The new Amazon Go store in Seattle was the buzz of the tech world this week, promising extreme convenience at the potential expense of some personal privacy.

The store logs customers in when they walk through the door, knows instantly when they pick an item up from the shelf, automatically tallies what they put in their carts or shopping bags, uses past purchases to improve their shopping experience, and seamlessly charges their accounts when they walk out — no need for checkout lines — making it nearly frictionless to buy something.

It’s currently available only to Amazon employees, but it opens to the public early next year. It’s part of a broader move by the online retail giant into the world of brick-and-mortar retail, and we dive into the topic on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast. GeekWire’s John Cook and Nat Levy join me to put the news into perspective and talk about where the company is headed next.

Plus, we discuss what’s on top of Microsoft’s to-do list following its acquisition of LinkedIn.

Then, Nat explains what T-Mobile is doing with a new technology called Digits, which lets customers use the same phone number across a variety of internet-connected devices as well as add multiple numbers to one phone.

And John gives an update on our Geeks Give Back campaign to raise $1 million for the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship for women and minorities in science and technology fields.

Listen to the show above, or download the MP3 here.

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