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  • Amazon Working on Its Own Delivery Service for That ‘Last Mile’

    Amazon Working on Its Own Delivery Service for That ‘Last Mile’

    It appears that Amazon is sick and tired of relying on UPS and FedEx to get packages to customers, and they are looking to take control of the situation–or at least do a little bit of the work themselves.

    The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon is currently working on its own delivery network, one that has been internally referred to as the “Last Mile.” That’s because the delivery network wouldn’t be a full, nationwide chain of trucks taking packages from the very beginning to their destinations. Instead, Amazon wants to focus its energy on the last leg of a package’s journey. Apparently, Amazon’s test involves a fleet of Amazon trucks, driven by contractors.

    Of course, eventually, this could be seen as a direct competitor to UPS and FedEx. Right now, UPS and FedEx are nearly fully responsible for delivering Amazon packages.

    The WSJ cites a job posting on the Amazon website, which mentions intentions for a “last mile” service.

    “Amazon is growing at a faster speed than UPS and FedEx, who are responsible for shipping the majority of our packages. At this rate Amazon cannot continue to rely solely on the solutions provided through traditional logistics providers. To do so will limit our growth, increase costs and impede innovation in delivery capabilities Last Mile is the solution to this. It is a program which is going to revolutionize how shipments are delivered to millions of customers,” said the posting.

    Although Amazon has been mulling this over for a while, the impetus to really get going reportedly surfaced last holiday season, when UPS and FedEx delays resulted in a lot of pissed off, package-less customers.

    As of right now, this is only being tested in a couple of big distribution areas and is a long way from being fully realized. But it’s interesting that Amazon feels that it can’t survive in the current model, especially when Amazon keeps adding to the list of products they’re shipping. Amazon released their earnings on Thursday, and although sales were up, profits didn’t jump proportionally.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Amazon Earnings Released, Sales Up 23% At $19.74 Billion

    Amazon just released its Q1 earnings report with net sales for the quarter at $19.74 billion, up 23% year-over-year. A report earlier this week indicates that the company is taking a sales hit in states that have implemented online sales tax.

    Net income increased to $108 million from $82 million for the same period last year.

    CEO Jeff Bezos said, “We get our energy from inventing on behalf of customers, and 2014 is off to a kinetic start. Our device team launched Fire TV, offering great content, including our recently announced exclusive deal with HBO, and innovative features like unified voice search, which we’re delighted is being adopted by so many new partners, including Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu Plus, Crackle and Showtime Anytime. The team is working hard to keep Fire TV in stock. Our retail team launched Prime Pantry, a new option available only to Prime members offering exclusive access to everyday essentials in non-bulk sizes — ranging from breakfast foods and popular soft drinks, to cleaning and personal care items. And, our AWS team significantly lowered prices on EC2, S3 and RDS, saving AWS customers hundreds of millions of dollars over the next several months alone.”

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apr. 24, 2014– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2014.

    Operating cash flow increased 26% to $5.35 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $4.25 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2013. Free cash flow increased to $1.49 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $177 million for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2013. Free cash flow for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2013 includes cash outflows for purchases of corporate office space and property in Seattle, Washington, of $1.4 billion.

    Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 476 million on March 31, 2014, compared with 471 million one year ago.

    Net sales increased 23% to $19.74 billion in the first quarter, compared with $16.07 billion in first quarter 2013. Excluding the $10 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales grew 23% compared with first quarter 2013.

    Operating income decreased 19% to $146 million in the first quarter, compared with $181 million in first quarter 2013. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $18 million.

    Net income increased to $108 million in the first quarter, or $0.23 per diluted share, compared with $82 million, or$0.18 per diluted share, in first quarter 2013.

    “We get our energy from inventing on behalf of customers, and 2014 is off to a kinetic start,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “Our device team launched Fire TV, offering great content, including our recently announced exclusive deal with HBO, and innovative features like unified voice search, which we’re delighted is being adopted by so many new partners, including Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu Plus, Crackle and Showtime Anytime. The team is working hard to keep Fire TV in stock. Our retail team launched Prime Pantry, a new option available only to Prime members offering exclusive access to everyday essentials in non-bulk sizes — ranging from breakfast foods and popular soft drinks, to cleaning and personal care items. And, our AWS team significantly lowered prices on EC2, S3 and RDS, saving AWS customers hundreds of millions of dollars over the next several months alone.”

    Highlights

    • Amazon introduced Fire TV, a tiny box that plugs into your HDTV for easy and instant access to Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, Showtime Anytime, low-cost video rentals, and much more, offering an open ecosystem of over 200,000 movies and TV episodes. Fire TV also provides access to games from EA, Disney, Gameloft, Mojang, 2K, Amazon Game Studios, and more. The device offers voice search (that actually works!) to instantly find movies and TV shows, as well as the new ASAP feature which predicts the movies and TV episodes customers will want to watch and prepares them for playback.
    • Amazon announced that HBO Go will become available for Fire TV, targeting a launch by year-end.
    • With the launch of Fire TV, Amazon released new developer tools that allow developers to quickly and easily optimize PC, console or Android mobile apps and games for the new Fire TV. The new tools include sample code, as well as documentation and guidelines to help developers design and build living room experiences, including how to manage the input for the Fire game controller and Fire TV remote.
    • Amazon Game Studios introduced Sev Zero, the Studios’ first game built from the ground up for Fire TV. Sev Zero combines a fast-action third-person shooter experience with the calculated strategy of tower defense gameplay for a fun, big screen experience.
    • Amazon announced that video streams on Prime Instant Video nearly tripled year over year.
    • Amazon announced a content licensing agreement with HBO, making Prime Instant Video the exclusive online-only subscription home for select HBO programming, including The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Big Love, Deadwood, Eastbound and Down, Family Tree, Enlightened, Treme, early seasons ofBoardwalk Empire and True Blood, as well as mini-series like Band of Brothers, John Adams, and more. The first wave of content will arrive on Prime Instant Video May 21.
    • In addition, Prime Instant Video is now the exclusive online-only subscription home for FOX’s 24, BBC America’s Orphan Black, FX’s The Americans, and MTV’s Teen Wolf.
    • Amazon introduced Prime Instant Video for the U.K. and Germany, offering thousands of popular movies and TV episodes available for unlimited streaming to Prime members. Prime members also continue to receive unlimited One-Day Delivery on millions of items and access to 500,000 Kindle books to borrow from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
    • Amazon Studios greenlit six original pilots for full seasons available exclusively to Prime members — The After, Bosch, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent and Wishenpoof!will become the next Amazon Original Series following rave customer reviews of the pilot episodes. In addition, Garry Trudeau’s political series Alpha House will return for a second season.
    • Amazon Studios announced it has greenlit two new pilots — the half hour dramatic comedy The Cosmopolitans, from Whit Stillman, and the one hour drama Hand of God from Executive Producers Marc Forster, Ben Watkins, Ron Perlman, Brian Wilkins and Jeff King — for its third pilot season debuting later this year on Amazon Instant Video.
    • Amazon now offers U.S. fulfillment center tours open to the public. Visit www.amazon.com/fctours for information on available tour locations, dates and times.
    • Amazon introduced Prime Pantry, a new service available only to Prime members offering exclusive access to low-priced everyday essentials in everyday sizes. Available nationally, Prime customers can buy as much or as little as they want and have items conveniently delivered to their home. Selection includes popular soft drinks and bottled water, a new range of paper and laundry products in popular pack sizes, single boxes of breakfast cereal, potato chips, convenience-sized personal care products and more. There’s a flat $5.99 delivery fee per Prime Pantry box.
    • Amazon introduced Dash, an easy-to-use shopping device that allows Prime Fresh customers, and their families, to effortlessly shop hundreds of thousands of items — ranging from groceries to household essentials — from anywhere in their home without having to browse the AmazonFresh website or app. Dash works directly with a customer’s AmazonFresh account — simply scan items or say the items you want and Dash finds it for you using voice search that actually works.
    • Amazon Fashion and Shopbop are joining with Vogue and Born Free, a private sector-led initiative with the sole objective of ending mother-to-child HIV transmission by December 31, 2015, to create the Born Free Collection. Amazon Fashion will sponsor the launch event and support the initiative through on-site messaging and social programming. The collaboration, featuring pieces for both women and children from 22 notable female designers, is based on the works of Kenyan-born, New York-based visual artistWangechi Mutu and is available exclusively on Shopbop. All profits from sales of the Collection will benefit Born Free.
    • Amazon introduced Flow to the Amazon app for iPhone. Flow offers customers a convenient way to search for products they need to restock in their home without typing, scanning a barcode or taking a photo — simply move your phone over packaged goods you need to restock and the Amazon app recognizes the products and saves them in your search history, where they can be added to the shopping cart or saved for later.
    • The launch of Amazon Student on Amazon.co.uk was announced, offering students six months of free Prime One-Day Delivery on millions of items, including books, laptops, housewares, kitchen equipment and more. At the end of the six-month free trial, students can convert to a discounted Amazon Prime membership for just £39 per year — less than half the standard cost of Amazon Prime.
    • Amazon.in continued its rapid pace of category expansion, launching apparel, shoes, video games, music, luggage & bags, health & personal care, and sports, fitness and outdoors stores.
    • Amazon Publishing announced the launch of a new German-language publishing program under theAmazon Publishing umbrella. The European Amazon Publishing team will acquire German-language fiction for publication in Kindle and print editions available on Amazon.
    • Amazon announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire comiXology, the company that revolutionized the digital comics reading experience with their immersive Guided View technology and makes discovering, buying, and reading comic books and graphic novels easier and more fun than ever before. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.
    • Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced its 42nd price reduction, lowering prices for Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) by an average of 51 percent, reducing Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) prices by up to 40 percent and lowering Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) prices by an average of 28 percent. To help customers continue to optimize their costs, AWS also introduced Cost Explorer, with advanced reporting, analytics and visualization tools that allow customers to easily view their costs, analyze trends and identify spending patterns.
    • AWS announced that all four of AWS’s infrastructure Regions in the U.S., including AWS GovCloud (U.S.), have received a Department of Defense (DoD) Provisional Authorization, which recognizes the ability of AWS to meet the stringent security and compliance requirements to run DoD applications. This certification simplifies and speeds the process for DoD agencies to evaluate and adopt AWS, allowing more DoD agencies to use AWS’s secure, compliant infrastructure.
    • AWS continued to expand the AWS Activate program, which helps startups launch and quickly scale their businesses on AWS. With AWS credits, training, support, forums, and exclusive offers from AWS partners, AWS Activate makes it easy for new companies to join some of the world’s fastest-growing startups who use AWS.
    • AWS announced the broad availability of Amazon WorkSpaces, a fully managed desktop computing service in the cloud that allows end-users to access the documents, applications and resources they need with the device of their choice.
    • AWS announced the broad availability of Amazon AppStream, a service that allows developers to stream resource–intensive applications, such as 3D games or interactive HD applications, from the cloud to a broad range of devices.

    Financial Guidance

    The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of April 24, 2014, and are subject to substantial uncertainty. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce, and the various factors detailed below.

    Second Quarter 2014 Guidance

    • Net sales are expected to be between $18.1 billion and $19.8 billion, or to grow between 15% and 26% compared with second quarter 2013.
    • Operating income (loss) is expected to be between $(455) million and $(55) million, compared to $79 million in second quarter 2013.
    • This guidance includes approximately $455 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions, investments, restructurings, or legal settlements are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.

    A conference call will be webcast live today at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, and will be available for at least three months at www.amazon.com/ir. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the Company’s financial and operating results.

    These forward-looking statements are inherently difficult to predict. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, in addition to the factors discussed above, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and data center optimization, risks of inventory management, seasonality, the degree to which the Company enters into, maintains, and develops commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, payments risks, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. Other risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks related to new products, services, and technologies, system interruptions, government regulation and taxation, and fraud. In addition, the current global economic climate amplifies many of these risks. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

    Our investor relations website is www.amazon.com/ir and we encourage investors to use it as a way of easily finding information about us. We promptly make available on this website, free of charge, the reports that we file or furnish with the SEC, corporate governance information (including our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics), and select press releases and social media postings.

    About Amazon.com

    Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web inJuly 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Amazon Fire TV is a tiny box that plugs into your HDTV for easy and instant access to Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, SHOWTIME, low-cost video rentals, and much more. Kindle Paperwhite is the world’s best-selling and most advanced e-reader. It features new display technology with higher contrast, the next generation built-in light, a faster processor, the latest touch technology, and exclusive new features designed from the ground up for readers. Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, features improved fonts and faster page turns. The new Kindle Fire HDX features a stunning exclusive 7” or 8.9” HDX display, a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor, 2x more memory, and 11 hours of battery life, as well as exclusive new features of Fire OS 3.0 including X-Ray for Music, Second Screen, Prime Instant Video downloads, and the revolutionary new Mayday button. The all-new Kindle Fire HD includes an HD display, high-performance processor and dual speakers at a breakthrough price.

    Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de,www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, www.amazon.es,www.amazon.com.br, www.amazon.in, www.amazon.com.mx, and www.amazon.com.au. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,    		 Twelve Months Ended
    March 31,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, BEGINNING OF PERIOD $ 8,658 $ 8,084 $ 4,481 $ 2,288
    OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
    Net income (loss) 108 82 299 (87 )
    Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash from operating activities:
    Depreciation of property and equipment, including internal-use software and website development, and other amortization 1,010 700 3,563 2,402
    Stock-based compensation 321 229 1,226 901
    Other operating expense (income), net 35 31 117 139
    Losses (gains) on sales of marketable securities, net — — 2 (7 )
    Other expense (income), net (50 ) 68 48 306
    Deferred income taxes (185 ) (80 ) (261 ) (307 )
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation (121 ) — (199 ) (390 )
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Inventories 699 535 (1,245 ) (1,211 )
    Accounts receivable, net and other 727 729 (849 ) (877 )
    Accounts payable (4,675 ) (4,187 ) 1,400 2,141
    Accrued expenses and other (731 ) (703 ) 708 864
    Additions to unearned revenue 1,092 684 3,100 2,083
    Amortization of previously unearned revenue (732 ) (460 ) (2,564 ) (1,712 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (2,502 ) (2,372 ) 5,345 4,245
    INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
    Purchases of property and equipment, including internal-use software and website development (1,080 ) (670 ) (3,854 ) (4,068 )
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired, and other — (103 ) (208 ) (798 )
    Sales and maturities of marketable securities and other investments 593 599 2,299 3,098
    Purchases of marketable securities and other investments (437 ) (776 ) (2,487 ) (3,227 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (924 ) (950 ) (4,250 ) (4,995 )
    FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 121 — 199 390
    Proceeds from long-term debt and other 65 25 426 3,319
    Repayments of long-term debt, capital lease, and finance lease obligations (361 ) (182 ) (1,182 ) (603 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (175 ) (157 ) (557 ) 3,106
    Foreign-currency effect on cash and cash equivalents 17 (124 ) 55 (163 )
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (3,584 ) (3,603 ) 593 2,193
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, END OF PERIOD $ 5,074 $ 4,481 $ 5,074 $ 4,481
    SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
    Cash paid for interest on long-term debt $ 18 $ 13 $ 102 $ 37
    Cash paid for income taxes (net of refunds) 38 86 121 179
    Property and equipment acquired under capital leases 716 340 2,243 993
    Property and equipment acquired under build-to-suit leases 126 150 852 163
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Operations
    (in millions, except per share data)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
    2014 2013
    Net product sales $ 15,705 $ 13,271
    Net services sales 4,036 2,799
    Total net sales 19,741 16,070
    Operating expenses (1):
    Cost of sales 14,055 11,801
    Fulfillment 2,317 1,796
    Marketing 870 632
    Technology and content 1,991 1,383
    General and administrative 327 246
    Other operating expense (income), net 35 31
    Total operating expenses 19,595 15,889
    Income from operations 146 181
    Interest income 11 10
    Interest expense (42 ) (33 )
    Other income (expense), net 5 (77 )
    Total non-operating income (expense) (26 ) (100 )
    Income before income taxes 120 81
    Benefit (provision) for income taxes (73 ) 18
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax 61 (17 )
    Net income $ 108 $ 82
    Basic earnings per share $ 0.23 $ 0.18
    Diluted earnings per share $ 0.23 $ 0.18
    Weighted average shares used in computation of earnings per share:
    Basic 460 455
    Diluted 468 463
    _____________
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Fulfillment $ 81 $ 61
    Marketing 27 16
    Technology and content 169 120
    General and administrative 44 32
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
    2014 2013
    Net income $ 108 $ 82
    Other comprehensive income (loss):
    Foreign currency translation adjustments, net of tax of $0 and $(9) 27 (78 )
    Net change in unrealized gains on available-for-sale securities:
    Unrealized gains (losses), net of tax of $(1) and $1 1 (2 )
    Reclassification adjustment for losses (gains) included in “Other income (expense), net,” net of tax of $0 and $0 — —
    Net unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities 1 (2 )
    Total other comprehensive income (loss) 28 (80 )
    Comprehensive income $ 136 $ 2
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Segment Information
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
    2014 2013
    North America
    Net sales $ 11,858 $ 9,391
    Segment operating expenses (1) 11,296 8,934
    Segment operating income $ 562 $ 457
    International
    Net sales $ 7,883 $ 6,679
    Segment operating expenses (1) 7,943 6,695
    Segment operating income (loss) $ (60 ) $ (16 )
    Consolidated
    Net sales $ 19,741 $ 16,070
    Segment operating expenses (1) 19,239 15,629
    Segment operating income 502 441
    Stock-based compensation (321 ) (229 )
    Other operating income (expense), net (35 ) (31 )
    Income from operations 146 181
    Total non-operating income (expense) (26 ) (100 )
    Benefit (provision) for income taxes (73 ) 18
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax 61 (17 )
    Net income $ 108 $ 82
    Segment Highlights:
    Y/Y net sales growth:
    North America 26 % 26 %
    International 18 16
    Consolidated 23 22
    Y/Y segment operating income/loss growth (decline):
    North America 23 % 31 %
    International 269 (133 )
    Consolidated 14 11
    Net sales mix:
    North America 60 % 58 %
    International 40 42
    100 % 100 %

    ______________________________

    (1) Represents operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation and “Other operating expense (income), net,” which are not allocated to segments.

    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Net Sales Information
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
    2014 2013
    Net Sales:
    North America
    Media $ 2,825 $ 2,513
    Electronics and other general merchandise 7,829 6,128
    Other (1) 1,204 750
    Total North America $ 11,858 $ 9,391
    International
    Media $ 2,642 $ 2,545
    Electronics and other general merchandise 5,188 4,086
    Other (1) 53 48
    Total International $ 7,883 $ 6,679
    Consolidated
    Media $ 5,467 $ 5,058
    Electronics and other general merchandise 13,017 10,214
    Other (1) 1,257 798
    Total consolidated $ 19,741 $ 16,070
    Year-over-year Percentage Growth:
    North America
    Media 12 % 14 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 28 28
    Other 60 64
    Total North America 26 26
    International
    Media 4 % 1 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 27 28
    Other 13 14
    Total International 18 16
    Consolidated
    Media 8 % 7 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 27 28
    Other 58 59
    Total consolidated 23 22
    Year-over-year Percentage Growth:
    Excluding the effect of exchange rates
    International
    Media 4 % 7 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 26 32
    Other 11 18
    Total International 18 21
    Consolidated
    Media 8 % 10 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 27 30
    Other 58 60
    Total consolidated 23 24
    Consolidated Net Sales Mix:
    Media 28 % 31 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 66 64
    Other 6 5
    Total consolidated 100 % 100 %

    ______________________________

    (1) Includes sales from non-retail activities, such as AWS sales, which are included in the North America segment, and advertising services and our co-branded credit card agreements, which are included in both segments.

    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (in millions, except per share data)
    March 31,

    2014

    		 December 31,

    2013
    (unaudited)
    ASSETS
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 5,074 $ 8,658
    Marketable securities 3,592 3,789
    Inventories 6,716 7,411
    Accounts receivable, net and other 3,945 4,767
    Total current assets 19,327 24,625
    Property and equipment, net 12,267 10,949
    Goodwill 2,653 2,655
    Other assets 2,117 1,930
    Total assets $ 36,364 $ 40,159
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Accounts payable $ 10,590 $ 15,133
    Accrued expenses and other 6,251 6,688
    Unearned revenue 1,516 1,159
    Total current liabilities 18,357 22,980
    Long-term debt 3,147 3,191
    Other long-term liabilities 4,532 4,242
    Commitments and contingencies
    Stockholders’ equity:
    Preferred stock, $0.01 par value:
    Authorized shares — 500
    Issued and outstanding shares — none — —
    Common stock, $0.01 par value:
    Authorized shares — 5,000
    Issued shares — 484 and 483
    Outstanding shares — 460 and 459 5 5
    Treasury stock, at cost (1,837 ) (1,837 )
    Additional paid-in capital 10,019 9,573
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss (157 ) (185 )
    Retained earnings 2,298 2,190
    Total stockholders’ equity 10,328 9,746
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 36,364 $ 40,159
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions, except per share data)
    (unaudited)
    Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Q3 2013 Q4 2013 Q1 2014 Y/Y %Change
    Cash Flows and Shares
    Operating cash flow — trailing twelve months (TTM) $ 4,245 $ 4,532 $ 4,977 $ 5,475 $ 5,345 26 %
    Purchases of property and equipment (incl. internal-use software & website development) — TTM $ 4,068 $ 4,267 $ 4,589 $ 3,444 $ 3,854 (5 )%
    Free cash flow (operating cash flow less purchases of property and equipment) — TTM $ 177 $ 265 $ 388 $ 2,031 $ 1,491 744 %
    Free cash flow — TTM Y/Y growth (decline) (85 )% (76 )% (63 )% 414 % 744 % N/A
    Invested capital (1) $ 12,019 $ 13,115 $ 14,306 $ 15,749 $ 16,681 39 %
    Return on invested capital (2) 1 % 2 % 3 % 13 % 9 % N/A
    Common shares and stock-based awards outstanding 471 474 475 476 476 1 %
    Common shares outstanding 455 457 458 459 460 1 %
    Stock awards outstanding 16 17 17 17 16 3 %
    Stock awards outstanding — % of common shares outstanding 3.4 % 3.8 % 3.8 % 3.6 % 3.5 % N/A
    Results of Operations
    Worldwide (WW) net sales $ 16,070 $ 15,704 $ 17,092 $ 25,587 $ 19,741 23 %
    WW net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 24 % 25 % 26 % 22 % 23 % N/A
    WW net sales — TTM $ 63,978 $ 66,848 $ 70,133 $ 74,452 $ 78,124 22 %
    WW net sales — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 27 % 25 % 25 % 24 % 24 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) $ 181 $ 79 $ (25 ) $ 510 $ 146 (19 )%
    Operating income — Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X 1 % (9 )% (33 )% 24 % (29 )% N/A
    Operating margin — % of WW net sales 1.1 % 0.5 % (0.1 )% 2.0 % 0.7 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 665 $ 637 $ 640 $ 745 $ 710 7 %
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X (6 )% 3 % 27 % 14 % 7 % N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of WW net sales 1.0 % 1.0 % 0.9 % 1.0 % 0.9 % N/A
    Net income (loss) $ 82 $ (7 ) $ (41 ) $ 239 $ 108 31 %
    Net income (loss) per diluted share $ 0.18 $ (0.02 ) $ (0.09 ) $ 0.51 $ 0.23 29 %
    Net income (loss) — TTM $ (87 ) $ (101 ) $ 132 $ 274 $ 299 N/A
    Net income (loss) per diluted share — TTM $ (0.19 ) $ (0.22 ) $ 0.28 $ 0.59 $ 0.64 N/A
    Segments
    North America Segment:
    Net sales $ 9,391 $ 9,495 $ 10,301 $ 15,331 $ 11,858 26 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 26 % 30 % 31 % 26 % 26 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 36,777 $ 38,945 $ 41,361 $ 44,517 $ 46,984 28 %
    Operating income $ 457 $ 409 $ 295 $ 725 $ 562 23 %
    Operating margin — % of North America net sales 4.9 % 4.3 % 2.9 % 4.7 % 4.7 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 1,700 $ 1,766 $ 1,770 $ 1,886 $ 1,992 17 %
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 72 % 58 % 40 % 18 % 17 % N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of North America net sales 4.6 % 4.5 % 4.3 % 4.2 % 4.2 % N/A
    International Segment:
    Net sales $ 6,679 $ 6,209 $ 6,791 $ 10,256 $ 7,883 18 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 21 % 20 % 20 % 15 % 18 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 27,201 $ 27,903 $ 28,772 $ 29,935 $ 31,140 14 %
    Net sales — TTM % of WW net sales 43 % 42 % 41 % 40 % 40 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) $ (16 ) $ — $ (28 ) $ 151 $ (60 ) 269 %
    Operating margin — % of International net sales (0.2 )% — % (0.4 )% 1.5 % (0.8 )% N/A
    Operating income (loss) — TTM $ 11 $ (6 ) $ 25 $ 107 $ 63 493 %
    Operating income/loss — TTM Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X (83 )% (82 )% (56 )% 106 % 770 % N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of International net sales — % — % 0.1 % 0.4 % 0.2 % N/A
    Consolidated Segments:
    Operating expenses (3) $ 15,629 $ 15,295 $ 16,825 $ 24,711 $ 19,239 23 %
    Operating expenses — TTM (3) $ 62,267 $ 65,087 $ 68,338 $ 72,459 $ 76,069 22 %
    Operating income $ 441 $ 409 $ 267 $ 876 $ 502 14 %
    Operating margin — % of Consolidated net sales 2.7 % 2.6 % 1.6 % 3.4 % 2.5 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 1,711 $ 1,760 $ 1,795 $ 1,993 $ 2,055 20 %
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 15 % 21 % 26 % 21 % 20 % N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of Consolidated net sales 2.7 % 2.6 % 2.6 % 2.7 % 2.6 % N/A
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions, except inventory turnover, accounts payable days and employee data)
    (unaudited)
    Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Q3 2013 Q4 2013 Q1 2014 Y/Y %Change
    Supplemental
    Supplemental North America Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 2,513 $ 2,173 $ 2,609 $ 3,513 $ 2,825 12 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 14 % 16 % 18 % 21 % 13 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 9,506 $ 9,805 $ 10,199 $ 10,809 $ 11,121 17 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 6,128 $ 6,478 $ 6,732 $ 10,648 $ 7,829 28 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 28 % 31 % 33 % 25 % 28 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 24,629 $ 26,169 $ 27,840 $ 29,985 $ 31,686 29 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of North America net sales 67 % 67 % 67 % 67 % 67 % N/A
    Other $ 750 $ 844 $ 960 $ 1,170 $ 1,204 60 %
    Other — TTM $ 2,642 $ 2,971 $ 3,322 $ 3,723 $ 4,177 58 %
    Supplemental International Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 2,545 $ 2,224 $ 2,424 $ 3,714 $ 2,642 4 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 7 % 7 % 9 % 6 % 4 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 10,785 $ 10,764 $ 10,803 $ 10,907 $ 11,004 2 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 4,086 $ 3,937 $ 4,316 $ 6,478 $ 5,188 27 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 32 % 29 % 28 % 21 % 26 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 16,238 $ 16,952 $ 17,771 $ 18,817 $ 19,919 23 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of International net sales 60 % 61 % 62 % 63 % 64 % N/A
    Other $ 48 $ 48 $ 51 $ 64 $ 53 13 %
    Other — TTM $ 178 $ 187 $ 198 $ 211 $ 217 22 %
    Supplemental Worldwide Net Sales:
    Media $ 5,058 $ 4,397 $ 5,033 $ 7,227 $ 5,467 8 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 10 % 11 % 13 % 13 % 8 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 20,291 $ 20,569 $ 21,002 $ 21,716 $ 22,125 9 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 10,214 $ 10,415 $ 11,048 $ 17,126 $ 13,017 27 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 30 % 30 % 31 % 24 % 27 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 40,867 $ 43,121 $ 45,611 $ 48,802 $ 51,605 26 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of WW net sales 64 % 65 % 65 % 66 % 66 % N/A
    Other $ 798 $ 892 $ 1,011 $ 1,234 $ 1,257 58 %
    Other — TTM $ 2,820 $ 3,158 $ 3,520 $ 3,934 $ 4,394 56 %
    Balance Sheet
    Cash and marketable securities $ 7,895 $ 7,463 $ 7,689 $ 12,447 $ 8,666 10 %
    Inventory, net — ending $ 5,395 $ 5,420 $ 6,068 $ 7,411 $ 6,716 24 %
    Inventory turnover, average — TTM 9.5 9.4 9.2 8.9 9.1 (4 )%
    Property and equipment, net $ 7,674 $ 8,789 $ 9,991 $ 10,949 $ 12,267 60 %
    Accounts payable — ending $ 8,916 $ 8,990 $ 10,037 $ 15,133 $ 10,590 19 %
    Accounts payable days — ending 68 73 75 74 68 — %
    Other
    WW shipping revenue $ 633 $ 646 $ 721 $ 1,137 $ 849 34 %
    WW shipping costs $ 1,396 $ 1,364 $ 1,532 $ 2,344 $ 1,829 31 %
    WW net shipping costs $ 763 $ 718 $ 811 $ 1,207 $ 980 28 %
    WW net shipping costs — % of WW net sales 4.7 % 4.6 % 4.7 % 4.7 % 5.0 % N/A
    Employees (full-time and part-time; excludes contractors & temporary personnel) 91,300 97,000 109,800 117,300 124,600 36 %
    ______________________________
    (1) Average Total Assets minus Current Liabilities (excluding current portion of Long-Term Debt) over five quarter ends.
    (2) TTM Free Cash Flow divided by Invested Capital.
    (3) Represents cost of sales, fulfillment, marketing, technology and content, and general and administrative operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation.

    Amazon.com, Inc.

    Certain Definitions

    Customer Accounts

    • References to customers mean customer accounts, which are unique e-mail addresses, established either when a customer places an order or when a customer orders from other sellers on our websites. Customer accounts exclude certain customers, including customers associated with certain of our acquisitions, Amazon Payments customers, Amazon Web Services customers, and the customers of select companies with whom we have a technology alliance or marketing and promotional relationship. Customers are considered active when they have placed an order during the preceding twelve-month period.

    Seller Accounts

    • References to sellers means seller accounts, which are established when a seller receives an order from a customer account. Sellers are considered active when they have received an order from a customer during the preceding twelve-month period.

    Registered Developers

    • References to registered developers mean cumulative registered developer accounts, which are established when potential developers enroll with Amazon Web Services and receive a developer access key.

    Units

     

    Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

    Image via Amazon

  • Amazon Unveils ‘Prime Pantry,’ A New Grocery Service For Prime Members

    Amazon Unveils ‘Prime Pantry,’ A New Grocery Service For Prime Members

    In December, we heard that Amazon was working on a new offering called “Pantry,” which would offer Amazon Prime members about 2,000 grocery products (at first).

    Now, the company has revealed the offering under the specific brand name “Amazon Prime Pantry,” and it is indeed a new way to order groceries from the online retail giant.

    Here’s Amazon’s official description:

    Prime Pantry is a new shopping experience on Amazon.com. Prime members can shop popular household essentials and have them conveniently delivered.

    Adding your first Prime Pantry item to Cart starts a Prime Pantry box. As you shop, you see that each Pantry item tells you what percentage of a Pantry box it fills based on its size and weight. Pantry boxes are large and can hold up to 45 pounds or four cubic feet of household products. As you check items off your list, we continuously track and show you how full your box is.

    You can buy as much or as little as you want for a flat $5.99 delivery fee per Prime Pantry box. Save gas, save money, save time.

    You can buy food, packaged foods, cookie supplies, beverages, personal care products (like bath/beauty), household supplies (like cleaning products and paper products), and pet supplies. You know, groceries.

    This is not to be confused with Amazon’s same-day grocery delivery service Amazon Fresh, though as that expands, a merger between the two offerings doesn’t seem out of the question.

    You can browse the Prime Pantry store here.

    Maybe one day you can have a drone bring you a roll of toilet paper when you realize that you’re out. The company is already working on its 7th and 8th-generation Prime Air models.

    Image via Amazon

  • HBO Shows Coming to Amazon Prime Instant Video

    HBO Shows Coming to Amazon Prime Instant Video

    In a move that has given Amazon Prime Instant Video its first true competitive advantage over Netflix, Amazon has just announced that a bunch of HBO content is coming to their streaming video service.

    Starting on May 21st, Amazon Prime Instant Video customers (anyone with an Amazon Prime subscription) will have access to every season of many classic HBO shows, as well as original miniseries, comedy specials, and documentaries.

    New and currently airing HBO shows on the other hand, well, they’re a different story. Some (like Game of Thrones) aren’t mentioned in the deal, while seasons of others (like Girls, True Blood, and The Newsroom) will hit Amazon Prime three years after their original airing on HBO.

    There is some great stuff on the way, however, including The Sopranos, The Wire, Deadwood, Rome and Six Feet Under, and of recent favorites such as Eastbound & Down, Enlightened and Flight of the Conchords. Also, Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific

    “HBO has produced some of the most groundbreaking, beloved and award-winning shows in television history, with more than 115 Emmys amongst the assortment of shows coming to Prime members next month,” said Brad Beale, Director of Content Acquisition for Amazon. “HBO original content is some of the most-popular across Amazon Instant Video—our customers love watching these shows. Now Prime members can enjoy a collection of great HBO shows on an unlimited basis, at no additional cost to their Prime membership.”

    For a while now, Netflix has had most of the competitive advantages over Amazon Prime Instant Video. Sure, the latter sports some movies and classic TV series that the former lacks (Hannibal, Orphan Black, The Shield, for instance), but Netflix is killing it with the original content game. Amazon Studios is making a push, but nothing they’ve produced has had the instant success of shows like Netflix’s House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. Plus, Amazon Prime Instant Video has always felt like an auxiliary sort of service–one that you get because you already have Amazon Prime (for the free two-day shipping, presumably). Netflix is just Netflix, if that makes any sense.

    In my mind, inking a deal with HBO is huge for Amazon.

    Speaking of Netflix, if you ask CEO Reed Hastings, Amazon Prime Instant Video isn’t so much a competitor as it is a compliment to Netflix. Hell, he’s even a subscriber.

    “Prime’s a great service,” said Hastings at Netflix’s recent earnings call. “I’m a prime member, and most Netflix employees are Prime members, and it’s coming across to most people in our society as very complimentary to Netflix. People look at them as multiple channels. You saw that Amazon included us on the Fire TV, and of course we’ve been before on the Kindle Fires, and it’s a great relationship all around where we’ve got unique content. They’ve also got some unique content. They’re also doing originals, and there’s multiple networks out there. It’s very much not a zero sum game, and we’re building this ecosystem together that’s about Internet video, and the more players there are in Internet video, the bigger that ecosystem gets, and the big theme is Internet video is taking share away from linear video, and so we’re all participating in that transformation.”

    Then again, now Amazon Prime Instant Video has a bunch of HBO stuff and Netflix doesn’t. If you’re an HBO lover who’s a cordcutter and not really into torrents, Amazon Prime Instant Video is now the place to get the content you want. Of course, until HBO caves and releases a standalone HBO GO service, free of the chains of cable TV. But don’t hold your breath.

    More from this announcement: the two parties are remedying a recent issue. HBO GO will become available on Amazon’s new Fire TV by year’s end. Year’s end, you ask? Yes. HBO GO is notoriously slow to hit new streaming devices.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Report: People Buy Less From Amazon In Online Tax States

    Researchers from Ohio State have published a paper on the “Amazon Tax,” saying that “only Amazon.com has been affected”.

    A bunch of states have implemented laws that that demand sales tax on online purchases. Items sold by Amazon and shipped to the following states are subject to the tax: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

    Some of these states have specific tax regulations related to the sales of wireless devices. These include California, Nevada, and Massachusetts, and Amazon explains it all here.

    The researchers say, “We find that households living in these states reduce Amazon expenditures by 9.5%, implying an elasticity of –1.3. We find the effect to be more pronounced for large purchases, for which we estimate an elasticity of –3.2. Further, we find that the decline in Amazon purchases is retailers and a 19.8% increase in purchases at the online operations of competing retailers.”

    Amazon explains, “If an item is subject to sales tax in the state to which the order is shipped, tax is generally calculated on the total selling price of each individual item. In accordance with state tax laws, the total selling price of an item will generally include item-level shipping and handling charges, item-level discounts, gift-wrap charges, and an allocation of order-level shipping and handling charges and order-level discounts.”

    “The amount of tax charged on your order will depend upon many factors including Identity of the seller, type of item purchased, and destination of the shipment,” it says. “Factors can change between the time you place an order and the time of credit card charge authorization, which could affect the calculation of sales taxes. The amount appearing on your order as Estimated Tax may differ from the sales taxes ultimately charged.”

    You can read the full report here.

    Via Bloomberg

    Image via Amazon

  • Netflix CEO Reed Hastings: Amazon Prime’s A Great Service. I’m A Member.

    Netflix CEO Reed Hastings: Amazon Prime’s A Great Service. I’m A Member.

    Netflix held its quarterly earnings call last evening. Here’s a look at the financials.

    Many things were discussed on the call, including competition and the general relationship Netflix has with Amazon.

    “Prime’s a great service,” said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. “I’m a prime member, and most Netflix employees are Prime members, and it’s coming across to most people in our society as very complimentary to Netflix. People look at them as multiple channels. You saw that Amazon included us on the Fire TV, and of course we’ve been before on the Kindle Fires, and it’s a great relationship all around where we’ve got unique content. They’ve also got some unique content. They’re also doing originals, and there’s multiple networks out there. It’s very much not a zero sum game, and we’re building this ecosystem together that’s about Internet video, and the more players there are in Internet video, the bigger that ecosystem gets, and the big theme is Internet video is taking share away from linear video, and so we’re all participating in that transformation.”

    Last week, Amazon announced some new partners for the voice search feature on its Amazon Fire TV platform. Netflix was noticeably absent from the list.

    Asked about this, Hastings responded, “Amazon’s been pretty straight forward about treating that platform as an open platform, and we definitely want to be in voice search, and we will be in voice search. We’re just still working on the mechanics of it, so there’s no fundamental issue. It’s just some timing and scheduling things that came together. I wish we could’ve made the initial launch date, but it’s definitely something that will come out this year.”

    Amazon also came up in a letter from Hastings and Netflix CFO David Wells to shareholders released on Monday. In that, the two said:

    In Q1, Amazon changed strategies in the UK and Germany, closing LoveFilm as a streaming brand to compete with Netflix. They have repurposed their content deals to serve Amazon Prime Instant Video in the UK and Germany, and are investing in creating awareness of this new model. Amazon is not currently offering subscription video within Prime in Canada, France, Italy, Spain or Japan. They may choose to expand Prime Instant Video or to focus on tuning their three existing Prime Instant Video markets: U.S., UK and Germany. Since much of the content on Netflix and Amazon Prime (as well as Hulu in the U.S.) is mutually exclusive, many consumers see value in subscribing to all three networks.

    In general, we continue to believe that our biggest long-term competitor for entertainment time remains the MVPDs improving through TV Everywhere, as they are doing with HBO Go.

    Netflix recently poked fun at Amazon’s Prime Air service (the drones) with this video:

    Image via YouTube

  • Amazon Acquires Digital Comics Company comiXology

    Amazon announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire digital comic company comiXology. The site lets you buy and/or subscribe to digital comic books. It also offers a free comics section.

    It’s not hard to see why Amazon would be interested in owning it. Though the company has certainly turned into a juggernaut with its tentacles in many different spaces, it’s still also a place to buy books as it has been historically.

    “ComiXology’s mission is to spread the love of comics and graphic novels in all forms,” said David Steinberger, co-founder and CEO of comiXology. “There is no better home for comiXology than Amazon to see this vision through. Working together, we look to accelerate a new age for comic books and graphic novels.”

    “Amazon and comiXology share a passion for reinventing reading in a digital world,” said David Naggar, Amazon Vice President, Content Acquisition and Independent Publishing. “We’ve long admired the passion comiXology brings to changing the way we buy and read comics and graphic novels. We look forward to investing in the business, growing the team, and together, bringing comics and graphic novels to even more readers.”

    Steinberger says in a note on the site:

    More than seven years ago, John D. Roberts, Peter Jaffe, and I set out to connect people to comic books and graphic novels they’d love, and we’re so excited about how far we’ve come. Thanks to the books we are privileged to present and the platform we created, there’s access to more diverse content than ever, allowing all readers to enter the amazing world of comics.

    We have long had the goal of making every person on the planet a comics fan. With Amazon’s help, this crazy goal is more possible than ever before. With the Kindle, Amazon has shown a passion for reinventing the reading experience, just like comiXology has shown for comics and graphic novels.

    ComiXology will retain its identity as an Amazon subsidiary and we’re not anywhere near done “taking comics further.” We are confident that – with Amazon by our side, who shares our desire for innovation and a relentless focus on customers – we’ve only just begun.

    The site has been around for about seven years. It’s based in New York, where it will remain. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter.

    In other Amazon news, they’re working on their 8th-generation model for Amazon Prime Air drones.

    Image via comiXology

  • Amazon Is Already Working On Its 7th And 8th-Generation Drones

    Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has penned a new letter to shareholders (via Business Insider) addressing numerous parts of the business. Among these many parts is a little thing called Amazon Prime Air. Maybe you’ve heard of it.

    Perhaps you’re more familiar with it under its more common nickname “Amazon’s Drones”.

    In December, Bezos appeared on 60 minutes, and revealed that the company has a program that will see drones delivering packages to people’s homes. At least that’s what it will do if the initiative ever sees the light of day.

    The announcement was followed by a great deal of skepticism and accusations that the whole thing was just a publicity stunt. Well, publicity stunt or no, the company isn’t letting it go.

    According to Bezos, the project is still very much in the works, and they’re already working on designing the eighth version of the drones. Here’s the relevant snippet from the letter:

    Fast Delivery

    In partnership with the United States Postal Service, we’ve begun for the first time to offer Sunday delivery to select cities. Sunday delivery is a win for Amazon customers, and we plan to roll it out to a large portion of the U.S. population throughout 2014. We’ve created our own fast, last-mile delivery networks in the UK where commercial carriers couldn’t support our peak volumes. In India and China, where delivery infrastructure isn’t yet mature, you can see Amazon bike couriers delivering packages throughout the major cities. And there is more invention to come. The Prime Air team is already flight testing our 5th and 6th generation aerial vehicles, and we are in the design phase on generations 7 and 8.

    We haven’t heard anything about Prime Air lately. The company hasn’t really talked about it much since the original unveiling, but here, Bezos is reminding us that it’s still in Amazon’s plans.

    “Putting Prime Air into commercial use will take some number of years as we advance technology and wait for the necessary FAA rules and regulations,” said Amazon in December. “It looks like science fiction, but it’s real. From a technology point of view, we’ll be ready to enter commercial operations as soon as the necessary regulations are in place. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is actively working on rules for unmanned aerial vehicles.”

    “One day, Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today,” the company said. “We hope the FAA’s rules will be in place as early as sometime in 2015. We will be ready at that time.”

    Bezos, admitted, however, that it could be four or five years, and some are skeptical that even that is realistic. Either way, it sounds like Amazon will be ready, and with age-appropriate models.

    Image via YouTube

  • Two New Amazon Drama Pilots Begin Filming

    Two New Amazon Drama Pilots Begin Filming

    Amazon has just made the official announcement that two new drama pilots have been greenlit for Amazon Studios’ third pilot season, in which Amazon unleashes a handful of new shows and uses viewer feedback to determine which ones stick.

    In January, we learned that the Ron Perlman drama Hand of God had found a home at Amazon Studios, and today Amazon has confirmed it. Shooting begins this week.

    Here’s Amazon’s synopsis:

    Marking the television debut of renowned filmmaker Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, World War Z) and written by Ben Watkins, Hand of God stars Golden Globe winner Ron Perlman in his first lead television role since Sons of Anarchy as “Judge Pernell Harris.” Hand of God also stars Dana Delany as the Judge’s protective wife “Crystal Harris,” Garret Dillahunt as “KD,” the born-again sociopath, whose violent tendencies are exploited by Pernell, Andre Royo as the slick, smart, gregarious, and greedy mayor “Robert ‘Bobo’ Boston,” Alona Tal as Pernell’s grieving daughter-in-law “Jocelyn Harris,” Julian Morris as the questionable preacher “Paul Dobson,” Elizabeth McLaughlin as the preacher’s sultry girlfriend “Alicia,” and Emayatzy Corinealdi as Pernell’s call girl / confidante “Tessie.” The show centers on the powerful Judge Harris, a hard-living, law-bending married man with a high-end call girl on the side, who suffers a mental breakdown, and goes on a vigilante quest to find the rapist who tore his family apart. With no real evidence to go on, Pernell begins to rely on “visions” and “messages” he believes are being sent by God through Pernell’s ventilator-bound son.

    Can’t say that looks uninteresting.

    The other show is more of a dramedy, and it stars Adam Brody and Chloë Sevigny, Here’s Amazon’s description of The Cosmopolitans:

    Written, directed and produced by Academy Award nominee Whit Stillman (Metropolitan, Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco), The Cosmopolitans follows a group of young American expatriates in Paris searching for love and friendship in a foreign city. The dramatic comedy pilot stars Adam Brody as “Jimmy,” Chloë Sevigny as “Vicky,” Carrie MacLemore as “Aubrey,” Dree Hemingway as “Camille,” Freddy Åsblom as “Fritz,” Shaun Evans as “Hal,” and Adriano Giannini as “Sando.”

    Filming on that new pilot also kicks off this week.

    Amazon says that these two new dramas will be joined by others for a proper “third pilot season” sometime later this year. The second pilot season kicked off in early February, and the studios have already greenlit full series runs for a handful of the shows, including The X-Files‘ creator Chris Carter’s new apocalypse drama The After.

    When the pilots finally do land, they’ll be available to stream for free on Amazon Instant Video, which I’m sure the company would love for you to watch via your new Amazon Fire TV.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Amazon Fire TV Ad Stars Gary Busey

    Amazon Fire TV Ad Stars Gary Busey

    At a large announcement event today in New York Amazon officially unveiled its long-rumored streaming set-top box device. Called the Amazon Fire TV, the device is a streaming video and entertainment box priced at $99 to compete with other streaming boxes such as the Roku 3 and Apple TV.

    One of the Fire TV features that sets the box apart from those other products is a voice search feature built into the Fire TV remote. The feature allows consumers to search through content on their Fire TV by using only voice commands. Amazon is claiming that the feature “actually works,” calling out other voice search software (such as Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox One) that can be rather spotty.

    It now appears that the voice search feature of the Fire Tv is the one that Amazon will focus on first in its big marketing push for the box. The company has enlisted actor Gary Busey to star in the first-ever commercial for the Fire TV.

    The ad itself is exactly as weird as it sounds. Busey is portrayed as himself, complete with the slightly-insane personality the actor is known for. Busey explains that he loves to talk to inanimate objects and laments their lack of reaction before rejoicing over the fact that the Fire TV actually listens:

    Sure, it’s an odd marketing plan. Maybe not quite as odd as HTC’s hipster troll carwash campaign, but certainly among the most bizarre ads Amazon has ever released.

    In addition to the Fire TV’s voice recognition capabilities, the device contains all of the features expected of a modern streaming box. The device supports 1080p video and comes with popular apps such as Hulu Plus, Netflix, Pandora, and (of course) Amazon Instant Video.

    The device also supports video games that use a Amazon-brand controller. This feature is the truth behind months of rumors that Amazon had been building an Android video game console. It also helps to explain why the company recently acquired prominent video game developer Double Helix Games.

  • Amazon Hires Creator Of Portal To Make Games For The Fire TV [Report]

    When you’re building a new gaming platform, what do you do first? If you’re smart, you secure talent to create content for said platform. Amazon has been doing just that for a few years now, but now it has its own sort-of games console with the Fire TV. Now it looks like the company has hired some incredible talent to make games for its new platform.

    Kotaku reports that Kim Swift and Clint Hocking to make games for its new Fire TV platform. Those in the know will recognize Swift as one of the creators of Valve’s incredibly popular Portal franchise. She was also the one behind 2012’s Quantum Conundrum. Hocking may not be as immediately recognizable as Swift, but he’s also well-known among certain circles as the director of Ubisoft’s Far Cry 2.

    With these two hires, it’s apparent that Amazon is getting serious about game development. It already has its own Amazon Game Studios making exclusive games for the Fire TV. Swift and Hocking will likely work with Amazon’s own internal game development studios to create games for its Fire TV platform. More specifically, the two will likely join Double Helix Games in making games that will appeal to core gamers.

    Core gamers are apparently key to Amazon’s strategy as no other micro-console, like the Ouya, has yet to really appeal to core gamers. These are the gamers that demand the very best in gameplay and technology from their entertainment. So far, only dedicated games consoles and PCs have been able to deliver the experiences they crave. While the Fire TV isn’t anywhere near as powerful as a PS4 or top of the line PC, it’s certainly more powerful than the other Android consoles on the market. With this power, Amazon Game Studios will likely attempt to craft experiences that will be just as memorable as Portal or Far Cry 2.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Amazon Fire TV Launches Sans HBO Go

    Amazon Fire TV Launches Sans HBO Go

    As you may have heard, Amazon stepped onto the streaming video device stage in a huge way today with the unveiling of their $99 Fire TV, their new set-top box.

    At launch, Amazon Fire TV boasts a bunch of third-party apps alongside its own Amazon Prime Instant Video-including Netflix, Hulu, Showtime Anytime, Pandora, and Watch ESPN. But there is one incredibly popular streaming video app that is absent from the Fire TV’s launch list…

    HBO Go.

    Yep, at least for now, there’s no HBO Go app on the Fire TV. They did know that they launched this thing a few days before the new season of Game of Thrones, correct?

    In reality, this shouldn’t be too much of a shocker to anyone. HBO Go is notoriously slow to appear on many a streaming device. Amazon Fire TV will eventually get HBO Go-it’s simply too popular of a service to exclude from your app lineup. But at least for the time being, Amazon Fire TV purchasers are going to have to live without HBO’s superior content.

    Unless, of course, they simply choose to buy it from Amazon Instant Video. I guess this is what Amazon is suggesting, considering their Fire TV product page is littered with visual references to HBO shows like Game of Thrones and Girls.

    I’m doubting a lack of HBO Go will be a complete dealbreaker for many prospective buyers, but it is a pretty big omission. If you simply can’t live without HBO content and are in the market for a streaming device, Google’s Chromecast, at just $35, looks like a more attractive option at this point.

    Image via Game of Thrones, Facebook

  • Sev Zero Is The First Exclusive Amazon Fire TV Game

    This afternoon, Amazon finally unveiled its set top box – the Amazon Fire TV. While most of the focus was placed upon its media streaming capability, the box is also a game machine. Well-known titles like Minecraft and The Walking Dead have already been announced for the system. Even Amazon itself is making an exclusive game for it.

    Amazon Game Studios announced today that its first title for the Amazon Fire TV will be third-person shooter Sev Zero. Here’s the official synopsis:

    Earth is threatened by an alien species, the Ne’ahtu. Early in the 22nd century, the Ne’ahtu infected Earth’s energy grid with a computer virus that disabled the planet’s defenses. Before the Ne’ahtu could strike, computer prodigy Amy Ramanujan neutralized the alien computer virus and saved the planet. Now, the Ne’ahtu are back and Dr. Ramanujan is trying to prevent them from another all-out invasion of Earth. Switching between towers (to launch various missiles and grenades) and face-to-face combat (to attack with machine guns), the player’s mission is to join Dr. Ramanujan and defend Earth from the Ne’ahtu.

    In Sev Zero, players can jump between environments-start in tower defense mode to build out towers and assess the surroundings, and then beam down to shooter mode for face-to-face combat against the Ne’ahtu. Players can also bring friends and family into the action with the Sev Zero companion tablet app, Sev Zero: Air Support. With this multi-player, multi-screen experience, players help each other thwart the enemies-one player is in Air Support mode initiating air strikes from their tablet while the other player is in face-to-face combat mode

    Alongside the announcement, Amazon has also released a trailer showing off some of the game’s levels and it’s admittedly solid visuals. Amazon made a big stink about the power of its set top box today, and Sev Zero proves that it can put out visuals on par with the best Android devices out today:

    Sev Zero is just the first game to come from Amazon Game Studios. Earlier this year, the company acquired Double Helix Games to help create core games for what we now know as the Fire TV. We don’t know what those core games will look like, but Sev Zero is our first taste of what Amazon is attempting to accomplish itself in the game space.

    Image via AmazonGameStudios/YouTube

  • Amazon Fire TV: $99 Streaming Box Launches into Crowded Field

    Amazon Fire TV: $99 Streaming Box Launches into Crowded Field

    As expected, Amazon unveiled their long-awaited streaming device today in an event in New York. Contrary to the rumors, however, the device isn’t a dongle like Google’s Chromecast. Instead, it’s a super-thin (0.7 inches) set-top box that the company is calling the Fire TV.

    It’ll run you $99 and you can order it right now. In terms of price, Amazon Fire TV matches Apple TV and the Roku 3, and is significantly more expensive than a Chromecast.

    But in terms of specs, Amazon has built a more powerful device. It sports a quad-core processor which Amazon says has three times the processing power of its competitors, as well as 2GB of memory–which is four times the memory of the Apple TV, Roku 3, or Chromecast.

    As expected, Fire TV comes stocked full of third party apps like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Watch ESPN, Pandora, Showtime Anytime, and many more, alongside the company’s own Amazon Prime Instant Video. It plugs directly into your TV and supports full 1080p and HDMI audio. This falls in line with most of its streaming box competitors.

    Where Amazon tries to differentiate its new device from its competitors’ is not in the price or the video streaming basics, but in flourishes to the experience. The company has added voice search to the set-top box’s remote, and in a jab at other streaming devices, Jeff Bezos says that it is “voice search that actually works.”

    “Gone are the days of searching for a movie or TV show by left-left-down-right-ing through an on-screen alphabet grid using your remote. Simply speak the name of a movie, TV show, actor, director, genre, app, or game into the remote, and the results will appear instantly. Voice search leverages the search data and expertise of Amazon.com and IMDb, and is optimized to understand Amazon’s…catalog.”

    Amazon Fire TV also boasts a new “ASAP” mode, which stands for “Advanced Streaming and Prediction.”

    “You shouldn’t have to wait 10 seconds for a video to buffer after you press “Play”—it should start immediately. Based on your Watchlist and recommendations, the new ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction) feature predicts which movies and TV episodes you’ll want to watch and prepares them for playback before you even hit play. This feature is smart—it is personalized based on your viewing habits and adapts as those habits change. The caching predictions get better over time, so ASAP will continuously improve as you use Fire TV,” says Amazon.

    There’s a bunch of other little things that Fire TV offers, and if you’re interested, the company’s lengthy release on the new device is worth a read.

    “Tiny box, huge specs, tons of content, incredible price—people are going to love Fire TV,” said Bezos. “Voice search that actually works means no more typing on an alphabet grid. Our exclusive new ASAP feature predicts the shows you’ll want to watch and gets them ready to stream instantly. And our open approach gives you not just Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video, but also Netflix, Hulu Plus, and more. On Fire TV you can watch Alpha House and House of Cards.”

    Last but definitely not least, Amazon is pushing Fire TV’s gaming component. As was leaked a few weeks ago, Amazon Fire TV has its own game controller available for purchase to compliment games from EA, Disney, Gameloft, Ubisoft, Telltale, Mojang, 2K, and Sega. A few titles include Minecraft, The Walking Dead, NBA2K14, and an Amazon Game Studios exclusive title called Sev Zero.

    Bezos says that there are currently about 100 titles available, but “thousands more are coming soon.”

    There’s no denying that Amazon has created an alluring products here, and the addition of the gaming elements is sure to attract customers in a way that other streaming devices cannot. Its price is at least competitive with other top-end streaming boxes, but well above the lower-cost dongles like the Chromecast and Roku Stick.

    It’s a super competitive field, so it’ll be interesting to see how Fire TV sells over the next few months. It’s not just the Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV that the Fire TV will have to compete with–it’s also the gaming consoles like Xbox One and the PS4, as well as the various SmartTVs on the market. Maybe this Gary Busey ad will give it an edge.

    Images via Amazon

  • 24 Gone from Netflix, Now on Amazon Prime Instead

    24 Gone from Netflix, Now on Amazon Prime Instead

    You may have seen the warnings that popular series 24 was vanishing from Netflix on April 1st, but today Netflix users were hit with the harsh reality, like a Jack Bauer punch to the throat. It’s no April Fool’s joke–24 is gone.

    Netflix allowed their streaming rights to expire on the groundbreaking FOX series, but it hasn’t disappeared from the streaming world altogether. In fact, it’s just hopped over to Amazon. Starting today, Amazon Prime Instant Video can boast exclusive streaming rights to the entire series–192 episodes in all.

    “24 has been extremely popular with Amazon customers over the years,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “Whether they are hard-core Jack Bauer fans or just discovering the series for the first time, Prime members are going to love catching up on the previous seasons of 24 as well as 24: Live Another Day.”

    As yes, speaking of 24: Live Another Day–we’re pretty close to the premiere of the new miniseries. The 12-episode “television event,” which will see Jack Bauer back in action one more time, will debut May 5th on FOX.

    And later in the year, Amazon Prime Instant Video will get that miniseries as well (exclusively, of course).

    This isn’t the first popular series that Amazon has snatched up just months before a new season premieres. They recently did the same thing with NBC’s Hannibal and the BBC’s Orphan Black.

    If you’re a Netflix subscriber and a 24 fan, well…

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Alpha House Season 2 Production Kicks Off This Summer

    Alpha House Season 2 Production Kicks Off This Summer

    Amazon has made it official–Alpha House is coming back for a second season and production is set to begin this summer.

    Reports had already indicated that the series, which stars John Goodman as a Republican Senator sharing a Washington D.C. house with other senators, would be renewed for another season. Today, Amazon has made the official announcement.

    “We are delighted that Alpha House is a winner among Prime members,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “More than 6,000 customers gave the show a perfect five-star rating and have posted glowing, witty and compelling reviews asking for a second season. We’re excited to begin production and keep the story about these senators alive.”

    According to the company, Alpha House is the most popular TV season on Amazon Instant Video right now, which obviously made the decision pretty easy.

    Alpha House was one of the first original series to launch from Amazon Studios–which has been expanding and has now produced over a dozen comedy and drama pilots.

    “Alpha House is a joy to work on, and we’re thrilled that the show’s been renewed by Amazon,” said the shows’s creator, Garry Trudeau. “It’s fun to dance on the leading edge of streaming video, where audiences converge on server farms at all hours, besotted by John Goodman and free two-day shipping.”

    We also learn from Amazon that six new pilots have been greenlit for full series runs. We knew that X-Files creator Chris Carter’s post-apocalyptic series The After; Bosch, based on the Michael Connelly book series of the same name; Mozart in the Jungle, a comedy series from Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman; and Transparent, starring Jeffrey Tambor, had all been picked up. But today we hear that Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street and Wishenpoof!, two childrens’ shows, have also been given the go-ahead.

    Image via YouTube

  • Amazon: We’re Not Planning a Free Streaming Service

    Amazon: We’re Not Planning a Free Streaming Service

    Amazon has quashed reports that they are actively considering a free, ad-supported streaming media service that would allow people to watch video and music video content without an Amazon Prime subscription.

    On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal cited people close with the company who said that Amazon was considering an ad-supported streaming video and music video service–one that would be free of subscription costs to customers. Of course, this is a vastly different approach than how Amazon currently distributes streaming video, which is part of their Amazon Prime membership service. The WSJ report also suggested that the new ad-supported free service could launch in the next few months and would feature both original Amazon Studios content and third-party content.

    Now, Amazon is flatly denying the whole thing.

    “We’re often experimenting with new things, but we have no plans to offer a free streaming-media service,” an Amazon spokesperson told Variety.

    If Amazon were to go that route, it would definitely influence people’s opinions on the value of buying Amazon Prime, which was just given a significant price hike. Amazon Prime Instant Video is one of the three major draws of Amazon Prime (alongside free two-day shipping and the Kindle lending library), so being able to streaming Amazon videos for free (with ads, of course) would change the game.

    But according to Amazon, it’s not happening.

    Amazon is expected, however, to launch a new streaming device next week. The company just sent out press invites to a launch event, which they describe as an “update on our video business.” It’s widely suspected that Amazon will unveil their long-awaited video streaming device on April 2nd, which will come in the form of a dongle (like Google’s Chromecast).

    Who knows–Amazon could have a surprise or two up their sleeve come next week.

    Image via Amazon

  • Amazon to Launch Streaming Video Device on April 2nd

    Amazon to Launch Streaming Video Device on April 2nd

    Amazon’s long-delayed streaming video device will finally see the light of day, as the company is planning on unveiling it at a press event in New York City on April 2nd.

    Members of the press have received an invite to the event, which features a few pieces of popcorn atop an orange couch with the text “Please join us for an update on our video business.”

    Last week, reports indicated that Amazon would unveil their streaming device in April, and Re/Code’s Peter Kafka confirms that people familiar with the plans say that’s what the big event is all about. For a while, we thought we would be getting a set-top box reminiscent of Apple TV or the traditional Roku, but recent reports quote sources that say we’ll actually be getting a dongle, which will put the new device in direct competition with Google’s popular Chromecast.

    Amazon’s streaming device has been in the works for years, and was at one point scheduled to be released before the holidays last year. Alas, Amazon was forced to delay the big reveal for unknown reasons.

    We do know that when it launches, it’ll sport a variety of third-party apps like Netflix and Hulu-not just Amazon Prime Instant Video and such.

    Earlier this month, the Brazilian equivalent of the FCC posted photos of what is supposedly the game controller for the new Amazon streaming device. It looks like an Xbox 360 controller, and it would most surely be an add-on as a more traditional remote would probably ship alongside the dongle. The streaming device will have a gaming component, but the details on that are not so clear. TechCrunch recently suggested that it’ll “have support for streaming full PC game titles.”

    I guess we’ll find out next week. In order to be competitive, Amazon will need to price the device somewhere in the ballpark of competing devices, for instance the $35 Chromecast or the $50 Roku Stick.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • David Beckham Warned of Genital Devouring Fish

    While filming a 90-documentary concerning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for the BBC, soccer superstar David Beckham was advised by producers to stay clear of the Amazon river, to avoid the feared and genital-attacking Candiru fish.

    Also called the “vampire fish,” the Candiru swims into the urethras of its hosts, and commences to feed on blood meals. The process is said to be so excruciating that many victims die of shock, and surgeries to remove the tiny fish are sometimes fatal.

    The Candiru, scientifically known as Vandellia cirrhosa, a is a species of parasitic freshwater catfish native to the Amazon Basin, where it is found in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The body of the Candiru is translucent, making it very difficult to see, and there are small sensory nodes around the head, along with backward pointing spines on the gill covers, which helps the fish to stay inside a host.

    Amazonian lore states that a Candiru can swim up one’s urine stream, even if only a victim’s feet are in the water.

    A source from the BBC told Confidenti@l that, “Talent and crew were given full-length medical and terrain awareness courses before the journey. It was a key part of their process and necessary to get insurances before their trip under BBC guidelines. One of the most dangerous creatures in the world lives in the Amazon River, and for men it is both deadly and painful.”

    Beckham joined friends Dave Gardner and Derek White, along with filmmaker Anthony Mandler to produce what BBC One Controller Charlotte Moore describes as being a program in which “David Beckham embarks on a top-secret expedition to the Amazon that will see him encounter the other side of Brazil and journey through the tropical rainforest, a TV first for the global icon.”

    The Brazilian government will urge visitors to stay out of the river during the World Cup games, while various news outlets have reported men having their penises removed after Candiru attacks.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Amazon to Launch Dongle in April, Per Reports

    Amazon to Launch Dongle in April, Per Reports

    Amazon’s long-awaited video streaming device will hit stores next month, according to sources quoted in The Wall Street Journal.

    The streaming device, which has been rumored for years, will reportedly hit Amazon.com as well as a handful of brick-and-mortar retailers like Best Buy and Staples in April. Amazon was originally planning on launching said device before the big 2013 holiday push, but delayed the device for unknown reasons.

    Apparently, when it does finally arrive, it’s going to resemble a dongle–meaning that it’ll look similar to Google’s Chromecast or Roku’s Stick device instead of an Apple TV or Roku set-top box.

    When it launches, it should sport a variety of third party apps like Netflix and Hulu–as well as Amazon’s own Prime Instant Video.

    We’ve always heard that Amazon’s video streaming device would feature a gaming component. But according to a report from TechCrunch, the dongle will “have support for streaming full PC game titles,” which would most definitely make it a more serious competitor in the gaming platform field–more so than if the device simply focused on Android-based titles.

    Last week, the Brazilian equivalent of the FCC posted images of what is supposedly the game controller for the new Amazon streaming device. Resembling an Xbox 360 controller, it would most surely be an add-on as a more traditional remote would probably ship alongside the dongle.

    The last piece of the proverbial puzzle is price. What’s this thing gonna cost you? In order to compete with the Chromecast ($35) and Roku Stick ($50), Amazon’s new dongle would have to be in that ballpark. The Wall Street Journal says that the device “likely would come with incentives available to members of Amazon Prime,” which as you probably heard, just increased in price to $99 a year.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Brazilian FCC Leaks Amazon Game Controller

    It’s been rumored for a while now that Amazon has been working on a set-top box/game console. While details are on the actual set top box itself are scarce, a new leak has pretty much confirmed that Amazon is entering the market soon.

    ZatzNotFunny reports that Brazil’s version of the FCC, Anatel, has posted images of an Amazon game controller. It’s a little blocky and features a button layout similar to an Xbox 360 controller. Check it out:

    Amazon Game Controller Leaks

    So, is this game controller for a set-top box or game console? Most are assuming that Amazon will be releasing a set-top box with the controller above being an optional add-on. The most likely scenario is that Amazon’s set-top box will ship with a standard remote for those who want to use it just for streaming video and music while the game controller will be there for who want to play games.

    Speaking of which, Amazon has been making some bold moves in the games industry in the past few months which indicates that they’re getting serious about games on their platform. In February, Amazon announced that it had acquired Double Helix Games – the developer behind Killer Instinct and Strider. Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo says that Amazon has been approaching game development studios looking to sign games for their platform as well.

    With the controller already making its way through regulatory bodies, many are taking this as a sign that Amazon’s set-top box may be announced soon. That may very well be case as a rumor from last month said Amazon would be unveiling the device in March after delaying it past its originally intended holiday 2013 launch.

    While the controller is likely for a set-top box, we still have to keep expectations in check. It could very well be a controller for Kindle Fire devices, and it will likely connect to the tablet even in the likely event that Amazon does release a set-top box.

    Image via Anatel