Thurrott Daily: December 27
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 27, 2016
-
17
Kind of an eclectic set of tidbits from around the web today.
12/27/2016 5:15:05 PM
Amazon had a killer holiday selling period
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No surprise there. But as Reuters reports, one billion items? Yikes.
Amazon.com Inc said it shipped more than 1 billion items worldwide this holiday season, which the top online retailer called its best ever, and its shares rose 1.6 percent in afternoon trade.
The Amazon Echo home assistant and its smaller version, Echo Dot, topped the best-sellers list, said Jeff Wilke, chief executive of Amazon’s worldwide consumer division, in a press release.
“Despite our best efforts and ramped-up production, we still had trouble keeping them in stock,” he said.
Sales of voice-controlled Echo devices were nine times more than they were during last year’s holiday season, the company said. Amazon did not disclose comparable sales figures from a year earlier.
Amazon likely sold between 4 million and 5 million devices this year to date with Alexa
How to Determine the Power Rating of Your Gadget’s Batteries
This is useful information. The New York Times explains:
A battery in a smartphone might be only about 12.4 watt-hours. But professional broadcast cameras, batteries for power tools and even some extended-duration laptop batteries can exceed 100 watt-hours (the airline industry’s safety limit for lithium-ion batteries for each device).
Newer batteries may show the watt-hours, as Wh preceded by a number, but not all are marked this way.
Calculating the watt-hours based on the information printed on the outside of a battery is not difficult. Multiply the given volts by the battery capacity, shown as milliamps or mAh. Divide the sum by 1,000 to get the watt-hour rating.
More info about flying and battery-powered devices here.
Apple rumors: Stupid is as stupid does
Because it’s never too early for a rumor about the next iPhone, here’sFortune.
On Tuesday, unnamed supply chain sources told Apple news blog Mac Otakara in Taiwan that Apple is working on three new models for 2017. Entering the current line up of phones with 4.7- and and 5.5-inch screens could be a new medium-sized model with a 5-inch screen that also includes the dual-lens camera currently only found on the larger screen Plus model.
Other sources, including well-regarded analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, have also reported a third model will be added to the line. But while Kuo has written that only the new model would boast higher-end specs and a brand new edge-to-edge OLED screen, Mac Otakara reported all three phones would contain identical technology.
Yes, people actually care about this stuff. 10 months before the products will be finalized and announced.
ASUS debuts new $499 convertible Chromebook with Intel M3, 4GB RAM, and backlit keyboard
Neowin covers an interesting-looking new Chromebook. But seriously, how about all that stuff and a decent-sized screen?
The ASUS C302CA-DHM4 offers 2 USB Type-C ports, a touchscreen display, and backlit keyboard. Another perk of the unit is that it is a convertible model that will allow the screen to be folded all the back for a more tablet-like experience.
Full specifications of the ASUS C302CA-DHM4:
-Intel Core M3 m3-6Y30 (4M Cache, up to 2.2 GHz) -4G LPDDR3 with 64GB storage expandable via microSD -12.5″ touchscreen display with 1080p resolution -2 x USB Type-C -11.97″ x 8.27″ x 0.54″ -2.65 lbs
The C302CA-DHM4 is now available directly from Newegg for $499 in the United States.