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Amazon Closes Down Spark Before it Completes its Two Years Anniversary

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Most of the people might not know, but approximately two years ago, Amazon had launched a social networking platform named Spark. And since it has not made it to the global audience, it seems, Amazon has shut the platform down, even before it completes its two year anniversary.

Amazon Spark
Image Source: sownagency.com

Amazon Spark was a similar platform to most of the other social media platforms, where users could post pictures, stories and could connect with people. One of the most important features, that Amazon had added to it, was the ability to sell and purchase things over it. The app was launched in a hope that people will come to the app through their influencers and will make purchases, accordingly. Users were even allowed to tag the products available on the Amazon website.

Like Instagram, the users could react to the posts through smiles and post comments on it. In fact, Spark was considered as one of the competitors of Instagram. But the platform was primarily developed for the Amazon Prime members and was focused more on shopping and sales.

“Whether you’re looking for inspiration for home décor or seeking advice for the best long-distance running shoes, Spark makes it easy to discover and shop stories and ideas from a community that likes what you like.” Amazon has said during the launch of Spark in 2017.

Though the platform entirely focused on sales and shopping, it had copied a few features from its rival Instagram, like the posts from fashion and travel bloggers. But the problem was that it was restricted to only the Prime members, and only they were able to use it. The reach of the platform was limited, and the users did not have anyone familiar to connect with over this very platform.

Though Amazon has not given any statement on the matter, meanwhile the link to Amazon Spark is redirecting to #FoundItOnAmazon site, one of the other easy shopping tools from Amazon. Earlier the Amazon’s notification section had been changed for including updates from Spark. But now the navigation has once again been simplified.

FedEx to End It’s Express Shipping Service Contract with Amazon

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fedex
Image Source: postandparcel.info

One of the largest delivery service providers, FedEx, has announced that it is going to end its contract with its longtime partner, and the biggest retail company, Amazon. FedEx has been providing its services to the biggest companies in the world, and with Amazon, it has been working for the past many years. But now it wants to end the relationship with the latter.

For now, the company will be ending its operations for its air shipment services of packages for Amazon within the United States effective from July 1st, as the current contract between the two will be ending on June 30, and it does not have any plans for the renewal of the contract.

“FedEx has made the strategic decision to not renew the FedEx Express US domestic contract with Amazon.com, Inc., as we focus on serving the broader e-commerce market. This decision does not impact any existing contracts between Amazon.com and other FedEx business units or relating to international services,” said the delivery company in a statement released on Twitter.

Recently, Amazon announced its own in-house delivery service, which seems the strongest reason for FedEx pulling out its operations with Amazon. In fact, Amazon has steadily got its hands on all required things to be a delivery service provider, like warehouses, delivery planes, cargo trucks, etc., to fulfil its free shipping promise to its customers.

Reacting to the decision, Amazon said, “We respect FedEx’s decision and thank them for their role serving Amazon customers over the years.”

Though Amazon is partnered with UPS for its two-day delivery service, FedEx took care of the other services and for the ground level deliveries, it will continue to serve Amazon as before. The big client base of FedEx, other than Amazon also includes Target, Walgreens and Walmart, etc., Walmart being particularly the biggest business provider for the former. FedEx has said that with this decision, it will be able to serve them better.

Amazon Launches New Sorting Robot to Increase the Efficiency

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At the ongoing Mars Conference hosted by Amazon, the company unveiled a new breed of robots for its distribution centres at the conference. The Mars Conference is an annual event, which Jeff Bezos hosts every year, inviting great inventors to the event. This year’s event kicked off on 4th June and is being hosted at Las Vegas.

Amazon robot
Image Source: businessinsider.com

The event, this time, is focussed on the robotic works that the company has been doing for the past few years. Brad Porter, the VP at Amazon Robotics, in his keynote, showcased newly designed robots to work along with the staff at the Amazon warehouses and distribution centres, in order to automate the sorting operations.

The latest robot, by the company, is an orange coloured compact sorting robot, named Pegasus drives, which will be joining the ranks of Amazon’s Kiva robots and will render a similar capacity. These robots will be part of Amazon’s new package sorting system. The robots are programmed to carry packages from one place to another within the warehouse, through various channels associated with predefined destinations.

The robots are attached to a conveyer belt, through which they stay on a specific path and move around the warehouse, making a highway-like view. The employees at the centre put the packages on the three feet wide tray on the top of the robot, and the robot takes the package to the specified destination.

The system will involve hundreds of such robots, that will automate the process of sorting and will reduce a lot of workload for the Amazon staff, increasing the accuracy, and the efficiency of the work. The company has already installed the sorting system with 800 robots at its Denver sorting centre, and according to Amazon, Pegasus drive has successfully cut down the sorting related complexity by 50%.

Amazon has said that over 2,00,000 robots are already working efficiently along with 3,00,000 of its employees at various sorting centres internationally. And now, it intends to expand its robotic unit with new Pegasus drives to reduce the workload for its employees. The company also claims that it has no intentions to replace its human manpower with robots. The robots are only to help their employees with their work. Moreover, the company is focussed on in-house production of the robots with its robot manufacturing arm, Kiva Systems, which Amazon had acquired in 2012.

Amazon Wants to Enter the Telecom Industry; Plans to Buy Boost from Sprint

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Image source: http://time.com

Amazon is the biggest tech company, and it has spread its arms in almost everything. And now, the company is planning to expand into the telecom industry, too. According to a report by Reuters, Amazon is planning to acquire the prepaid cellphone wireless service Boost Mobile from its parent company Sprint.

The deal with Sprint not only will make Amazon fourth largest telecom services in the US but also may provide it with the access to the T-Mobile’s wireless network for a long period of time, as both Sprint and T-Mobile are under the process of a merger. The deal between T-mobile and Sprint will be a $26 billion merger if Sprint will be able to convince antitrust regulators for the merger.

But according to a recent report from Bloomberg, the regularity authority does not want that the number of wireless carriers be less than four, and the merger is actually, leading to that. So the two companies are working towards bringing an entirely new carrier, such that they might be giving away some of their spectrum to the new company and finalise the merger.

Boost is a subsidiary of Sprint, but is out of the merger contract, as Sprint has already decided to sell the company. So there are no chances that after the deal, T-Mobile can own it. In fact, the company that will own Boost will have access to the Sprint’s wireless network, but not T-Mobile’s. But according to the report from Reuters, acquiring Boost will provide Amazon with access to both the company’s combined network for a span of six years.

Since the news has been making rounds, there is a questing hitting everyone’s mind, “Why Amazon would want to enter the telecom business?” It is quite simple. The company has been expanding into almost every field. It is the biggest eCommerce platform and has got its cloud computing arm. The company has got its retail stores, streaming service, and now it is also off to start its own delivery service. So why not expand into telecom?

Amazon Opens its OnePlus 7 Pro Sale for All Users; Offers No Cost EMI on the Purchases with Credit Card

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After making a lot of buzzes, finally, OnePlus 7 Pro is available in India on the official website of OnePlus, its physical stores, the other partner stores including Chroma, as well as at Amazon. Earlier, the company had made the One Plus 7 Pro sale open for only the Amazon prime users on the Early Access Sale and the OnePlus Early Birds Sale. But now the other Amazon users can also take advantage of the sale, and buy this OnePlus ultra-premium flagship smartphone.

oneplus-7-pro
Image Source: bgr.com

The sale of the phone started at 12 am today, and it, currently, is selling the three variants of the smartphone. The three variants of OnePlus 7 Pro includes 6GB RAM/128GB storage variant, which is available at the price range Rs 48,999, a Rs 52,999 variant, having an 8GB RAM/256GB storage as well as the 12GB RAM/256GB storage that costs the buyers a Rs 57,999. There are two other variants to this flagship smartphone, which will be launched in June this year and will cost Rs 32,999 for the base 6GB RAM/128GB option, and Rs 37,999 for the 8GB RAM/256GB version.

The smartphone was launched at an event in Bengaluru, on 15th May, along with the OnePlus Wireless Bullets V2 earphones. All the OnePlus 7 Pro variants are available in Almond, Mirror Grey, and Nebula Blue shades. But for now, the buyers will only get their hands on the smartphones in Mirror Grey colour, as the Almond shade of the phone will be rolled out after May 28 and the third one, i.e. Nebula Blue will be available in the month of June.

The OnePlus 7 Pro is packed with OxygenOS based on Android 9.0 Pie and has got the 6.67-inch Fluid AMOLED display with Quad-HD+ resolution (1440×3120 pixels). After various leaks and rumours, people were excited for its great quality triple cameras and its sleek design. The smartphone has got the motorised selfie camera, hidden inside the screen of the phone, whereas it has three cameras on the back, one of which is a 48MP Sony IMX 586 sensor with OIS, the secondary camera features a 16-megapixel sensor, which is a wide angle camera, and the third one is an 8-megapixel camera.

OnePlus 7 Pro is a bigger phone and has got new features including stereo speakers, new X-haptic vibration motor, noise cancellation support, Dolby Atmos support, native Screen Recording, and a Zen Mode, etc.

As the smartphone is available online, the company is also offering up to Rs 2000 cashback on purchase using SBI debit and credit cards. On the other hand, JIO is also providing benefits of worth Rs 9300 to the buyers, as well as people can buy the smartphone through no-cost EMI of 6 months. The buyers will also get up to 70 per cent Servify Guaranteed Exchange Price and up to 60 per cent Cashify buyback value with a special upgrade bonus for previous OnePlus smartphone owners.

Amazon Wants its Employees to Quit their Jobs at Amazon to Start a New Delivery Business

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Amazon has just revealed that it is going to expand its Delivery Service Partner program, by providing up to $10,000 cost cover to its employees to start their own package delivering business. The company had launched the Delivery Service Partner program last year, which is an initiative taken by the company to create a network of independent delivery lineups. Under the program, 200 Amazon delivery businesses have already been established since last year.

Amazon Delivery Service Partner program
Image Source: mashable.com

The company revealed that many people are interested in starting their own package delivery business. In fact, many of Amazon’s existing employees have expressed their interest in the same. According to Amazon, the main motive of the company behind this incentive program is to render faster delivery to its clients, especially to speed up the one day delivery for its Amazon Prime members.

“We received overwhelming interest from tens of thousands of individuals who applied to be part of the Delivery Service Partner program, including many employees. We’ve heard from associates that they want to participate in the program but struggled with the transition. Now we have a path for those associated with an appetite for opportunities to own their own businesses.” said Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon, in a statement.

The company announced that it will be providing a $10000 of cover to its employees who will be selected for the program. Also, the company will pay a sum of three months’ gross salary of those employees who will be leaving their jobs to start the delivery business. The ones who will be selected for the incentive plan will also be able to rent the blue vans from Amazon.

The offer is valid for all full-time, part-time as well as for the warehouse employees, who already work in the packaging and delivery department of the company. The program will help Amazon ditch the conventional delivery methods including post, UPS as well as other delivery methods such that it will be able to increase the delivery speed for all its customers.

The company claimed that the employees who will be starting their delivery business with Amazon will be able to earn yearly profits up to $3,00,000. On the other hand, this service not only will be beneficial for Amazon in terms of faster delivery but it will automatically help the company to build a huge infrastructure for its delivery business at the minimum cost.