Month: January 2018

Enlarge / "Let's go shopping!" "No, let's Amazon Go shopping." "Dave, I hate your puns." (credit: Sam Machkovech)

After over a year of testing, Amazon will open its convenience store with no checkout queues and no cashiers, dubbed Amazon Go, to the public. The allure of Amazon Go is customers' ability to enter the store, put their items into their own shopping bags, and walk out. Amazon Go has no human cashiers to interact with, as all transactions are made wirelessly through the Amazon Go app and your Amazon account.

The online retailer announced Amazon Go in December 2016, opening its single location to Amazon employees only. Customers have to scan the Amazon Go app on a turnstile-like entryway before they can go into the store and shop. Once inside, customers can pick up any items they want—food, drinks, essential items, and even alcohol—and leave when they wish, without standing in a checkout line or interacting with a cashier. One of the few store employees will have to check your ID if you purchase alcohol, but otherwise you can leave when you've finished shopping and your Amazon account will be billed for the items you chose.

Amazon Go works thanks to an outfitting of special cameras, shelf sensors, and the company's computer vision system that together monitor your actions in the store as well as the movement of items on shelves. The technology isn't fool-proof, though, and it can get confused when the store is crowded or when items get misplaced in the store. According to a Recode report, these instances pushed back the debut of Amazon Go to the public. The company originally planned to open the Seattle location of Amazon Go to the public early last year.

Rocket Lab

Last Sunday afternoon in New Zealand, Rocket Lab successfully made it into orbit on just the company's second flight attempt. Launching from a new spaceport that juts into the South Pacific Ocean, the Electron rocket climbed into orbit and deployed its customer payloads at 8 minutes and 31 seconds after lifting off.

“Today marks the beginning of a new era in commercial access to space. We’re thrilled to reach this milestone so quickly after our first test launch,” Rocket Lab CEO and founder Peter Beck said in a statement. “Our incredibly dedicated and talented team have worked tirelessly to develop, build and launch Electron. I’m immensely proud of what they have achieved today.”