With Amazon struggling with supply chain issues, labor unrest and intense consumer demands, founder Jeff Bezos returned his focus to the company’s day-to-day operations, with daily phone calls to solve inventory and testing issues and talks with government officials. On April 8, he visited an Amazon warehouse for the first time in years. Even as Amazon struggles with coronavirus-related issues, the company is one of few to do well financially in the midst of the pandemic. Bezos is $25 billion richer than in early March. Read more

Adobe issued a workflow guide for content creators producing short-form video for the new Quibi app for mobile devices. The guide offers a step-by-step process via its Premiere Pro production platform, outlining technical specs for deliverables and use of the machine-learning-powered Auto Reframe feature to streamline creation of both horizontal and vertical versions. Quibi co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg also stated that, in May, some Quibi users will be able to cast the service from phones to their TVs. Read more

At the end of Q1 2020, Netflix added 15.8 million new subscribers, more than double the company forecast. The growth spiked in March when people began to be confined due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Netflix stated that viewing and membership growth will decline when those circumstances end. As chief executive Reed Hastings put it, “We, too, are really unsure of what the future brings.” The company is still adding to its stock of original programs, buying the rights to a period piece set in the world of Sherlock Holmes. Read more

Google debuted BeyondCorp Remote Access, a cloud-based service allowing remote access of internal systems without using a virtual private network (VPN). With so many employees working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, Google said it has “heard repeatedly … that organizations need an easier way to provide access to key internal applications.” Based on a product built for internal use almost ten years ago, the system uses a “zero-trust approach,” which requires additional authentication before granting access. Read more

Google Search has been offering personalized movie and TV recommendations since last fall. Now it is adding a new Watchlist tab that enables mobile users to easily track and save desired content. In addition, to help Android TV users navigate news and entertainment as we spend more time sheltering at home, Google has introduced three new rows of content from YouTube on the home screen: COVID-19 News, Stay Home #WithMe videos, and ad-supported free movies from YouTube. These new features are among a larger set of announcements made by the company this week. Read more