Amazon launches a restaurant takeout and delivery service

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/04/amazon-local-takeout-delivery/

Amazon's already shown that it's intent on replacing your grocery store, with same-day deliveries and its Dash scanner, but now it wants to help at those times when you don't want to be in the kitchen. As part of its latest Amazon Local expansion, the internet retailer has launched a new Takeout & Delivery service, allowing customers to browse available local restaurants and order a freshly-cooked meal for pickup or have it delivered to their door. If you've used Grubhub or Seamless (before they merged) then you know the drill.

Currently, Amazon is trialling the service in Seattle. It offers dishes from over 100 local restaurants and will let you pay using the same Amazon account you use for your Prime deliveries. However, as we've seen in the past, the company doesn't like to limit services to one city for very long. With Amazon already listing tradespeople to help fix new TVs to the wall in homes in New York City and Seattle, it appears the company is intent on building out a physical presence locally -- without actually having to get its hands dirty.

Filed under: Household, Internet, Amazon

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Via: Werner Vogels (Twitter)

Source: Amazon Local

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Square's new restaurant delivery app lets you track your meal

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/04/caviar-for-iphone/

Square's seemingly odd decision to buy a restaurant delivery service is starting to make sense. The company has just released Caviar's first mobile app for iOS, letting you order high-quality cooking from your iPhone in eligible cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco. You've probably seen the basic concept of a delivery app before, but there's a clever twist here. This is more like Uber for haute cuisine; you can not only check the status of your order, but follow couriers as they bring your meal. In theory, you won't be caught off-guard when your food arrives.

There's no mention of apps for other platforms. However, it won't be surprising if those are coming soon. To Square, Caviar is a way to keep restaurants using its payment services whether or not you visit their dining rooms -- it's in the company's best interests to save you the trouble of booking a table when you'd rather stay in.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile

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Source: App Store

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Wire is a minimalist chat app backed by a Skype co-founder

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/03/wire-chat-app/

Skype co-founder Janus Friis thinks the 11-year-old program's a liiittle outdated, that's why he now backs and advises its newest rival called Wire. "A lot has changed since then -- we are all used to free calls and texting, and we have taken to carrying our computers in our pockets," he said. The app, according to the Germany- and Switzerland-based startup that created it, can take advantage of newer devices' (such as the iPhone 6's) large displays and capabilities. According to TechCrunch, it also boasts a number of under-the-hood improvements, including better file compression, even if it looks vastly simpler than Skype.

It has one of the most minimalist interfaces we've seen, in fact -- so much so, that we had a tough time getting used to the Mac client's controls and figuring out how to switch accounts. Navigating the mobile app felt more natural and entailed mostly swiping and pulling to access different screens. Nevertheless, either version allows you to upload your own pictures to use as background, as well as add friends straight from your contact list.

At the moment, Wire is capable of supporting pictures/GIFs/audio and other media in (one-on-one or group) text chats, making voice calls to and from WebRTC-compatible browsers (Chrome, Firefox and Opera), and even playing YouTube or SoundCloud files from within the chat window through embedded players. Unfortunately, it still can't replace your favorite chat app, as it can't make real-time video calls just yet. But the company promises to add that feature, among many others, in the future.

In addition to Friis himself, the startup is comprised of other employees who've once worked for major tech companies. CEO Jonathan Christensen was, himself, from Microsoft's MSN Messenger team, and many other employees came from the Skype team or corporations like Apple. If you want to give Wire a shot despite that Facebook Messenger, Line, Whatsapp, Hangouts, or any other messaging app on your phone, head over to its website for the download links. Since it's available for iOS, Android and Mac, it comes with the capability to sync messages across devices -- we just hope it doesn't usually crash as often as it did when we tried to register for an account.

Filed under: Internet, Mobile

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Via: Techcrunch, The Wall Street Journal

Source: Wire

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Tumblr adds a 'Buy' button for impulse shoppers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/03/tumblr-buy-pledge-button/

People post other things on Tumblr besides GIFs and sob stories, you know -- some even use it to promote their handmade goods or crowdfunding projects. It's those users who'll benefit from this update the most, because the website now automatically adds Buy and Pledge buttons to users' posts, similar to the experimental Buy buttons on Twitter and Facebook. One merely has to post links that lead to the ever-familiar Etsy or Kickstarter, or to the more obscure Artsy (an online auction house) or DoSomething (home to campaigns that "make the world suck less"). And then, well, Tumblr will do the rest. We'll bet sellers would love being able to maximize their selling potential on Tumblr, especially now that holidays are approaching. So if you hate seeing those types of posts, you'll just have to find that other button labeled "unfollow."

Filed under: Misc

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Source: Tumblr

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Samsung set to release its slimmest smartphone ever

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/03/samsung-galaxy-a7-leak/

Samsung is far from done releasing thin, all-metal, mid-range smartphones, judging by a leak at Chinese wireless regulator Tenaa. Though more modest in specs than the Galaxy Alpha, the new 5.5-inch Galaxy A7 is definitely the A-series' alpha model, trumping the Galaxy A5 and A3 phones. At 6.3mm, it's Samsung's slimmest model ever, and also sports a 1080p screen, 64-bit Snapdragon 615 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB (non-upgradeable) memory and 13-megapixel front/5-megapixel rear cameras. The model shown above is strictly for the Chinese market -- to find out whether it'll come to these parts, you'll have to wait for Samsung's official word.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Via: GSM Arena

Source: Tenaa

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