When Amazon launched their Dash device last April, the word on the web was that it was either an April Fools joke or Science Fiction. It turned out to be neither. This Internet of Things (IoT) product is very real, and this week Amazon announced the first branded devices that will come already enabled with it. Underwritten by the core principles of IoT technology, the Amazon Dash, connects via Wi-Fi and allows users to order physical goods from Amazon at the press of a button. Now consumers can take advantage of Dash by activating their devices via Amazon’s website or app.

Windows Insiders now have access to a new commitment option in Cortana for Windows 10. As The Verge reports: “Commitments is very similar to the existing flight and delivery tracking in Cortana, but it's designed to pick up on emails where you promise your boss to finish a particular project in time.”

Tim Cook hasn’t done Wall Street any favors by holding quarterly Apple Watch sales numbers so close to his chest. Apple’s CEO has explained several times that he’s not announcing them in order to keep his competitors in the dark. But as a result he’s also kept Apple analysts in the dark, and the effect is apparent in the spreadsheet below. Left to their own devices, the 26 analysts I’ve heard from so far—16 Wall Street professionals (in blue) and 10 independents (in green)—have submitted estimates for last quarter’s sales with a range greater than I’ve ever seen for an Apple 

Macy’s is angling for strong first-quarter mobile sales with the implementation of 3D Touch into its iOS application, as well as new shopper-friendly features for Apple Watch owners. A growing number of brands are incorporating 3D Touch features into their apps, likely in a bid to enhance the mobile experience and highlight specific products. Leveraging location-based tools within Apple Watch apps may also be a top retail strategy this year, especially as marketers scheme up ways to entice consumers to visit their bricks-and-mortar storefronts.

Shodan, a search engine for the Internet of Things — the network made up of Internet-connected devices — has a section that allows users to browse vulnerable webcams. Yikes. According to Ars Technica, the feed features things like marijuana growing rooms, kids sleeping on nanny cams, and the back rooms of banks. And also: "kitchens, living rooms, garages, front gardens, back gardens, ski slopes, swimming pools, colleges and schools, laboratories, and cash register cameras in retail stores." Really, anywhere there's a webcam, there can be someone looking through it who isn't supposed to. Annnnnd I just got the shivers.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is slowly making its way into the retail space. Just recently, enterprise software giantSoftware AG released its new Smart Store Monitoring app. The application will sit on its Digital Business Platform and provide retailers in brick-and-mortar stores with real-time insights into who is coming into the store and what they are doing there.

Wander round the streets of Barcelona and you'll probably spot various grey, unsightly cabinets housing a range of technologies that could be controlling anything from traffic and lighting to parking and waste. The city is increasingly covered in sensors, supposedly to become smarter and serve its citizens more efficiently. Yet, all these devices are disconnected from each other, and so is the data they generate. To solve the problem of consolidating and centrally managing all infrastructure, data, and services, Barcelona has developed and tested what is designed to be an "open, flexible, scalable and secure" platform accessed through a simple …

San Francisco saw its first traffic accident involving an autonomous car earlier this month. It occurred on the afternoon of Jan. 8 when a Nissan Leaf autonomous vehicle operated by Cruise Automation hit a parked Toyota Prius. The car was in manual control mode at the time, but an account of the incident says it started when the automation computer steered the car incorrectly. "The vehicle began moving in its lane to the left, then began correcting to the right at which point the drive decided the take over manual control," the company said in a report to the California …

Amazon has revealed further details about how its super fast Prime Air drone delivery program will work, but not how much it will cost customers to use. The much-hyped service will see custom-made weather and environment-adapted unmanned aerial vehicles carrying packages weighing up to 5 pounds within a 10-mile radius of the depot. The devices, fitted with sensors to avoid collisions, will deliver within 30 minutes of customers placing their orders. Paul Misener, the e-commerce giant's vice president for global public policy, told Yahoo! Tech the cost to customers had yet to be determined. But the 5 pound weight limit was decided on after Amazon found that most …

If you’re planning to trick out your home with connected devices so you can do things like unlock doors remotely and check in on the kids from your office with a webcam, you’ll want to double-check that all your gadgets are properly secured. Ars Technica found that Shodan, a search engine for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, now has a section that lets you view feeds from vulnerable webcams with just a few clicks. It’s creepy that with no technical knowledge or even a paid Shodan account, you can snoop on people’s homes, residential neighborhoods and other spaces. But what’s scarier still is that …