Tag Archive for: Amazon

Amazon starts selling desktop software… in the cloud

/in

Amazon today announced the launch of a new Marketplace for desktop apps as a service. Amazon is selling subscriptions to software including Visual Studio and Office, paid on a monthly basis.

The software is run on the virtual desktop infrastructure service that Amazon launched last year, AWS WorkSpaces. These start at $ 25/month for a virtual Windows 7 desktop (provided by Windows Server 2008 R2). Adding, for example, Office 2013 Professional Plus from the AWS Marketplace is another $ 15/month.

To go with the Marketplace, Amazon has released a new tool called WorkSpaces Application Manager (WAM). With WAM, administrators can subscribe to apps for their users, mark certain apps as “required” so they’ll be deployed automatically, make other optional apps available for users to provision themselves, and manage updating and auditing. WAM can be used with both applications from the Marketplace and in-house apps.

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments


Ars Technica » Technology Lab

FAA deems Amazon delivery drones ‘airworthy,’ with heavy regulations

/in

The Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday that it issued an “experimental airworthiness certificate” to Amazon, allowing it to legally use drones for “research and development and crew training.”

Amazon has been planning to eventually launch a drone delivery program for years, which company CEO Jeff Bezos first announced during an interview with 60 Minutes last January, even though the FAA had yet to issue rules on the use of drones for commercial purposes.

The certification is a good sign for Amazon’s long-term drone plans, but it comes with a lot of stipulations, suggesting that it may still be a long time before drones replace delivery trucks. From the FAA’s announcement:

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Network World Colin Neagle

Amazon extends 1-hour delivery to all of Manhattan; don’t hold your breath, Boston

/in

Don’t ask me why anyone would need paper towels or shampoo delivered within an hour, but Amazon is promising such service now to all of Manhattan.

From a Mashable report:

Prime subscribers can get two-hour deliveries for free from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m., and one-hour deliveries for $ 7.99 for products like paper towels, shampoo, books, toys and batteries, according to the company. Customers can purchase these products through a dedicated app.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Network World Paul McNamara

What to know for an entry-level interview at Amazon … and ‘The Tale of Two Packets’

/in

A visitor to Reddit’s section devoted to networking asks of the group: “I have an entry level Amazon interview coming up. Throw me all your interviewing questions and I’ll answer them without googling.”

It’s nice to know that our candidate isn’t going to cheat on his interview preparation.

We also have to trust the author of the top-ranked reply, who says that he works at Amazon and is using a throw-away Reddit account — called seattlepacket — “for obvious reasons.” He tells our interviewee:  

I’m over at the company you are interviewing with. Relax, we’re not trying to grill or destroy you.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Network World Paul McNamara