The e-commerce giant is upgrading fulfillment centers, deploying three new robotics systems and accelerating same-day delivery across the continent.

But is Astro worth the $1,000 early-access price -- let alone the $1,450 price tag Amazon plans to give it once it becomes generally available? Not yet. For now, this robot remain

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email transcripts@nytimes.com with any questions.

Amazon on Thursday unveiled a warehouse robot that workers direct using plain conversational language — the same way they would ask a colleague to move something. No technical commands, no programming interface. The employee states the task; the robot determines the priority, the route, and the timing.

Steven Musil is a senior news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000 ...