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Amazon Home Services faces plenty of competition from Pro.com, Angie's List and others. Chris Henderson/Corbis Amazon doesn't just want to sell us televisions and toilet paper. It wants to be there for us when that TV needs to be mounted and that toilet has to be unclogged. That's the gentle reminder the online retailer offered on the one-year aiversary of Amazon Home Services, which coects you to local service providers such as plumbers, painters and goat grazers. Amazon noted Wednesday that Home Services customer orders rose, on average, by 20 percent per month since the launch last March. Amazon's push into services is an important new frontier for the company, one designed to convince yo...

Enlarge ImageUSB-C cables, like this one from Griffin, are making life a little easier for all tech users. Griffin Amazon apparently doesn't want to stand in the way of a major improvement coming to computer cables.USB cables for charging...

Enlarge ImagePatrick Warburton as the Tick in the 2001 show. Sony Pictures Television Forget Batman and Superman. Forget Iron Man and Captain America. The greatest superhero showdown is yet to come. Yes, the Tick is retuing to our scr...

Everett Bouwer This is pretty much your final waing: If you have a Kindle, you need to update it before March 22 or it's going to lose Inteet coectivity.That, just to be clear, would be very bad, because without the update you'll no longer be able to access the Kindle Store or sync your device with the cloud, not to mention any other Kindle services you might be using. According to Amazon, the update is required to ensure the Kindle remains compliant with continuously evolving industry web standards.You'll know if your Kindle didn't get updated in time because you'll see the following message on your device: Your Kindle is unable to coect at this time. Please make sure you are within wireles...

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.Steve Wozniak, under the spell of an Echo. CNBC screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET Your phone's been hurting you lately, hasn't it? The sheer effort it takes to pick it up, press its buttons, bend your arm, and -- perish the concept -- talk into it is all a little much. You'd rather just wander about your world and utter your demands like a latter-day monarch, without lifting so much as a finger. I know this because that's what Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak would prefer.In a CNBC interview Friday, Woz explained that he'd found the answer to many of his woes. "I'm excited right now about the Amazon ...

At one point, Amazon was in the odd position of being both a champion of user's privacy and enemy to it. Josh Miller/CNET Amazon has had a change of heart. In the past 48 hours, the Seattle-based Inteet retailer has aounced a new slate of Echo voice-controlled products, joined an amicus brief supporting Apple in a privacy fight with the FBI, said it removed encryption technology from its Fire OS software powering its tablets and then, late on Friday, promised to add it back. If the last two caused a double-take, you're not alone. While most tech companies have spent the past couple years strengthening data privacy technology for their Inteet services and devices, Amazon appeared to have move...

Amazon is not looking smart when it comes to security.Security researchers are speaking out against Amazon's Fire OS 5 update, which removes device encryption and leaves information stored on devices more vulnerable. Watch CNET Update for an explanation of the changes, and why Fire tablets may now be more attractive to thieves. Incredibly, this news comes right as tech leaders are speaking out about the importance of encryption in light of Apple's battle with the FBI: CNET Update delivers the tech news you need in under 3 minutes. Watch Bridget Carey every afteoon for a breakdown of the big stories, hot devices, new apps and what's ahead. Subscribe to the podcast via the links below.Subscrib...

Updates to the software behind the Amazon Fire don't support encryption of the tablet. Cybersecurity experts say that's a terrible move. James Martin/CNET There's a ruckus in the tech world over encrypting mobile devices. No, it's not about Apple's battle to protect user data. This time, it's Amazon's decision not to.The news landed like a record scratch Thursday, when security industry heavyweights gathered at the RSA conference in San Francisco heard Amazon plans to stop protecting the data customers store on its tablets and other devices with a technology called encryption. The change might have merely brought about head scratching and odd looks any other day, but the past couple of weeks...

Amazon's Echo smart speaker had twins.The e-retailer unveiled on Thursday two new devices powered by Alexa, the same digital voice assistant housed inside the Echo. There's the $130 Amazon Tap, essentially a portable, battery-powered Echo, and the $90 Echo Dot, which adds Alexa's brains to any speakers you already have. Preorders started Thursday and the devices are scheduled to start shipping at the end of the month.We also discuss how Roger flew a drone using an Oculus Rift headset from 1,400 miles away, as well as the upcoming "Ghostbusters" movie, which released a new trailer.The 3:59 gives you bite-size news and analysis about the top stories of the day, brought to you by CNET Executive...

"Alexa, how did you sneak inside my Bose speakers?" For the past year, Amazon's Echo speaker, which houses a digital voice assistant called Alexa, has become a breakout hit of the coected home. People all over the country are now calling out to these voice-activated devices: "Alexa, what's the weather today?" "Alexa, order more beef jerky." "Alexa, play some classic rock." But, it seems Alexa -- like Amazon -- is an ambitious type, and she's not content simply serving as a digital genie stuck inside a speaker shaped like a Pringles can. She wants to go places. With that, Amazon revealed Thursday that it has built two new homes for Alexa: the Amazon Tap and the Echo Dot.David Limp, Amazon's d...

"Alexa, how did you sneak inside my Bose speakers?"For the past year, Amazon's Echo speaker, which houses a digital voice assistant called Alexa, has become a breakout hit of the coected home. People all over the country are now calling out to these voice-activated devices: "Alexa, what's the weather today?" "Alexa, order more beef jerky." "Alexa, play some classic rock."But, it seems Alexa -- like Amazon -- is an ambitious type, and she's not content simply being a digital genie stuck inside a speaker shaped like a Pringles potato chip can. She wants to go places. With that, Amazon revealed Thursday that it built two new homes for Alexa: the Amazon Tap and the Echo Dot.Amazon's devices exec...

If Donald Trump had his way, he'd happily light all those Kindle Fires and Fire TVs on fire. The front-ruing Republican candidate for the US presidency promises to take aim at Amazon, its founder Jeff Bezos and the entire media, if elected. "I have respect for Jeff Bezos, but he bought The Washington Post to have political influence, and I gotta tell you, we have a different country than we used to have," Trump said during a speech in Texas on Friday (see clip below). "He wants political influence so that Amazon will benefit from it. That's not right. And believe me, if I become president, oh, do they have problems. They're going to have such problems." Trump seems to be taking aim at Bezos ...

If Donald Trump had his way, he'd happily light all those Kindle Fires and Fire TVs on fire. The front-ruing Republican candidate for the US presidency promises to take aim at Amazon, its founder Jeff Bezos and the entire media, if elected. "I have respect for Jeff Bezos, but he bought The Washington Post to have political influence, and I gotta tell you, we have a different country than we used to have," Trump said during a speech in Texas on Friday (see clip below). "He wants political influence so that Amazon will benefit from it. That's not right. And believe me, if I become president, oh, do they have problems. They're going to have such problems." Trump seems to be taking aim at Bezos ...

Any daredevils still interested in buying a hoverboard will find it harder to get one now.On Tuesday, Amazon.com pulled all its hoverboards from its website, leaving only accessories such as decals and wheels still available. An advertisement for the Razor Hovertrax hoverboard leads to a nearly empty page on the website.Amazon's decision comes days after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission deemed all hoverboards unsafe, saying they "pose an unreasonable risk of fire" if they don't meet voluntary safety standards. No hoverboards currently on the market meet those standards.Amazon declined to comment on its move, which follows similar decisions by Target and Toys "R" Us to pull the self-...

Online retailer Amazon continues its push into gaming today with the aouncement of Amazon Lumberyard. It's a free, cross-platform, 3D game engine that the company says is capable of delivering the "highest quality games," featuring "beautiful worlds, realistic characters, and stuing real-time effects."Lumberyard wasn't the only new gaming tool that Amazon aounced today. The company also revealed Amazon GameLift, a program for Lumberyard that aims to allow developers to increase the scale and performance of their online multiplayer games "without any additional engineering effort or upfront costs."The Lumberyard engine launches today in beta form for PC and console developers. Support for uns...

Need an Uber ride? Just ask Amazon Echo. Chris Monroe/CNET Have an Amazon Echo? Need an Uber ride? You can now use the former to get the latter.Amazon's Echo, a cloud-coected wireless speaker that acts as your personal assistant via voice commands, now supports Uber, the ride-hailing service aounced in a blog Friday. Instead of using the Uber mobile phone app to request a ride, you can just ask Alexa, Echo's voice assistant, to request that an Uber driver come pick you up.The ability to hail Uber is just the latest feature to be added to the Echo, which can already play music, give you weather updates or tell you who's playing in the Super Bowl. The voice-controlled device is just one of a h...

Enlarge ImageAmazon's first physical bookstore opened late last year in Seattle. Amazon Amazon usually drives the books you order to your home. Now, it wants you to drive to your books. The online retail giant's concept -- known colloquially as a "bookstore" -- is to open as many as 400 locations nationwide, according to Sandeep Mathrani, chief executive of US mall operator General Growth Partners. "In the mall business, the impact of ecommerce is a lot less," Mathrani said during an eaings call Tuesday. "It's actually your friend, not your enemy." Amazon and GGP declined to comment. It's unclear where Mathrani got the figure for Amazon's plans. Building out a chain of bookstores would be an...

You don't really need that $12 package of Kleenex tissues to arrive in 48 hours, yet you insist on ordering it through Amazon Prime. You have no idea how much it's costing. All right, fine, let's not feel bad for the world's biggest online retailer. After all, Amazon lets its Prime membership customers buy a few cheap items at a time and that's helped the company build up its business. But Amazon, having to shoulder the cost of getting those items to you so quickly, is now paying for the result. As the Seattle company's shipping and fulfillment costs keep soaring, a big question for Amazon is: Will it be able to keep sending you small orders of soap or trash bags with free, two-day shipping ...

You don't really need that $12 package of Kleenex tissues to arrive in 48 hours, yet you insist on ordering it through Amazon Prime. You have no idea how much it's costing. All right, fine, let's not feel bad for the world's biggest online retailer. After all, Amazon lets its Prime membership customers buy a few cheap items at a time and that's helped the company build up its business. But Amazon, having to shoulder the cost of getting those items to you so quickly, is now paying for the result. As the Seattle company's shipping and fulfillment costs keep soaring, a big question for Amazon is: Will it be able to keep sending you small orders of soap or trash bags with free, two-day shipping ...

You don't really need that $12 package of Kleenex tissues to arrive in 48 hours, yet you insist on ordering it through Amazon Prime. You have no idea how much it's costing Amazon. All right, fine, let's not feel bad for the world's biggest online retailer. After all, Amazon lets its Prime membership customers buy a few cheap items at a time and that's helped the company build up its business. But Amazon, having to shoulder the cost of getting those items to you so quickly, is now paying for the result. As the Seattle-based company's shipping and fulfillment costs keep soaring, a big question for Amazon is: Will it be able to keep sending you small orders of soap or trash bags with free, two-...