Twitch today is introducing a suite of tools called Twitch Extensions that will allow its streamers to customize their channel pages with interactive features, including polls, leaderboards, tickers, schedules, overlays, and even virtual pets, among other things. Beyond simply personalizing their channel to make it more engaging to fans, the extensions in some cases will help streamers… Read More
from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/31/twitchs-new-extensions-let-streamers-customize-their-channel-make-money-from-amazon-sales/?ncid=rss
Tech giants Google, Microsoft, and Facebook are all applying the lessons of machine learning to translation, but a small company called DeepL has outdone them all and raised the bar for the field. Its translation tool is just as quick as the outsized competition, but more accurate and nuanced than any we’ve tried. 
Microsoft’s mobile game streaming app Mixer Create is launching out of beta testing today on iOS and Android, allowing gamers to broadcast the games they’re playing right from their phone. This feature works on Android with all games, but is more limited on iOS. On iPhone, select games that have enabled Apple’s ReplayKit functionality will work, the company notes. That… 
Amazon has a new fantasy series coming to its streaming service, which is “a fantasy-noir set in a neo-Victorian city,” according to Deadline. All eight episodes of the show, called Carnival Row, were picked up by Amazon, which means it won’t go through the usual pilot process Amazon uses to test much of its Prime Video original programming. That’s probably because… 
When Amazon decided to buy Whole Foods, it seemed straight-forward enough. Huge company sees an opening and spends a ton of cash to gain an edge with a brick and mortar business, but the deal might have had some unintended consequences for AWS, Amazon’s highly successful cloud business. While Amazon has had a huge impact on retail in general, causing upheaval across the entire industry,… 
Amazon today is launching the first Alexa skills specifically aimed at children, which will go live with a new Verified Parental Consent feature in order to operate within the confines of child data protections, like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This move opens the door to larger children’s media brands who have, until now, avoided building apps for… 
Amazon appears to be planning an expansion of Alexa’s existing messaging capabilities to support sending SMS text messages to friends using your Echo device or Alexa app. That means Echo users could then text anyone using voice commands, not only other Echo owners. According to code found in the Amazon Alexa app, there are references to a new type of phone number – referred to… 
Dropbox continues to tune its products as it tries to tap a bigger audience within larger companies with some updates today to its collaboration tool Paper, including the ability to preview documents before loading them. As a blank slate, Paper is increasingly popular with designers you might talk to in Silicon Valley. It basically turns the process of designing and building a product spec into… 
Those betting big on AI making voice the dominant user interface of the future are not betting so big as to believe their respective artificially intelligent voice assistants will be the sole vocal oracle that Internet users want or need. 
A handful of tech companies have just been given Emmy awards for a variety of behind-the-scenes accomplishments. Yeah, I didn’t know it was a thing either! Well, I kind of knew. They just don’t play it up a lot. But it’s still a little weird to see Apple win one for Siri, Microsoft win one for Skype, and… Comcast win one for its X1 remote. Really?! 
When VMware announced it was partnering with AWS last fall, it turned more than a few enterprise heads. After all, we’re talking about one company that dominates virtual machines on-prem, and the other in the public cloud. Together, the two companies make a powerful combination — and VMware made the whole shebang official today at VMworld when it announced that VMware Cloud was live… 
About ten months ago, Microsoft promised the VR industry a shot in the arm and an update to PC-tethered systems by way of their “mixed reality” platform and OEM partner-crafted headsets which would boast inside-out tracking, lower system spec requirements, 1440p per eye displays and a much lower price point, with headsets starting at just $299. Many of the headsets will be… 
Skype recently introduced a feature designed to cement its place among business users who aren’t as interested in things like emoji reactions or “Stories.” It now supports conducting technical interviews via its service through a new Skype Interviews feature. From a dedicated website, interviewers can test candidates in seven programing languages over Skype using a… 
A day after making its Whole Foods debut, the original Echo is no longer for sale from Amazon’s site, a move that could indicate the imminent arrival of a new device. The timing is certainly right. The original Echo is long, long overdue for a upgrade. The smart assistant has gone mostly untouched since entering the market two years ago — even as other devices like the Dot have… 
Perhaps you’ve heard of Lore if you’re a podcast fan – the long-running audio show from creator Aaron Mahnke has a strong following. Strong enough that it got picked up for an original TV series, which is set to debut on Amazon Prime Video on October 13, just in time for Halloween. The six-episode TV series adaptation will mimic the podcast in form and content, with… 
Amazon this morning announced a new feature for its Echo devices called “multi-room music,” which allows owners with more than one Echo to control where their music is played, or even sync it across a group of Echo devices using voice commands. For example, you’ll be able to tell Alexa to play your music in the living room, play music upstairs or downstairs, or even just… 
Even as Amazon steps up a groceries war in the US following its $13.7BN acquisition of Whole Foods — cutting prices at the chain this weekend to amp up the pressure on rival Walmart — other supermarket players are figuring out their own strategic responses to Jeff Bezos’ big food fight. 
Amazon has a gift for the back-to-school set in the form of drastically reduced prices on its subscription music service. Amazon Music Unlimited (for students) is available in the U.S. starting today for the low-low price of $4.99 per month. That’s less than the $7.99 per month that Amazon charges its Prime Subscribers or the $9.99 per month for non-Prime customers. For students who… 
Amazon closed on Whole Foods today in a $13.7 billion deal and began slashing the chain’s grocery prices this morning as a result. While the deal has much larger implications for Amazon, the goal with the price cuts – including those on many of its organic items – is to bring Whole Foods more in line with rival stores. But even with Amazon willing to slim its margins on… 
The big day is here — sorta. Amazon’s $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods was slated to bring significant price drops to a number of Whole Foods brand products today. Discounts we saw ranged from six percent on the low end for pasta sauce to nearly 30 percent on roast chicken. We took a gander around the Whole Foods in SOMA, San Francisco to capture a number of the price adjustments. 
It’s part of normal discussion in Silicon Valley to claim that Amazon makes no money, or even loses money, in the pursuit of growth. But it’s a trope Amazon bucks on a regular basis for two reasons: It doesn’t have to lose money on large chunks of its business in the name of growth anymore. It has recently (in terms of the life of its business) added a new operating unit… 
Amazon’s $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods closed today, and the grocer is already rolling out discounts on select food items as result. While Amazon last week shared a list of products expected to be discounted on Monday, a trip to local Whole Foods stores indicate that the price cuts are already broader than announced. For example, prices on some grocery staples – like… 
One thing can certainly be said for Amazon: the company moves fast. The retail giant’s $13.7 billion Whole Foods acquisition only officially went through today, and it’s already moved in to mark its territory. Amazon Echo displays have begun popping up in strategic locations in Whole Foods across the country, sporting tongue in cheek signs that market the ‘farm… 
It looks like Sonos is nearing the release of a speaker that has a built-in voice control assistant. According to an FCC filing found by Dave Zatz, the company is seeking to get approval from the US government to sell a speaker that sports “integrated voice control functionality with far field microphones” and “multiple voice platforms.” It’s impossible to say… 
Last week, Amazon said that its massive $13.7 billion deal to acquire Whole Foods is wrapping up on Monday — giving it access to one of the strongest food brands in the United States, as well as hundreds of grocery stores in metropolitan areas. That means it’s going to be easier and easier for people to get access to great ingredients, and there’s been a continued trickle… 
