Category: Amazon.com

New drone, dubbed MK30, will go into service in 2024 and replace the existing MK27-2

Amazon.com Inc. unveiled a new delivery drone on Thursday that’s smaller, makes less noise and can fly through light rain, the latest effort to get the troubled and long-developing project off the ground.

The company has spent nearly a decade pursuing founder Jeff Bezos’ vision of autonomous drones that can deliver a package weighing less than 5 pounds as little as 30 minutes after a customer places an order. Beyond speeding delivery times, drones could significantly cut the cost of delivery which still mostly requires a person driving a vehicle to someone’s home.

The new drone, dubbed MK30, will go into service in 2024 and replace the existing MK27-2, the model that will be used to make deliveries in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas, this year. The new unit has a longer range, can fly in a wider range of temperatures and has new safety features, Amazon said.

Continue reading… “Amazon unveils smaller delivery drone that can fly in rain”

Project Kuiper is a satellite system that aims to provide fast, affordable broadband, making Amazon another competitor against SpaceX’s Starlink service.

By Stephanie Condon

Amazon is getting closer to launching Project Kuiper, a satellite system that aims to provide fast, affordable broadband to customers globally. But before it can actually deploy its large-scale satellite constellation, Amazon has to test different elements of the satellite network in space. 

To that end, Amazon announced Wednesday that it’s working with the company United Launch Alliance (ULA) to send two prototype satellites into space. The satellites Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2 will be completed later this year and will hitch a ride on the first flight of ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket in early 2023.

Amazon initially planned to send its two prototypes into space on ABL Space Systems’ new RS1 rocket, which has been beset by delays. 

The prototype mission will help Amazon learn how the different pieces of its satellite network work together, supplementing its on-the-ground testing with real-world data from space. “We’ll use findings from the mission to help finalize design, deployment, and operational plans for our commercial satellite system,” Amazon said in its release. 

Launching the prototypes on Vulcan Centaur gives Amazon the added benefit of using the same launch vehicle that will deliver some of the first production Kuiper satellites. ULA is slated to provide 47 launches for Amazon’s Kuiper satellite constellation. 

“Using the same launch vehicle for our prototype mission gives us a chance to practice payload integration, processing, and mission management procedures ahead of those full-scale commercial launches,” Project Kuiper VP Rajeev Badyal said in a statement. 

Continue reading… “Amazon’s Project Kuiper plans to launch prototype satellites in early 2023”

Overhead of the New Glenn rocket from Blue Origin, one of the three heavy-lift launch providers Amazon selected for Project Kuiper (featuring a mock-up of the Amazon logo).

By Kate Duffy 

• Amazon said it has secured 83 rocket launches for its satellite internet service, Project Kuiper.
• It has agreements with rocket firms Blue Origin, ULA, and Arianespace to fly the satellites to space.
• “Amazon is investing billions of dollars across the three agreements,” a Project Kuiper spokesperson said.

Amazon announced on Tuesday that it has secured a deal for up to 83 rocket launches over a five-year period to send its Project Kuiper internet satellites into space.

In a press release, Amazon said it has signed agreements with space services firms Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance, and Arianespace to use their launch vehicles to carry satellites into orbit for its Project Kuiper, a broadband service that will offer internet connectivity from space and aims to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service.

Continue reading… “Amazon secures 83 rocket launches to send Project Kuiper internet satellites into space”

By Annie Palmer

• Amazon is launching an apparel store, called Amazon Style, the company announced Thursday.
• The first location, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, California, will open later this year.
• Amazon has experimented with physical retail formats in grocery and books, but it has never sold clothing or shoes at those stores.

The stores will feature women’s and men’s apparel, shoes and accessories from a mix of well-known and emerging brands at affordable prices.Amazon

After upending brick-and-mortar retail, Amazon is opening a clothing store in the physical world.

The first Amazon Style store, located in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, California, will open its doors later this year, the company announced Thursday.

The store will feature women’s and men’s apparel, shoes, and accessories from a mix of well-known and emerging brands, with prices catering to a wide range of shoppers.

“You’ll find everything from the $10 basic to the designer jeans to the $400 timeless piece,” Simoina Vasen, managing director of Amazon Style, told CNBC. “We want to meet every budget and every price point.”

At roughly 30,000 square feet, the retail space is around the size of a typical T.J. Maxx location, but smaller than the average department store.

Continue reading… “Amazon is opening a real-world clothing store with high-tech fitting rooms”

Flying cars, also known as electric air taxis, have been around us for a long time thanks to sci-fi staples such as “Back to the Future” and “The Jetsons.” But with major brands like Boeing (NYSE:BA), Airbus (OTCPK:EADSF), Hyundai, and Toyota (NYSE:TM) now promising to whisk riders through the skies in flying taxis and receiving a heady dose of Wall Street endorsement, the dream is increasingly getting closer to reality.

Indeed, many experts are now upbeat that air mobility over short distances is closer to becoming a reality than ever before in history, thanks mainly to massive advancements in battery technologies and autonomous flight. And make no mistake about it: Flying taxis have real potential to completely restructure public and private transportation, decongest our roads, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

In fact, a Morgan Stanley Research study says the autonomous urban aircraft market will continue to mature during the current decade and then boom globally to reach $1.5 trillion by 2040.

This year, we have witnessed two electric aircraft startups go public: Joby Aviation Inc. (NYSE:JOBY), which went public in August, and Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR), which was listed in September, both via SPAC deals.

And, it appears there’s no shortage of electric aircraft companies in the IPO pipeline: Amazon and UPS-backed Beta Technologies have developed Alia, an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or “eVTOL,” helicopter-like aircraft that can take off and land without runways.

Continue reading… “Electric Cargo Planes: The Next Stage Of Amazon’s Delivery Transformation”

Grab your kombucha or coconut chips and just… walk out. 

By Steve Dent

After launching it in Go stores and then bringing it to larger Fresh supermarkets, Amazon’s cashierless “Just Walk Out” tech will soon arrive in two Whole Foods locations. The service, which lets you pick up goods from shelves and (yep) just walk out, is coming to new stores in Washington DC and Sherman Oaks, California next year, the company announced. 

“By collaborating with Amazon to introduce Just Walk Out shopping at these two Whole Foods Market stores, our customers will be able to… save time by skipping the checkout line,” said Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey. 

Continue reading… “Amazon’s cashierless ‘Just Walk Out’ tech is coming to Whole Foods stores”