This was a great week for Amazon announcements benefiting developers. Our really big news, the public release of the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK), was reported by VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, and many others. ProgrammableWeb covered the launch of the Fire OS 5 developer preview, which provides early access to new OS features and updates. In other news, TechNewsWorld contemplated streaming games, Amazon, and nothing less than the future of electronic entertainment while PocketGamer.biz shared our summer plans for the beach. Our $50 app promotion, which ends July 1, also generated a lot of buzz (see PCWorld, AndroidPolice, AndroidAuthority, for example). DroidGamers reported on an update to Kingdom Rush Origins, and AndroidHeadlines featured Amazon’s Cloud Drive app as one of the top new Android apps of the week.

Amazon launches an SDK for developers to build on its Alexa voice-activated assistant

Amazon has launched a new software developer kit for Alexa, the cloud-based “brains” behind its voice-activated Amazon Echo device. The Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) offers application program interfaces and other tools for developers to build new capabilities for Alexa. Additionally, Amazon has also opened its Alexa Voice Service to third-party hardware creators, meaning Alexa is effectively a free agent that’s unbridled from its Amazon confines. Continue reading…

Amazon Opens Developer Preview for Fire OS 5

Much like Apple and Google are with iOS 9 and Android M, Amazon is now offering developers the opportunity to participate in a developer preview of Fire OS 5. Fire OS is, of course, Amazon's platform for the company's Fire tablets, Amazon Fire TV, and the Amazon Fire TV Stick. The Amazon Appstore appears not only on Amazon's own hardware, but on Android handsets from a variety of makers carriers. Heck, it's even available to BlackBerry 10 smartphones. About a year ago Amazon claimed to offer 175,000 apps in the Amazon Appstore. It hasn't updated that number in recent memory. Either way you look at it, there are plenty of apps in there. Continue reading…

3 Things That Will Change Electronic Entertainment Forever

E3—perhaps the biggest and most important gaming conference in the world—took place last week. Sony and Microsoft came ready to do battle, Nintendo showed up, and we were up to our armpits in little companies doing amazing things with virtual reality. […] Amazon last month announced it was going to be streaming high-end games written specifically for its Fire TV platform. Continue reading…

The Big Indie Mixer Rolls into Brighton on 14 July

Summertime is almost upon us, which means that we’re all due a trip to the beach. And in particular, we’ll be heading down to Brighton beach in July for a special Big Indie Mixer, sponsored by Amazon Appstore, just in time for Develop:Brighton conference. Continue reading…

Amazon's Latest Freebie Fest Gives Away $50 in Android Apps and Games

Monument Valley is the biggest prize in the latest Amazon app giveaway. The online retail giant has put $50 worth of paid Android apps and games on sale for the always-excellent price of free. Continue reading…

Kingdom Rush Origins Update Will be Arriving Later This Week

Ironhide Game Studio announced over Twitter today that the next update for Kingdom Rush Origins will be launching later this week. If you play this particular installment into the Kingdom Rush franchise, then you have new content and features to look forward to playing later this week. […] Speaking of which, this update will be landing on Google Play and Amazon Appstore version on June 24rd, 2015, which is two days from now. We'll post an update when it officially arrives. Continue reading…

-peter (@peterdotgames)