash briefings, music lyrics, and weather forecasts. The Echo Spot can also be used to control your smart home products via Alexa. The Echo Spot also comes with a camera located above the display which allows you to make video calls, or use it as a nanny cam. It also doubles as an alarm clock, and is shaped like one. 

Coming to the latest Fire TV, it supports 4K Ultra HD up to 60 frames per second. The Fire TV also comes with support for HDR, and features Dolby ATMOS audio. It is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, and Wi-Fi 802.11ac for connectivity. It further comes with an Alexa Voice remote for voice recognition, or you can pair it with an Echo device. 

The Echo Connect is a set-top-box shaped device that connects your landline and Echo products. You can then use Alexa to make phone calls, which would connect through your landline number. It essentially works as a medium for your landline and Echo devices. The Echo Connect also syncs your contacts giving you a pure hands-free experience. 

Echo Buttons are a first of Amazon’s new Alexa Gadgets. Echo Buttons connect with compatible Echo devices, and are meant for playing games like Beat the Intro, Dungeon Escape, Sounds Fun with Mike Epps, among others. Amazon says that Echo Buttons haven’t been certified by the FCC as yet, so its commercial launch may or may not be possible. You can head over to the official website and sign up for the latest updates on the Echo Buttons.

Parrots can be smarter than humans, and are also understood better by Alexa, thanks to the exceptional mimicking abilities they naturally have. In an interesting instance of animal vs technology, a parrot, belonging to a London resident, successfully placed an order on Amazon for its human.

Corienne Pretorius, a resident of southeast London, posted her ‘parrot problems’ on Instagram, with the most interesting one where the gray feathered bird not only mimicked its owner’s voice, but also instructed a smart speaker to order a set of gift boxes for $13.50 (Rs 870 approximately).

According to The Sun, the five-year-old African grey called Buddy impersonated the owner when she was out, and placed the order using the Amazon Echo smart speaker. Buddy activated the speaker, and in its own gibberish way was able to place the order.

Pretorius noticed something was odd when a notification popped on her laptop saying an order was successfully placed. After ruling out her husband and son, she discovered it was actually Buddy who placed the order. She later recorded a footage of Buddy mimicking her saying the word ‘Alexa’.

Interestingly, Pretorius has never used the smart speaker to shop or place online orders using voice commands. As quoted in the report,”We’ve had the device for four months and I use it to play music or make ‘to do’ lists but I’ve never ordered anything online.” 

Xiaomi has announced an interesting partnership today. In a Twitter post, Xiaomi’s Manu Kumar Jain announced the launch of a new fitness band in partnership with Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan’s lifestyle brand HRX. Called the Mi Band HRX Edition, the fitness band is priced at Rs 1,299.

#MiBandHRXEdition: will go live on @Flipkart @amazonIN @myntra starting 20 Sept. Preview sale @ #Curefit & #Cult gyms from 18-20 Sept. (6/6) pic.twitter.com/Tb3teaJzLI

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) September 15, 2017

The new Xiaomi Mi Band will be available across Flipkart, Amazon India, Myntra and mi.com, as well as offline via Mi Home Stores. While the fitness band will go up on sale on Mi.com and Mi Stores starting September 18, it will be available across Flipkart, Amazon India, and Myntra from September 20. In addition to the band, Xiaomi is also offering a blue colour strap for Rs 299. Additionally, Jain’s Twitter post reveals a preview sale of the fitness band and Curefit and Cult gyms from September 18 to September 20.

Xiaomi Mi Band HRX Edition is believed to offer over 23 days of usage on a single charge. For connectivity it will feature Bluetooth 4.0, and an OLED display. The Mi Band offers features like monitoring steps, burnt calories, track sleep patterns, as well as display notifications including incoming calls or text messages. The fitness band also has an improved pedometer algorithm for improved tracking.