Prime Time
With Amazon’s third-annual Prime Day sales extravaganza right around the corner, the company is offering exclusive deals to customers using Alexa to place orders. Voice shoppers will gain access to the sale two hours earlier than regular customers. By simply asking, “Alexa, what are your deals,” voice users are presented with a rotating list of daily deals from the start of the sale until July 17th. While voice-activated purchasing serves as a benefit to Prime members, the verdict is still out on whether voice shopping will actually take off. On Amazon’s previous Prime Day, the company only received 80,000 voice orders – and that was with the monetary incentive given to first-time voice users. So shop till you drop! Or until your Amazon Echo runs out of battery… (Source: Bloomberg Tech)
And It was All Yellow
Snapchat just got a whole lot more interesting. Two weeks after releasing Snap Map, Snap rolled out a new update featuring links, voice changers, and backdrops. Here’s the breakdown: Paperclips allows users to attach links to a Snap that friends can swipe up to view, Backdrops places colorful backdrops behind cut-out items, and Voice Filters changes the sound of your voice. I wonder how long it’ll take Instagram to copy these ideas too? (Source: TechCrunch)
Apples and Oranges
Qualcomm Inc. is trying to ban iPhone shipments into the U.S. in the company’s latest attempt to sue Apple Inc. for violating six patents. The legal battle over Qualcomm technology in Apple products continues to escalate with the chipmakers pressuring Apple to pay up. Qualcomm claims that Apple used their technology to increase iPhone battery life. Apple, on the other hand, believes that the fees are too high and has been trying to negotiate for years. It seems the fighting just never stops. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the Ross and Rachel of Silicon Valley! (Source: Bloomberg Tech & The Verge)
