The first Amazon Echo device designed for use in a car has finally been launched in the UK and Ireland, after being first revealed by the tech giant back in 2018. Amazon Echo Auto allows drivers to play music, check the news, make calls and check their schedule without taking hands off the wheel or eyes off the road. The £49.99 device, which clips to car air vent mounts, is powered by Alexa, the company's digital assistant, just like the rest of the Echo smart speaker range. Drivers can use Alexa voice commands such as'Alexa, start my road trip playlist' to enjoy their journey safely without being distracted by their phone. The three-inch-long black box gets internet connectivity by connecting to a user's smartphone and the Alexa app, and using its existing data plan.

Last year's Cyber Monday was the biggest single shopping day in Amazon's 25 year history, but the company's success has led to problems for the country's recycling industry. The number of annual deliveries through the US Postal Service, Amazon's default delivery method, has doubled over the last decade, going from 3.1 billion in 2009 to 6.2 billion in 2018. The extraordinary growth of cardboard waste from shipping materials has been dubbed'the Amazon effect' at many waste removal and recycling companies. Waste management and recylcing firms have begun to call the enormous growth in packaging materials that end up in the trash as'the Amazon effect' According to a report in The Verge, corrugated cardboard accounts for close to half of the curbside recycling material in New York today, compared to just fifteen percent in 2003. The enormous increase in residential packaging materials has come at the worst possible time, as in 2018 China, formerly the world's largest recycler, began refusing shipments of recyclable cardboard from the US in instances where it was contaminated by .5 percent or more of other material.

Amazon will take the next step in its bid to take over the food delivery market with its own company-branded grocery stores. In a report from CNET, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed the company's intention to open the first-ever Amazon-branded grocery store in Los Angeles. While the company hasn't released many details, a job listing discovered by CNET suggest the store will be'Amazon's first grocery store' meaning it will likely carry the e-tailing giant's brand name. Amazon is making its first foray into company-branded grocery stores. The outlets will reportedly offer cheaper options compared to the Amazon-owned Whole Foods.

US Amazon Prime members can now benefit from free grocery deliveries within 1–2 hours as the online retail firm makes Amazon Fresh a standard benefit of the subscription. The Amazon Fresh service, that previously cost an extra 14.99 a month, allows users to order from thousands of products including meats, produce and snacks. Delivery times vary based on the customer's location, with one and two-hour deliveries available in more than 2,000 cities and towns across the US. Food orders will have to be at least $35, or $50 in New York, before they qualify for free delivery. Amazon Fresh is available outside of the US -- in parts of the UK, Germany and India, for example -- but Amazon has not yet said if the benefit will be launched globally.

Amazon is opening its doors wide to Prime customers in search of faster shipping in an effort to eat up more of the traditional retail market. According to a report from Recode, the e-commerce giant has removed restrictions on its products that forbade customers from utilizing one-day shipping on items less than $5. Prime customers will be now able to select one-day shipping on products that cost as little as $1, making routine trips to convenience stores that much less convenient. While Amazon has long-sold products like deodorant, dental floss, and other household items on its platform, the restriction on price meant its users were usually required to buy those items in a larger set or tack them onto orders with other items through the company's'add-on' program. Recode notes, however, that Amazon's'add-on' program has been slowly phased out in recent months, essentially paving the way for a new ere of single-use shopping. Now, with the restrictions lifted, customers will be able to not only buy those items individually, but have them delivered imminently to their doorstep.

Amazon have come under criticism for new packaging that cannot be recycled. The California-based company has angered environmentalists for three items used to mail purchases: an air pillow, bubble-lined plastic bag and standard plastic bag. All three are deemed single-use only, which means they can't be refashioned for another purpose - and, crucially, will not degrade naturally. This is despite growing pressure from politicians, such as former Prime Minister Theresa May, plus a host of multi-million pound retailers who've dumped wasteful packaging. In a statement, Amazon said: 'We value our customers' feedback about our packaging, both the positive comments and the negative, as in this instance.

The phrase'deal of a lifetime' tends to get thrown around a lot, but a few keen deal-seekers during Amazon's prime day may have actually found it. Due to a pricing glitch, Amazon shoppers have reported being able to buy high-end camera equipment that retails at as much as $13,000, for just $100 or less. One user, posting on Reddit under the name SoccerMomDeals, said they spent $500 on $65,000 worth of camera lenses. On the discount forum Slickdeals, waves of users reported news of their plunder, which included items like the Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with a 16-50 mm lens, marked down from $550 to just $94. Camera gear markdowns had shoppers scrambling to order merchandise for Amazon caught on to what appears to be a pricing glitch.

Amazon thinks it knows what may be in the stars for its Prime subscribers. The e-commerce giant has set its sights on disrupting the astrology industry by launching horoscopes exclusively for members of its $119-per-year Prime subscription service, according to Fast Company. However, don't expect to gain any expert insight into whether or not your lover may be waiting in the wings or if you're about to strike it rich. Instead, the horoscopes are a thinly-veiled marketing scheme meant to push Prime subscribers to the latest and greatest products on Amazon. The service is available through Prime Insider, Amazon's newsletter for Prime members that gives information about deals and recommendations, as well as how-to guides.

Amazon will soon sell Apple products internationally for the first time on its platform, meaning customers could get products faster. Macbooks, iPads and iPhones will become available from the online retailer in the UK as well as other countries in Europe, the US and Japan by Christmas. Coupled with Amazon Prime membership, customers of the site could soon enjoy next day delivery on these products. Amazon already sells Apple devices using third party merchants but pricing, return policies and customer service vary from vendor to vendor. Existing listings will be removed from Amazon and firms affected will need to apply to Apple to become authorised sellers if they want to continue stocking its hardware.

The first book sold on Amazon was'Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought' by Douglas Hofstadter. Bezos chose the name Amazon in reference to the Amazon River, the biggest river in the world, as he hoped Amazon would be the biggest bookstore in the world. The first book sold on Amazon was titled'Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought' by Douglas Hofstadter. The firm opens up sales of music, movies, consumer electronics, video games, toys and more. The logo is meant to suggest that Amazon sells every kind of product from A to Z.