Amazon Bots

Amazon Bots

About this time every year, Amazon announces a slew of new products. Some of them are fairly normal: new Echo devices, smart screens, video doorbells. But sometimes the company will roll out something truly bonkers, like a flying home security drone or a Roomba-like robot with an extending periscope camera that wheels around your house. Outlandish or otherwise, the company's output offers a look at where it's headed. And this year, Amazon seems increasingly intent on becoming a home security company.

This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate reviews editor Adrienne So joins us to talk about Amazon's deluge of new products, including that absurd Astro robot.

Show Notes:

Read Lauren’s story about Amazon’s Astro robot. Check out everything Amazon announced at its September event. If for some reason you want to buy Amazon’s Ring home drone, you’ll have to get on the invite list. Here’s Adrienne’s story about the Amazon Halo fitness tracker that listens to your tone of speech. And here’s Lauren’s review of the Amazon Dash shelf. Also read Engadget’s story about how Amazon is turning into a security company.

Recommendations:

Adrienne recommends the Back Bay Tempo 30 earbuds. Mike recommends the “Folk Fabrique” playlist on Spotify. Lauren recommends Anne Helen Petersen’s column “The Counterintuitive Mechanics of Peloton Addiction” from her Substack newsletter, Culture Study.

Adrienne So can be found on Twitter @adriennemso. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.

If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Episoder(426)

Why It’s So Hard to Unlink Yourself From Facebook

Why It’s So Hard to Unlink Yourself From Facebook

If you have both an Instagram and Facebook account, chances are they are connected, whether you like it or not. But what if you didn’t connect them in the first place, or if you have a Finstagram acco...

30 Aug 201936min

You’ve Got Microplastics

You’ve Got Microplastics

Plastic is everywhere. No, really, it is everywhere. Tiny bits of plastic waste, called microplastic, have come to permeate nearly every part of the planet. We drink it in our water. We breathe it in ...

23 Aug 201940min

How Google’s Secrecy Lead to Company Turmoil

How Google’s Secrecy Lead to Company Turmoil

For years, Google has flourished in large part because of its famously open internal structure. Leadership encouraged active and vocal communication between employees who held strong opinions or disse...

16 Aug 201936min

Amazon's Quest for World Domination

Amazon's Quest for World Domination

Amazon didn’t become the behemoth it is by accident. Its services, like Amazon Prime, and products, like the Echo smart speaker, were designed to learn everything about you and become essential fixtur...

9 Aug 201936min

Bumps in the Road to Our Robo-Car Future

Bumps in the Road to Our Robo-Car Future

From fledgling startups to automotive giants like General Motors, there’s a whole lot of companies looking to develop fully self-driving cars. But that goal is still a long way from reality. The world...

2 Aug 201938min

Why New York’s Revenge Porn Law Is Flawed

Why New York’s Revenge Porn Law Is Flawed

This week, New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill criminalizing the spread of nonconsensual pornography, or revenge porn. WIRED’s Emma Grey Ellis joins Mike and Lauren to talk about wha...

26 Jul 201940min

Twitter’s Redesign Is Impressive. Is It Enough?

Twitter’s Redesign Is Impressive. Is It Enough?

On Monday, Twitter began rolling out its first desktop redesign in seven years. It was a mostly aesthetic makeover, with changes like a new layout, dark mode, and a more prominent search bar. As with ...

19 Jul 201948min

Facebook's Libra and the Future of Money

Facebook's Libra and the Future of Money

Last month, Facebook announced its plans to get into the cryptocurrency race with Libra. A blend of blockchain and partnership with 28 companies, Libra has been pitched as a money transfer service and...

13 Jul 201933min

Populært innen Teknologi

lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
romkapsel
teknisk-sett
shifter
rss-impressions-2
tomprat-med-gunnar-tjomlid
energi-og-klima
rss-ki-praten
nasjonal-sikkerhetsmyndighet-nsm
fornybaren
elektropodden
rss-ai-forklart
smart-forklart
hans-petter-og-co
pedagogisk-intelligens
rss-digitaliseringspadden
rss-praktisk-proptech
rss-alt-som-gar-pa-strom
rss-startup
kunstig-intelligens-med-morten-goodwin