Amazon will close its App Store for Android devices on August 20, 2025, due to low user engagement compared to the Google Play Store. Developers have been notified to stop submissions to the App Store. Additionally, Amazon is discontinuing its Amazon Coins program and will process refunds for any unused coins. The company is shifting its focus to enhancing app experiences on its own devices, such as Fire TV and Fire HD tablets.
A group of developers called Massgrave has hacked Microsoft's activation tools for Windows and Office, uploading PowerShell scripts to GitHub that allow users to activate Windows and perpetual-license Office versions without paying licensing fees. Their tool, TSforge, supports activation for Windows versions 7, 8.x, 10, and 11, as well as Office versions from 2010 onward, excluding Microsoft 365 subscriptions. The scripts require minimal technical expertise and have been tested successfully on fresh installations of Windows 11 and updated Windows 10 machines. Massgrave acknowledges their actions as piracy and does not accept donations, emphasizing the ethical implications. The safety of the scripts is questioned, as there is a risk of malicious actors cloning their work. Microsoft is aware of the situation and plans to take action against unauthorized use of their software.
Amazon will close its Appstore for Android devices on August 20 of this year, and developers will no longer be able to submit new applications. The decision is part of a strategic shift to enhance user experience on Amazon's own devices. The Appstore will still be available on Amazon's Fire TV, Fire Tablet, and other built-in products. Developers can submit updates for existing applications until the service ends. Additionally, Amazon will discontinue its Amazon Coins program on the same date and will refund any remaining coins in user accounts.
The article discusses the implementation of a multi-tenant vector store using Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible Edition and Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Bases. It outlines a scenario where users request home surveys, and surveyors update findings stored in an Amazon S3 bucket. The process involves converting documents into vector embeddings for enhanced natural language queries through the Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) technique.
Key steps include:
1. Ingesting data from S3 into Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Bases.
2. Using an embeddings model to convert documents into vector embeddings.
3. Storing vector embeddings, data chunks, and metadata in Aurora with pgvector.
4. Submitting natural language queries that are transformed into embeddings for retrieval from the vector store.
5. Forwarding relevant documents to a large language model for response generation.
To set up the vector store, prerequisites include access to an Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-compatible database, Amazon S3 for document storage, and Amazon Bedrock for managing knowledge bases. The article provides SQL commands for creating the necessary schema, vector table, and index in Aurora, as well as instructions for ingesting data and ensuring multi-tenant data isolation through metadata filtering.
Best practices for deploying a multi-tenant vector store include optimizing chunk size, evaluating embedding models, and monitoring query performance. The article emphasizes the benefits of fully managed solutions to reduce operational complexity.
Amazon will close its Appstore for Android smartphones on August 20, marking the end of its mobile app initiatives after over a decade of challenges. The Appstore, launched in 2011, struggled to compete with Google Play Store and had only 0.1% installation on Android devices by its shutdown announcement. Existing users can continue to use downloaded apps until at least August 2025, but Amazon has stopped selling Amazon Coins. The closure coincides with ongoing antitrust scrutiny of Google. Amazon will still operate its Appstore for Fire devices, which use a modified version of Android.
Amazon will close its Android app store on August 20, 2025, and developers will no longer be able to submit new applications as that date approaches. The Amazon Coins program will also be discontinued on the same date, with no new purchases available after February 20, 2025. Customers with remaining Amazon Coins will be refunded after the shutdown. The app store will remain operational on Amazon devices like Fire TV and Fire Tablets. The decision to close the Android app store is due to limited use on non-Amazon devices, as the company aims to focus on its own devices where most customers engage with the app store.
Amazon will close its Android app store on August 20, 2025. Developers can submit updates for existing apps until the closure but cannot introduce new applications. The app store will remain functional on Amazon's Fire tablets and Fire TV. In Japan, in-app purchases will be discontinued, and users are advised to seek alternative marketplaces. Amazon will also end its Amazon Coins program, refunding any unused Coins by the closure date, with the last purchase opportunity on February 20, 2025. Additionally, Amazon's app store support for Windows devices will cease on March 5, 2025.
Amazon will cease the availability of Amazon Coins on February 20, 2025, and the Amazon Appstore on Android devices will be discontinued on August 20, 2025. Customers must use any remaining Amazon Coins by that date, as unspent balances will be refunded afterward. The Appstore will still be available on Fire TV and Fire Tablet devices. Additionally, the Appstore will not be downloadable from the Microsoft store on Windows 11 devices starting March 6, 2024. Amazon Web Services will stop accepting new customers for Amazon Chime on February 19, 2025, with full support until February 20, 2026. The social commerce feature, Inspire, integrated into the Amazon shopping app in 2022, will also be discontinued.
HP's acquisition of Humane AI has led to the upcoming launch of Rabbit's Android app, designed as a personal assistant that automates tasks and streamlines daily activities. Unlike traditional AI chatbots, Rabbit's agent can coordinate tasks across various applications, such as sending dinner party invitations via WhatsApp, selecting meals from recipe apps, compiling grocery lists, curating YouTube playlists, and creating revenue plans in Google Docs. The app is not yet widely available but will be downloadable from the Play Store, allowing users to prompt the AI to perform tasks in the background. Rabbit faces competition from other AI tools like OpenAI's Operator and Anthropic's Claude AI, but distinguishes itself by focusing on Android devices and everyday applications. This shift to a software-based model is seen as essential for Rabbit's independence, following the limited success of its standalone R1 device.
