Report: Amazon laid off ~150 people, or 50% of its workforce, at Amp, an app that lets DJs host live “radio shows”, take calls, and play Amazon Music tracks (Kurt Schlosser/GeekWire)

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon Alexa gains smart home features like a multi-camera view; Amazon says Alexa triggers 30%+ of users’ smart home interactions without users saying anything  —  Amazon today announced a number of new smart features designed to allow Alexa device owners to better control their smart home …

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
Internal memo: Amazon saw the “biggest three hours for US Prime signups ever” in its first exclusive stream of Thursday Night Football  —  Amazon is already seeing some fruits from its massive investment in live NFL streaming.  —  The company reported the “biggest three hours …

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Amazon will roll out Customers Ask Alexa, which lets brands answer some common customer questions and provide links to their storefronts, starting in late 2022  —  Amazon wants Alexa owners to buy more things.  That’s the clear impetus behind the new Alexa feature announced today …

Nate Bek / GeekWire:
Seattle-based Redfin lays off 862 employees, or ~13% of its workforce, and ends its home-flipping program RedfinNow; its stock is down 96%+ since February 2021  —  Redfin will wind down its home-flipping program RedfinNow and lay off employees for the second time this year as it cuts expenses in response to a slowing housing market.

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Disney explores a membership program similar to Amazon Prime, bundling streaming, theme parks, and merchandise, and adding commerce features to Disney+  —  Entertainment giant looks to package streaming, parks and merchandise offerings together; aims to add commerce feature to Disney+

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
AWS launches Application Composer, a low-code tool for visually designing and building serverless applications with a drag-and-drop interface  —  At its re:Invent conference today, AWS announced the launch of AWS Application Composer, a new low-code tool for visually designing and building serverless applications.