Get ready for AmazonTube (The 3:59, Ep. 42)

The e-commerce giant creates Amazon Video Direct, an open platform for user-generated videos -- just like YouTube.

Ben Fox Rubin Former senior reporter

Ben Fox Rubin was a senior reporter for CNET News in Manhattan, reporting on Amazon, e-commerce and mobile payments. He previously worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and got his start at newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

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Mike Sorrentino Senior Editor

Mike Sorrentino is a Senior Editor for Mobile, covering phones, texting apps and smartwatches -- obsessing about how we can make the most of them. Mike also keeps an eye out on the movie and toy industry, and outside of work enjoys biking and pizza making.

Expertise Phones, texting apps, iOS, Android, smartwatches, fitness trackers, mobile accessories, gaming phones, budget phones, toys, Star Wars, Marvel, Power Rangers, DC, mobile accessibility, iMessage, WhatsApp, Signal, RCS

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Ben Fox Rubin

Mike Sorrentino

May 10, 2016 9:57 a.m. PT

Amazon, which already has a sizable media empire, wants to expand even more -- this time with videos.
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Amazon wants to become the next YouTube by creating a new open platform called Amazon Video Direct. But will it get there?

We also hit on eBay coming to 1,600 FedEx Office locations and a San Francisco Bay Area company's plans to deliver blood and vaccines in Rwanda via drones.

The 3:59 gives you bite-size news and analysis about the top stories of the day, brought to you by CNET Executive Editor Roger Cheng (currently on parental leave), Senior Writer Ben Fox Rubin and Producer Bryan VanGelder.

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