Amazon

The company opened a store called “Amazon Grocery” in the same building as a Whole Foods in Chicago, The Information reports:

The 3,800 square-foot store includes 3,500 products, including some grocery and household brands that aren’t sold in Whole Foods, as well as drinks and grab-and-go meals, spokesperson Jessica Martin said.

Amazon’s new streaming stick improves the one we reviewed in 2020 with an Alexa voice remote and HDMI-ARC.

However, it’s still limited to 1080p, and even at $34.99, you’re still probably better off waiting for another sale on the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Other cheap alternatives include the Roku Express and the 4K-capable Chromecast with Google TV.

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Showrunner Rafe Judkins and executive producers Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus were well into their preproduction process for Amazon’s live-action God of War series. But Deadline reports that, even though Amazon and Sony were into the creative team’s scripts, the studios have decided “move in a different creative direction” with the help of an entirely new writers room.

It still doesn’t really feel like it has been long enough since Netflix’s Voltron: Legendary Defender series ended for Amazon to be producing its own live-action take on the 80s sci-fi franchise. But the Rawson Marshall Thurber-directed project has just added Henry Cavill to its cast, which makes it seem that much more likely we’ll be seeing it in theaters soon enough.

According to spokeperson Yassi Yarger:

● Customers who got that misleading “New Name, New Features, Same Great Price” email will now get free monitoring through January 1st, 2027 as apology.

● Depending on your Plus renewal date, you get up to a free year of monitoring — because Ring is raising the price on your first bill after March 1st. (Mine renews March 5th, unfortunately.)

● Ring Protect Pro customers get a one-year free trial of Ring Home Premium.

We just got Amazon’s holiday gift guide in the mail. On page four, under “Toys we love,” my wife immediately spotted the new Amazon Prime Delivery Van Ride-On.

It’s real. But strangely, it doesn’t seem to include a Teamsters union card, a biometric consent form for mandatory AI surveillance, or a pee bottle?

In August, the NLRB decided Amazon can’t just point the finger at its contractors when there’s a labor dispute over, say, pee bottles or AI surveillance — Amazon counts as an employer of its delivery drivers too.

Now, Ars Technica and Reuters report that the NLRB has issued an official complaint; an administrative judge will weigh in next March.