Bezos: Amazon closer to solving economics of grocery delivery

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The Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service is one of the longest trial runs in technology history, rivaling the Gmail beta in duration. But more than five years after launching the service in the Seattle region, the team behind Amazon Fresh is making headway on the business model, Jeff Bezos assured shareholders at the company’s annual… Read More…

Jeff Bezos grilled over violent games, movies during Amazon shareholder meeting

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Amazon just wrapped up its annual meeting of shareholders at Seattle Center, with Jeff Bezos giving a broad overview of the company’s business and fielding questions from shareholders. But the hot-button issue during the Q&A wasn’t profit margins or taxes — it was the company’s policies about sales of violent games and movies. Three shareholders… Read More…

Amazon expands Android Appstore to reach nearly 200 countries

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On the same day Amazon rolled out Kindle Fire HD availability to 170 countries, the Seattle online giant also announced that its Appstore for Android is now available internationally to countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, India, South Africa and South Korea — reaching nearly 200 countries around the world. The Appstore was previously available only… Read More…

Going global: Amazon to offer Kindle Fire HD in 170 countries

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Previously available to only a handful of countries, Amazon announced today that it will be shipping both its 7-inch and 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablets to 170 countries around the globe starting June 13. The 8.9-inch version is available for preorder starting today for $284, while the 7-inch tablet is also available for preorder at… Read More…

Amazon Web Services expanding in northern Virginia, plans to hire 500

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Amazon.com is expanding its footprint in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, with Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell announcing today that the company’s Amazon Web Services unit plans to open a new office in Herndon, Virginia area. The expansion could add as many as 500 engineering and IT jobs in the area, and it comes about two… Read More…

Check out the Apollo F-1 moon rocket engines that Jeff Bezos helped salvage

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Back in March, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and his Bezos Expeditions team recovered significant pieces of two F-1 rocket engines that were used to launch rockets into space 40 years ago on the landmark Apollo missions, before plunging into the ocean. Bezos’ F-1 Recovery Project team brought the parts to Kansas and now, after two months… Read More…

Chart: The top 10 biggest private tech buyouts (and where Tumblr ranks)

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In the wake of Yahoo’s blockbuster $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr, Bloomberg News has produced a pretty nifty chart of the top 50 acquisitions of private technology companies. Skype leads the pack, but not Microsoft’s $8.5 billion buy in 2011 since at the time the Internet communications giant was owned by publicly-traded eBay. In fact, eBay’s… Read More…

Amazon increases its tuition assistance for hourly workers

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Amazon.com says it will boost the amount of tuition assistance available to its hourly employees who pursue associate degrees or vocational certificates. The company will now pay up to $3,000 a year (totaling up to $12,000 over four years), which is an increase from $2,000 a year (or up to $8,000 total) when the program… Read More…

Images: Amazon.com wants to build a massive biosphere in Seattle (perfect for workers and mature trees)

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Amazon.com is charting a new course for one of its proposed downtown Seattle office buildings, unveiling new drawings this week which show a massive spherical greenhouse-like structure capable of housing multiple forms of plant life as well as mature trees. And, yes, of course, throngs of Amazon workers will be permitted too. The new proposal,… Read More…

Fraction calculator invented by 12-year-old now Amazon’s Free App of the Day

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It started with some frustation over math homework at the dining room table, but now, the ideas of 12-year-old Isabel Hughes are front-and-center on Amazon’s App Store. Earlier this year, we wrote about the cool story of how Isabel and her father, Aidan, teamed up to develop best-selling calculator apps sold across several platforms. Today marks… Read More…