GoKawiil
Tech News
Amazon is currently selling Bose's newly released Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar at a 23% discount, cutting $254 off its price. The soundbar supports Dolby Atmos surround sound and includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity along with a speech-enhancement feature.
Amazon has agreed to fund a nuclear energy facility in Fairbanks, Indiana, developed with X-energy and American Electric Power, on the site of the retired Breed coal plant. The project would deploy 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors capable of generating up to 960 megawatts for the regional grid and Amazon's data centers, though no construction timeline or cost details have been released.
Amazon Echo devices always listen for their wake word, but users can mute the microphone entirely using the mic-slash button on top of the device, which triggers a red light when active. Alternatively, users can adjust data retention settings in the Alexa app under Alexa Privacy to choose how long voice recordings and transcripts are kept, including options to delete them by voice command on supported devices.
Amazon launched two new always-recording wearables, the Bee Frontier wristband and Bee Eclipse card device, joining Apple's Siri Recap and Live Rewind features on its latest Watch and Meta's camera-equipped smart glasses. These devices continuously transcribe conversations and daily activity to help users with reminders, notes and summaries, but some bystanders have objected to being recorded without clear consent.
A flashing yellow light on an Amazon Echo device signals that Alexa has a pending message or notification, a feature introduced in 2017. Users can clear it by asking Alexa questions like 'What notifications do I have?' and can navigate multiple alerts using commands such as 'next' or 'repeat'.
Court documents from a legal dispute between Amazon and a Canadian union reveal the company uses an internal AI system called Atlas to assign warehouses, including ones in the UK, a risk score for potential unionisation or other labour disruptions. The tool reportedly analyses hundreds of data points, including social media posts, internal survey responses and past industrial action, to produce a score between 100 and 900, with higher scores considered 'better' for management.
A troubleshooting guide outlines steps for fixing frequent Amazon Alexa problems, including setting up Voice ID when the assistant misunderstands speech, enabling Brief Mode or a Brief personality style to reduce wordy replies, changing the Wake Word if it activates accidentally, and grouping multiple Alexa devices by room so audio plays from the correct speaker. Each fix is accessed through settings in the Alexa app or by giving Alexa specific voice commands.
Amazon has deployed more than 1 million robots across its fulfillment network, including robotic arms, floor-sorting units and pallet-moving machines. The company employs roughly 1.5 million full- and part-time workers, who increasingly share physical workspace with these machines rather than being separated from automated systems as in past decades.
A Redditor comparing two AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition CPUs purchased from Amazon found the second one had identical labeling but a completely different pin/contact layout underneath. Commenters concluded a scammer likely delidded a genuine Ryzen chip, attached its heat spreader to an old Intel processor, and possibly reprinted the markings, then returned the fake unit to Amazon for a refund while keeping the real CPU.
Companies including Delta, JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab and Yelp have begun blocking AI agents from services like Meta's Muse, xAI's Grok and OpenAI's Dots from completing tasks on their platforms. Users report that sites like Cars.com and Amtrak that previously allowed agent access are now restricted, while Yelp says it only permits agents that pay for its data licensing program. The pushback follows Amazon's earlier move to ban and sue Perplexity over its agentic shopping tool.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas data shows AI has been cited as a factor in more than 120,000 announced U.S. job cuts through September 2026, about 21% of the total, making it this year's leading reason for layoffs. Companies including Amazon, Meta, Block, Allianz, Nike, Telstra and British American Tobacco have all announced AI-linked cuts or restructuring. Entrepreneur notes that some laid-off workers are instead using industry experience plus AI tools to start new, low-cost businesses.
Amazon is selling the Razer Kraken V4 X gaming headset for $54.39, its lowest price in months. The headset includes USB-C and USB-A connectivity and 40mm drivers, and currently holds a 4.5-star rating on Amazon.