Oil Prices Drop At The Start Of The Week As Trump Pushes OPEC For Price Cuts

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

January 27, 2025

Oil prices opened the week on a downward trend following a renewed call from US President Donald Trump urging the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to slash crude prices. The request came in the wake of his announcement of extensive measures to ramp up oil and natural gas production in the United States, according to Reuters.

Key Facts

As of 9 a.m. Bulgarian time, Brent crude saw a 49-cent drop, or 0.62%, settling at $78.01 per barrel. Meanwhile, US light crude followed suit, dipping 49 cents, or 0.66%, to $74.17 a barrel.

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What To Watch

Trump reiterated his demand on Friday, emphasizing that OPEC’s move to lower prices could exert financial pressure on Russia, which heavily relies on energy exports to fund its ongoing war in Ukraine. Additionally, Trump warned of further taxes, tariffs, and sanctions targeting Russia—and other nations involved—if the war persists without a resolution.

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Amazon Deepens Prime Video Shopping With New X-Ray And Lens Features

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 11, 2026

Amazon is adding new shopping features to Prime Video, allowing viewers to discover products connected to thousands of titles through its existing X-Ray experience.

The company is also introducing “Shop the Scene,” powered by its Lens visual search technology, alongside updates designed to connect video content more directly with shopping.

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From Viewing To Shopping

The new tools build on Shop the Show, launched last year through Amazon’s mobile shopping app. Previously, viewers had to search for “shop the show” to find products related to a program.

Now, X-Ray users can open a Shop tab directly from Fire TV to see products associated with the title. Purchases are completed through the Amazon Shopping app, which can recognize the content being watched and open a synchronized product feed.

The app can also identify what is playing and take viewers directly to a storefront, removing the need for a separate search.

Amazon Targets Shoppable Streaming

Amazon is joining a broader push to combine entertainment and commerce. YouTube offers creator merchandise and shoppable connected-TV ads, while Peacock has tested shoppable programming through Must ShopTV.

Roku has enabled shopping through its remote, while Disney has experimented with shoppable television across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN.

Shop The Scene Uses Visual Search

“Shop the Scene” uses Amazon Lens to identify products or similar items based on what appears on screen, including clothing and home decor.

Exact matches will not always be available because some costumes and other items are custom-made, high-end or unavailable through Amazon sellers. The feature can instead help viewers find similar products or recreate a particular style.

Shop the Scene is available on iOS and Android in the U.S. across more than 600 titles. Meanwhile, Shop the Show is expanding from 1,300 titles to more than 8,000, including Prime Originals, selected licensed content and live sports.

For Amazon, the changes bring shopping closer to the viewing experience, potentially creating another way to generate commerce from Prime Video’s audience.

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