Amazon has invented tiny plastic buttons that allow for instant product ordering
The company is rolling out new hardware today called the Dash button that promises to solve these scenarios. It’s a small physical button that you can stick wherever, and press when you want to order more of something. Need more diapers? Hit the diaper button. Need more toilet paper? Just hit the toilet paper button. Find yourself running low on mac and cheese, razor blades, Gatorade, or laundry detergent? There is now a button for each one of those things. The future where you can just be lazy.

it’s a much smaller Wi-Fi-enabled button that will instantly order a predetermined product within seconds of pressing it. Amazon already has your credit card information on file, and knows what size and quantity you want, so two days later, that product shows up at your house. A little multi-colored LED on the front of it will blink after you press it, then turn green to let you know it worked.

Dash buttons can be stuck just about anywhere with an adhesive strip that’s on the back, though they are not magnetic. Amazon also gives you a small bumper that can go around it and allow it to be hung up on hooks or on strings. Some smarts have been included in its programming, so that if you or someone else hits the button more than once, it won't reorder until that same product has been delivered to your house. You can also turn this feature off — at your own peril — in Amazon’s mobile phone app.

Amazon is launching the Dash buttons with 18 different partners today, and they’re free if you’re a Prime Member. You don’t get to use it on just any product on Amazon.com though. Each button is tied to a brand, or to be more specific, a product from a brand. You can, for instance, get a button for diapers, but it’s only for Huggies. If you’re a Pampers person, you’ll still have to order the old-fashioned way.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/31/8316775/amazon-dash-buttons-turn-homes-into-shopping-carts

 
Google pushes Chrome OS software, with or without Chromebooks
Google announces new Chromebook laptops and an intriguing new device called the Chromebit that pushes Google's operating system without trying to sell you a laptop.
Google's mobile operating system may be the most popular software in the world for powering phones and tablets. But Google is also making a push for its other operating system, Chrome OS, which mostly powers laptop and desktop computers.

Consider a few of the new devices the search giant announced Tuesday. The Asus Chromebit is a small device that looks like an oversize flash drive that turns any screen or monitor with an HDMI video port into a full-blown computer. With the Chromebit, you can connect to a Wi-Fi network and run Google's Chrome browser, check Gmail and watch YouTube -- all through Google's Chrome operating system.

The device will sell for less than $100, Google said. It's set to be released this summer.

http://www.cnet.com/news/google-pushes-chrome-os-software-with-or-without-chromebooks/

 

AT&T’s newest fiber customers to pay $40 more than Google Fiber users
There's no $70 Google Fiber in Cupertino, so AT&T can charge what it wants to.

AT&T today launched its gigabit fiber Internet service in parts of Cupertino, California, but the price isn't as good as it is in cities where AT&T faces competition from Google Fiber.

Google Fiber and AT&T's U-verse with GigaPower compete head-to-head in Kansas City and Austin. In those cities, AT&T matches Google's $70-per-month price for gigabit service, as long as you opt in to a program that lets AT&T watch your Web browsing and serve up personalized ads.

But AT&T charges more when it doesn't have to compete against Google. In Cupertino, AT&T said today it will offer "Internet speeds up to 1Gbps starting as low as $110 a month, or speeds at 300Mbps as low as $80 a month, with a one-year price guarantee.