Amazon Prime

Amazon Music Unlimited launches: $9.99 per month, $3.99 for Echo-only streaming

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 12, 2016

Amazon today announced its long-rumored music streaming service to better compete with the likes of Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music, Tidal and others. The service is called Amazon Music Unlimited and starts at $9.99 per month for individual accounts or $14.99 per month for a family of six, which is the standard pricing offered by Apple Music and others.

However, Amazon has undercut Apple Music with a $7.99 per month tier for members of its $99 per year Prime service. And if you want to only stream music to your Echo wireless speaker, Amazon Music Unlimited is just $3.99 per month.

Amazon schedules its annual shopping event for Prime members for July 12

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2016

Online retailer Amazon has scheduled a second annual Prime Day event for July 12. The Prime Day 2016, a one-day shopping event exclusive to Prime members, will be the biggest global Amazon event ever with new deals starting as often as every five minutes throughout the day.

Amazon takes on Netflix with standalone $9 per month Prime Video subscription

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 18, 2016

Online retailer Amazon announced this morning that it has started to offer its Prime Video service as a standalone subscription independent of its $99.99 annual Prime membership, which includes things like free two-day shipping, unlimited streaming of music, movies and television shows and other perks.

In an effort to step up its challenge to Netflix, the e-commerce giant has priced its standalone offering at $8.99 per month—a dollar more than Netflix's entry-level $7.99 plan in the United States.

This weekend only: get a 1-year Amazon Prime membership for just $73

Cody Lee ∙ January 15, 2016

Amazon is currently offering a significant discount on its popular Prime service, cutting the one-year membership fee from $99 to $73. The promotion is in celebration of the company’s success at the Golden Globes earlier this week, and is good from now through 11:59 p.m. Sunday night.

For those of you who aren't particularly familiar with Amazon Prime, the service includes a number of benefits. There’s free 2-day shipping (and same-day in some areas) on millions of products, and free access to Prime Video, Prime Photos, Prime Music and the Kindle Lending Library.

Today only: get a 1-year Amazon Prime membership for just $67

Cody Lee ∙ September 24, 2015

Amazon is currently offering a significant discount on its popular Prime service, cutting the one-year membership fee from $99 to $67. The promotion is in celebration of the company's 5 Emmy wins earlier this week, and is good through 11:59 p.m. PT Friday night.

For those unfamiliar with Amazon Prime, the service includes a number of benefits. There's free 2-day shipping (and same-day in some areas) on millions of products, and free access to Prime Video, Prime Photos, Prime Music and the Kindle Lending Library.

Amazon Instant Video updated with support for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Amazon updated its Instant Video streaming app today, bringing it to version 2.9.5. As the build number indicates, it's a fairly small update, but it should make users happy with its improved support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

This means that streaming videos should look better on the larger, higher resolution displays of Apple's newer handsets, as should the app's menu system. You can now see more content in a single glance, making navigation easier.

4K movies and TV shows arrive to Prime subscribers via Amazon Instant Video

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 9, 2014

Joining Netflix which offers 4K (or Ultra HD) video and video sharing websites like Google's YouTube and Vimeo that offer streaming in 4K resolution, Amazon on Tuesday said its Prime subscribers can stream select television shows and movies in the high-quality 4K picture resolution.

These Ultra HD movies and TV shows are accessible through the Amazon Instant Video app on compatible Ultra HD smart TVs, including models from LG, Samsung and Sony, with more added next year.

The online retail giant did not say when Prime customers can expect to stream 4K content through mobile Instant Video apps.

Amazon said to be launching ‘Prime’ streaming music service this week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

The New York Post is reporting today that Amazon is ready to launch its new streaming music service this week. The outlet says the e-commerce giant has 2 of 3 major record labels on board, and we could see the service as early as tomorrow.

It's being described as a 'truncated' version of Spotify, allowing users to access a limited catalogue of songs that will not include recent hits. And, as previously report, it sounds like it's going to only be available to subscribers of Amazon Prime...

Cable-cutters, rejoice: HBO shows arriving to Fire TV and Amazon Prime on May 21

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

No one can touch Amazon when it comes to the breadth and size of its content library and today's announcement just reinforces the notion. The online retail giant has cut a landmark and unheard-of deal with Home Box Office Inc. (HBO), an American premium cable and satellite television network that in my opinion has the best original TV shows anywhere.

Under the terms of the exclusive multi-year agreement, both Amazon Prime members and owners of the recently introduced $99 Fire TV set-top box will soon be able to stream HBO's old shows three years after they've aired and at no additional charge. Catch 22: HBO is reserving new shows for existing subscribers and you'll need to subscribe to Amazon's $99 per year Prime Instant Video service.

Still, this is huge. Firstly, you won't need an HBO cable TV subscription at all to stream the shows. And secondly, online-only subscriptions to HBO were previously non-existent. Now, Apple TV owners are able to access HBO content via the HBO GO app on their Home screen, but this requires a subscription with a cable or satellite provider and therefore doesn't appeal to cable-cutters...

WSJ: Amazon launching its Apple TV competitor next month

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Building on previous reports, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Amazon is set to begin shipping its long-awaited video-streaming device next month. The device will thrust the e-commerce giant into a highly competitive space occupied by Apple, Google and others.

Citing sources familiar with the product, the outlet claims that the device will carry a variety of apps available on Roku and Apple set-top boxes and run on a version of Google's Android software. And like Amazon's other hardware devices, it will likely carry the Fire brand...

Google’s Eric Schmidt has the nerve to shoot down Amazon’s drones over privacy worries

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 23, 2017

Google chairman Erich Schmidt is definitely on a roll these days. He first posted a guide on how to convert from iPhone to Android which draw much ridicule in suggesting that the latest high-end phones from Samsung, Motorola and Google represent "a great Christmas present to an iPhone user" because these devices have "better screens, are faster and have a much more intuitive interface".

Now, Schmidt's attention turns to Amazon's conceptual sci-fi Prime Air service that will use miniature everyday drones to deliver packages at customers' doorsteps. This, according to Schmidt, constitutes a serious violation of privacy because the drone technology can be used to spy on neighbors and record your private activities...