Tag Archives: Amazon

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Your Kindle EBook May Lose Partial Functionality Soon

Do you own an older Amazon Kindle? Older Kindles utilize 3G internet connectivity protocols but mobile carriers are currently racing to upgrade their networks to 4G/5G.

Older devices that only have a 3G connection option will be frozen out of the internet entirely once the upgrade is complete. Amazon has been emailing owners of older Kindles to keep them in the loop. According to the company, the clock is ticking and owners of Older Kindles will be shut out by December of this year (2021).

If there is a silver lining to be found in the company’s recent announcement it lies in the fact that you’ll still be able to download your ebooks onto your PC and connect your Kindle to the PC via USB cable. Doing so will enable you to keep your ebook collection up to date and extend the life of your old Kindle.

Note that this applies to more than just the first and second generation Kindle.

According to a blog post made by Amazon, the following products are also impacted:

  • The Kindle DX
  • The Kindle Keyboard (third generation and older)
  • Kindle Touch (4th generation and older)
  • Kindle Paperwhite (7th generation and older)
  • Kindle Voyage (7th generation and older)
  • And Kindle Oasis (8th generation and older)

Note that some of the products in the list above do have WiFi connectivity as an option. In those cases. users will be able to use that but will no longer be able to connect via 3G. The first and second generation Kindle and the Kindle DX have no WiFi option and will be shut out entirely except for the possibility of wired transfers as described above.

It’s unfortunate but that is often the way of things when technology advances. When the Kindle was first released no one gave much though to how networks might change in the future. If you own an older Kindle it may be time to consider an upgrade.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Amazon Employee Responsible For User Data Breach

Recently, one or more Amazon employees disclosed customer email addresses to an unknown third party, prompting Amazon to send a notification email out to impacted customers which reads as follows:

“We are writing to let you know that your e-mail address was disclosed by an Amazon employee to a third-party in violation of our policies. As a result, we have fired the employee, referred them to law enforcement, and are supporting law enforcement’s criminal prosecution.”

“No other information related to your account was shared. This is not a result of anything you have done and there is no need for you to take any action. We apologize for this incident.”

While we applaud the quick, decisive action on Amazon’s part, the email they sent out is almost annoyingly short on details. When did this happen? How did it happen? Who were the email addresses disclosed to? How large was the breach? We don’t know. We don’t have answers to any of those questions and we probably should.

If there’s a silver lining here, it lies in the fact that there’s nothing for you to do, and nothing was passed onto the unknown third party, other than your email address. Even so, it means that over the next span of weeks, you should be on high alert for phishing emails and you’re almost certain to receive at least a few unwanted marketing-oriented emails if you received a copy of Amazon’s notification.

Unfortunately, that’s all the information we have, and given that, we can’t rate Amazon’s response to the incident highly at this point. A company as big and seasoned as Amazon should know better and be more adept at handling the fallout from these kinds of issues, so we’re a shade disappointed in them.

In any case, if you didn’t get a copy of the email mentioned above, your information apparently wasn’t passed on. In either case, there’s nothing to be done except to be on your guard.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Amazon Moves A Step Closer To Delivery By Drone

For more than a decade, futurists have been talking about the day when drones will be used to deliver everything from packages to Pizzas. If you’ve been following the trends, you know that at least one major pizza chain has already begun experimenting with drone-based delivery. Now, Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery system has earned a critical FAA certification, which will allow it to begin testing customer drone deliveries in selected areas.

The simple truth is that Amazon is late to the party. Google’s parent company Alphabet has a subsidiary called Wing that’s already testing drone delivery, as is UPS. In other words, the future is here.

In Amazon’s case, the certification in question is the FAA Part 135 cert, which allows operators to fly their drones out of direct line of sight.

David Carbon, the Vice President of Prime Air, had this to say about the certification:

“This certification is an important step forward for Prime Air and indicates the FAA’s confidence in Amazon’s operating and safety procedures for an autonomous drone delivery service that will one day deliver packages to our customers around the world.

We will continue to develop and refine our technology to fully integrate delivery drones into the airspace, and work closely with the FAA and other regulators around the world to realize our vision of 30 minute delivery.”

If you haven’t been following the story closely, you may not be aware, but Amazon actually drone-delivered their first package back in 2016, in Cambridge England. Since then, the company’s drone pilots have logged thousands of hours of flight time, and the company has invested heavily in both drones and cargo aircraft in an effort to construct their own shipping and delivery network.

All that to say, it won’t be long now before you get your first drone-delivered package from Amazon!

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Amazon Echobud Consumers Should Update Due To Overheating Issue

Do you own a pair of Amazon’s Echo Buds? If so, and in case you didn’t get an email from the company, be advised that Amazon recently discovered a potential safety risk.

To address it, the company is asking all Echo Bud owners to perform a software update on their gear.

In a nutshell, the email the company sent out explained that occasionally, in very rare instances, it’s possible for the Echo Buds to overheat while resting in their charging case.

In response, the company has released a software update that addresses the issue, prevents the Echo Buds from overheating, and helps to improve the long-term performance of the batteries.

If your Echo Buds are connected to your smartphone and the Alexa app via Bluetooth, your Echo Buds should receive this update automatically. Of course, it pays to double check to make sure you have it.

Here’s how you do that:

  1. Open your Echo Buds case
  2. Confirm that the Echo Buds are connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth
  3. Open your Alexa app and select “Devices” in the bottom right portion of the window
  4. Choose the “Echo & Alexa” option, and then select “Echo Buds”
  5. Scroll down to the “About” section which will be near the bottom of the page that opens.

Once there, the version number you’re looking for is 318119151` or higher. If, for any reason, you have a version number lower than this, then it’s a sure sign that your Echo Buds did not upgrade automatically.

Not to worry, if it didn’t update, you can install the update manually by following these steps:

  1. Open your Echo Buds case and confirm that they are connected via Bluetooth to your phone and the Alexa app.
  2. Make sure your Echo Buds are charged to at least 30 percent.
  3. Close the case lid, keeping the Echo Buds inside and remain within Bluetooth range of your phone for at least thirty minutes.
  4. Check the software version number using the steps outlined above.

That’s all there is to it! Take the time to do this. Don’t lose your Echo Buds to overheating.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Spread Of COVID-19 Data Available From Google And Apple

Big tech firms are lining up to help us get a better handle on the data concerning this pandemic. Data includes who has Covid-19 and how fast and far the virus is spreading around the country (and around the world).

Recently, tech giants Apple and Google announced a partnership that will focus on the use of Bluetooth technology to help identify potential coronavirus hotspots based on smartphone location data.

As you might imagine, those two companies have a lot of data they can work with. By pooling their resources, the hope is that they can paint a very complete picture.

A joint statement put out by the two companies reads, in part, as follows:

“Since COVID-19 can be transmitted through close proximity to affected individuals, public health officials have identified contact tracing as a valuable tool to help contain its spread. All of us at Apple and Google believe there has never been a more important moment to work together to solve one of the world’s most pressing problems. Through close cooperation and collaboration with developers, governments and public health providers, we hope to harness the power of technology to help countries around the world slow the spread of COVID-19 and accelerate the return of everyday life.”

It sounds tremendously promising, but not everyone is as enthusiastic as the two companies are. A spokesperson for the ACLU questions whether the accuracy of a smartphone’s geolocation data could improve the current tracking methodologies health organizations already have access to. If they could improve, they question whether or not the information gained is worth the rather large hit to individual privacy that comes with it.

Those are fair questions, to be sure. Kudos to Apple and Google for stepping up and proposing to do something. While it may be imperfect, and even problematic, it is good to see forward thinking people attempting to come to grips with a very real problem for us all. That’s how society progresses.

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