Breaking: Amazon Web Services Cloud now available to customers from Data Centers in Canada

Toronto, ON: Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, announced the launch of the AWS Canada (Central) Region.

With this launch, AWS now provides 40 Availability Zones across 15 technology infrastructure regions globally, with another seven Availability Zones and three regions in the UK, France, and China expected to come online in the coming months. Tens of thousands of Canadian customers are using other AWS Regions and starting today, developers, start-ups, and enterprises, as well as government, education, and non-profit organizations can leverage the AWS Cloud to run their applications and store their data on infrastructure in Canada.

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Amazon rumoured to be developing Echo version with touchscreen display

In an attempt to supposedly keep at bay Google Home and Apple’s rumoured entry into the smart home speaker market, Amazon is reportedly working on a new “premium” version of the Echo speaker that has a 7-inch touchscreen display. Veering away from the cylindrical look of the Echo speakers, this rumoured device will be larger and “tilt upwards” so the screen can be read when sitting on a desk or kitchen counter. The exact design hasn’t been specified yet. But it’ll supposedly respond mostly to Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant and run on an optimized version of Amazon’s Fire OS. Adding a display is said to make it easier to access content. Audio quality will also supposedly be improved with this version. There is no confirmation yet about this plan but we’re keeping our eyes open for it.

Source: MacRumors

Waze adds the voices of ‘The Grand Tour’ boys to its roster

In the past life, you knew Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May as hosts of Top Gear. Now, they host a new Amazon original show called The Grand Tour (which you now have access to). And one way to promote the show and add a bit of entertainment to your drives is by lending their voices to Waze. Yes, there is now an option to hear these snarky and hilarious gearheads while you go through traffic. But the promotion will only last until February 5. Sign us up. We hope the update comes our way faster than access to Amazon Video (kind of) headed our way.

Source: Venture Beat

Amazon looks to fill many more positions on its Alexa team

Amazon is getting even more aggressive with developing the Alexa voice assistant technology with its current hiring spree. At the moment, Amazon is looking to fill 399 positions for different locations. Some of the jobs include data engineers, product managers, and machine learning scientists with locations ranging from Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, to Tempe, Arizona, to Sunnyvale, California, among others. The hiring push comes on the heels of the expansion of Amazon’s voice-controlled Echo speakers.

Source: Recode