DT’s Emerging Technology editor Drew Prindle is taking over for today. Follow him on Twitter – it’s worth it.
DT Daily host Greg Nibler is taking a few days off, soEach TV comes with a back scratcher (not really)
Amazon has been slowly creeping towards selling products in actual physical stores, and a new partnership with retail juggernaut Best Buy is giving them a big dose of floor space… in a kind of roundabout way. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos just held an in-store summit with Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly at the big-box chain’s Bellevue location, where they announced that Best buy will start selling Toshiba TV’s with Amazon’s Fire TV OS – and easy access to Amazon Video – already baked in.
Additionally, Bezos says he will start selling Best Buy’s house brand Insignia TVs on Amazon.com. Amazon and Best Buy have been frenemies for a long time now – Amazon is 23 years old believe it or not – and Bezos says the two companies “trust each other,” which goes a long way to making the partnership possible. In the end, it’s Best Buy that likely benefits the most since they get exposure to Amazon’s massive customer base. Look for the new TVs to show up online and in store this summer.
We actually feel Enspired
When it comes to pure electric cars, everyone is gunning for Tesla these days, although so far, no one is really producing a car that’s really close to what Tesla has been able to achieve. Sure, lots of car companies have so-called “Tesla killers” in the works, but, they’re still… in the works. That may include a brand you might not expect: Buick.
But we gotta say: Buick, you need to make this car. Called the “Enspire” concept, the sleek low-roof mini-SUV/crossover is packed to the gills with tech, including an OLED display for the driver, 5G connectivity, an advanced “augmented reality” head-up display system, nearly 550 horsepower and almost 400 miles of range.
But here’s the thing: If GM/Buick puts this car into production, it might not be available in the US. Why? Because Buicks are a lot more popular in China than they are in America. Go figure. But we can always hope: GM says they will have 20 new all-electric models just five years from now, and we hope this is one of them.
Something’s up, and something is going down
OK, we’ve avoided the topic for a while now, but it looks like big things may be about to happen, so let’s just get it out in the open: What is the deal with the comet in Fortnite? It started out as a dot only a few people took notice of a while ago, and it’s just been betting bigger ever since. Now, theories about the comet are popping up everywhere: When is it going to hit? WHERE is it going to hit? What will the after effects be?
Dave Thier over at Forbes is one player with his eyes on the skies, and he thinks it’s going to impact Tilted Towers, maybe on the last day of Season 3, which is April 30th. And then there’s those random controller shakes – are they in morse code? Better wrap that controller in tinfoil, you never know…
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.