A Global Cybersecurity Advisor at ESET has warned that Amazon’s plans to enable the Alexa voice assistant to mimic human voices (dead or alive) could be used to launch deep fake audio attacks on some voice authentication security systems. The advice from some security experts is that, if Amazon goes ahead with voice mimicking for Alexa, it may be wise to switch from using voice authenticate e.g., for bank accounts to another verification method such as online banking via a smartphone.
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Tech Insight : Ereaders? Amazon, Kobo …And The Others
In this insight, we look what ereaders are, their strengths and weaknesses, and popular makes and models.
Ereaders
Ereaders / e-book readers / e-book devices are mobile electronic devices that look similar to tablets and are designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books, newspapers and magazines which the user downloads to the device. Ereaders mostly have ‘electronic paper’ screens to make them easy to read plus give them a long battery life. For most users, a Wi-Fi-only e-reader rather than having a connection is usually enough.
Users typically pay a monthly subscription to read the ebooks. Ereaders are useful as a relaxation or work tool.
The Two main companies who currently dominate the ereader market globally are Amazon (with its Kindle ereaders) and Kobo.
Brief History
Following the development of electronic paper (by E Ink Corporation) in 1997, which allowed a display screen to reflect light like ordinary paper without the need for a backlight, the first commercial ereaders were introduced. These were Sony’s Data Discman and the Rocket eBook, followed by the Sony Librie (2004), Sony Reader (2006), and the highly popular Amazon Kindle, released 2007. Apple joined the market with its multi-function iPad which included an iBooks e-reading app linking to the iBookstore. Ereaders have been improved with added features and vast numbers of publications available ensuring sales of ebooks and ereaders have increased. For example, in the US in 2021, ebook revenue was $892.5 million. Physical books, however, still outsell ebooks. For example, in the US in 2021, only 23 percent of the population purchased an e-book, compared to 45 percent who bought a printed book (Statista’s Advertising & Media Outlook).
Advantages of Ereaders
The main advantages of readers are:
– They’re portable like a book but can hold thousands of books while weighing less than a single book.
– There is a huge amount of choice and ebooks can be delivered to the ereader as soon as they’re purchased with no waiting, and no wasted journeys to find books that aren’t in stock.
– The cost of books can work out cheaper (no shipping and handling costs).
– Ereaders incorporate other features that books don’t have, e.g. the screen / text size is adjustable, and they contain multi-media elements (audio and video).
– It’s easier to mark passages, save pages and search text.
-It’s easier to use an ereader to read a book in the dark.
Some of the disadvantages of screen readers are:
– The cost of the ereader and the subscription, e.g. if the user is a light reader anyway.
– They rely on electronic charging and battery life to function.
– The wide choice of different ereaders available may make it difficult to choose the right one.
– Books from one type of ereader may not be compatible with another.
– Ebook files don’t last as long as physical books.
– Ereaders are harder to read in bright sunlight and may not be a good option to leave in the heat, e.g. reading them in the sun on holiday.
What To Look For When Choosing An Ereader
Some of the factors to consider (in addition to the price) when choosing which ereader to buy could include:
– Screen type. Whether it has an unlit, paper-like display like E Ink (doesn’t drain much battery and reduces eye strain), or an LCD screen like a phone, or a hybrid version.
– Size and weight. Whether you need a big screen or pocket-sized portability, screen size and resolution.
– Which interface is preferable – buttons, a touchscreen, or a combination of both.
– The battery life.
– Which ebook stores they can directly access, which affects the choice available. For example, Kindle has access to Amazon’s online bookstore, but the Nook and Kobo have access to Barnes & Noble and Borders.
– Memory capability and capacity, i.e. how much media fits in the device / how many books they can hold at one time.
– Audiobook capability. Not every model offers audiobook capability.
– Compatibility of formats. For example, ebooks purchased via one platform may not be compatible with another.
Makes And Models
Popular makes/models of ereaders include:
– Kobo Libra 2. This touchscreen ereader has 32GB storage, a 7-inch screen, a battery life of up to 6 weeks, fast USB-C charging, and is priced at around £160. Kobo says it can take up to 24,000 eBooks, 150 Kobo Audiobooks, or a combination of both. Drawbacks include that its it won’t take Amazon purchases (for Kindle) because it uses its own proprietary format and trying to make it do so involves the use of different apps to convert them.
– Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021). This touchscreen ereader has 8GB storage, a 6.8-inch, and a battery life of up to 10 weeks, and fast USB-C charging. Amazon says that it has up to 20 per cent faster page turns than its predecessor.
– Amazon’s Kindle Oasis (2019 version) is waterproof and is lighter than the Kobo Libra 2 and it comes with 8GB up to 23GB storage options.
– The Kobo Clara HD is regarded as being a budget ereader with 8GB, as 6-inch screen, and a battery life of up to 4 weeks
– The Kobo Elipsa has been described as expensive, has a 10.3-inch, a touchscreen, a battery life of up to 4 weeks, and comes with a stylus.
– The Onyx Boox Max Lumi 2 has a 13.3-inch screen, 128GB storage, and a battery life of up to 4 days.
– The Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight Plus has a 7.8-inch screen, 8GB storage, and up to 2 weeks battery life.
– The Sony Digital Paper has a 10.3-inch screen, 16 GB storage, and a battery life of up to 3 weeks.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
The ereader market is dominated by Amazon’s Kindle models and Canadian company Rakuten Kobo Inc (Kobo) and as such their products are the most popular. Ereaders have the advantage of giving access to thousands of books through something that is lighter and thinner than a single book. Ereaders haven’t yet made ebooks more popular than physical books, but they have been growing in popularity since first Kindle arrived 15 years ago. Although purchasing the device is quite expensive, users appreciate the convenience and that simply being able to download and store multiple (cheaper) books is attractive. Of course, they have their disadvantages (battery life, incompatibilities between brands), and to some book consumers, they just don’t have the charm of the real thing. However, the sales speak for themselves and ereaders offer a convenient and flexible tech alternative to paper books.
Tech News : Amazon To Start Selling Cyber Insurance
Amazon has entered the B2B insurance market through a partnership with Superscript and is offering cyber insurance to small and medium-sized businesses in the UK.
Cyber Insurance?
Cyber insurance protects businesses (and individuals providing services for businesses) by helping with the compensation costs that can arise from Internet-based risks and handling data. For example, businesses may face costs resulting from data/security breaches, media content liability (e.g. intellectual property infringement), GDPR defence costs or paying GDPR fines, credit/debit card breaches, or data breach response services.
Superscript?
Superscript (formally known as Insurtech Digital Risks until its rebranding last summer), was founded by Cameron Shearer and Ben Rose in 2015. Superscript is looking to be the global leader in flexible SME insurance, while previous partnerships have included Starling Bank, Revolut, Urban, and Appear Here (the online marketplace for retail space).
Superscript and Amazon
Superscript says that Amazon Business Prime users will be able access the insurance product by logging in to Superscript using their Amazon account. Superscript also says that there’ll be “no big commitments, only a monthly subscription, discounted specially for as long as they are Business Prime members.”
As well as cyber insurance, Amazon Prime members will be able to access a number of other Superscript insurance products via the same route, including public liability insurance, employers’ liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, office contents and equipment insurance, and more. Superscript says that these will be underwritten by “major UK insurers” and will be discounted by 20 per cent in comparison to current rates.
Digital-First, Flexible and Monthly
Cameron Shearer, CEO of Superscript, said of the partnership: “This partnership is a huge step in the evolution of business insurance. The industry needs to bridge the divide between insurers and customers by providing a quick, smooth buying process that is customer-centric. This means digital-first, flexible and monthly.”
Amazon Says…
Molly Dobson, Country Manager for Amazon Business UK & Ireland, said: “As businesses come out of the pandemic and gradually resume normalcy, we want customers to have the best tools to run their business. We believe Superscript offering its SME insurance products to Business Prime is another example of how this programme provides value and benefits to members.”
Adding Value To Prime Membership
The move to offer insurance is part of Amazon Business’s announcement that is wants to enhance the value of the Business Prime membership for UK customers as SMEs emerge from lockdown.
Will Businesses Trust Amazon As Their Insurance Supplier?
If Deloitte survey figures are anything to go by, 60 per cent plus of SMEs prefer sourcing insurance from a trusted provider that is affiliated to their business community, which could mean that this brand extension could work for Amazon.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
Amazon and Superscript believe that SMEs are looking for ease and flexibility in their insurance in the post pandemic environment, and that they will be tempted by a trusted brand name, and by the discounts. For Superscript, this will be a big boost for their mission to become the global leader in flexible SME insurance, and for Amazon it offers a way to add more value to their Business Prime membership offering in the UK. This partnership may, of course, represent a considerable threat to other UK business insurance providers.
Tech News : Huge Lockdown Profits For Amazon
Changing consumer habits due to lockdown are believed to have been a big factor in Amazon’s Q1 profits being a massive three times larger than last year.
Huge Profit Growth in Just One Year
In the first 3 months of 2020, before the first lockdowns for the pandemic, Amazon recorded a $2.5bn profit. Fast forward to the first 3 months of 2021, many long lockdowns later, and in the 3 months to 31 March 2021, Amazon has now recorded a $8.1bn profit. That is a staggering three times higher than only 12 months ago! This means that Q1 of 2021 is second only for sales ($108.5 billion) in the company’s history to Q4 of 2020 ($125.6 billion).
Why?
The main reasons are clear:
– Amazon’s leading e-commerce business with its massive distribution and delivery network proved to be the ideal way of shopping when consumers were confined to their homes under lockdown restrictions, high street shops were forced to close, and even supermarkets were restricted to essential items.
– With the leisure industry effectively shut down (pubs, clubs, cinemas, entertainment venues), Amazon was well-positioned to expand its streaming entertainment platforms (Prime) as consumers switched their leisure spending to home-entertainment.
– The closing of offices and other workplaces and the shift to remote working and the accelerated digital transformation of businesses-favoured cloud-based work and communications. This meant with Amazon owning the leading on-demand (public) cloud computing platforms and API provider (AWS), it was well placed to take advantage of a big increase in enterprise cloud migrations. In fact, the revenue growth rate of AWS was a massive 32 per cent which generated an eye-watering $13.5bn in revenue.
Other Reasons
Analysts have noted that other reasons why Amazon has improved its performance this year compared to competitors like Walmart, Target, and eBay are that it focused on essentials at the start of the pandemic and has since increased staffing and fulfilment-centre square footage to ensure that it can cover more orders.
Growth
Amazon’s financial officer Brian Olsavsky has highlighted how Amazon’s business essentially grew by 50 percent in Q1 of 2021, and that the company’s annual revenue growth rate internationally prior to Covid, and post-Covid, had been tripling anyway.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
As Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos pointed out in the company’s earnings release, AWS offers a broad set of (cloud) tools and services to businesses, and many businesses have undergone a digital transformation and a migration to the cloud (many to AWS services) during the pandemic. Amazon’s e-commerce platform has also been beneficial to businesses using it to sell online during the pandemic, and Amazon’s ad business has also recorded huge growth. In the entertainment’s market, Prime video (which Amazon sees more as an adoption and retention driver for its Prime membership) has also seen huge growth during the pandemic, making it a serious challenger to the other streaming service competitors (e.g. Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus, Hulu, and more). In short, Amazon’s broad set of services, dominance in key sectors, capacity, and distribution have suited the market conditions created by the pandemic and this has been reflected in the huge Q1 profits. Just as it is competiton to many businesses (e-commerce), it is also a key supplier (e.g. public cloud), and this latest profit announcement confirms that Amazon’s power in many markets, globally, is still increasing.