Amazon

Amazon launches ad-free Prime Music service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

As rumored, Amazon has launched a new streaming music service today, and it's [unsurprisingly] calling it 'Prime Music.' The service features over a million songs and hundreds of pre-made playlists, and it's free for paying subscribers of Amazon Prime.

Prime members have unlimited access to the service, and will be able to either play music from one of the aforementioned playlists, or create their own. It's completely ad-free, and comes with standard affair like mobile clients and offline playback support...

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...

Amazon updates Kindle for iOS with in-app support for Audible content

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Amazon today issued a nice little update to its Kindle iOS app to make it easier to enjoy Audible content.

Previously, listening to Audible audio books required opening a separate apps, but the new Kindle version 4.3 for the iPhone and iPad now includes support for Audible content.

As a result, you can listen to Kindle books enriched with their respective audio companions right within the Kindle app itself.

Audible, for those unfamiliar with it, is owned by Amazon. Your changelog and additional information can be found right after the break...

Amazon announces June 18 launch event for new device

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Amazon has just announced that it will be hosting a 'launch event' on June 18. The company doesn't offer up a whole lot of details, other than founder Jeff Bezos will be on hand, and a new device will be shown off.

In addition to sending out invitations, and tweeting about the event, Amazon has also posted a cryptic video of people trying out the device. They don't say way it is, or show it, but it sounds like the rumored smartphone...

Amazon Cloud Drive Photos updated with new album view, photo sorting and more

Cody Lee ∙ May 20, 2014

Amazon updated its Cloud Drive Photos iOS client this afternoon, bringing the app to version 3.1. The update brings about a new album view, as well as a new sorting feature, upload status indicator and various other improvements.

The new album view will allow Cloud Drive users to quickly scroll through their albums with large cover photos. And the new sorting feature brings the ability for users to sort their photos by either oldest to newest, or newest to oldest...

Amazon offering Logitech’s PowerShell iOS 7 controller for $50 with free shipping

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 20, 2014

Logitech's PowerShell iOS 7 controller has been heavily criticized for its high launch price ($99) and there have been some complaints about build quality and features. But if you're serious about iOS gaming, you should consider this accessory as a worthy first entrant into the iOS 7 controller market.

Gamers who have been on the lookout for a nice deal on the PowerShell are in for a treat as Amazon is currently offering the accessory for just $49.99, with free shipping included. That's a nice 29 percent discount over the online retailer's normal asking price of $69.99 and a cool $50 savings from its suggested (and rather insane) retail price of ninety-nine bucks...

Apple now number two online retailer behind Amazon

Cody Lee ∙ May 6, 2014

According to data from e-commerce research firm Internet Retailer, Apple is now the number two online retailer in the world. Amazon, of course, still has a large lead in the number one spot, but the Cupertino firm recently surpassed Staples to take over second place.

The jump in position is due to a couple of factors. For one, Staples saw flat online sales of $10.4 billion over the past year, representing just a 1% increase over 2012. And two, Internet Retailer is accounting for both hardware and digital content sales for the first time...

#AmazonCart lets you add stuff to your shopping basket without leaving Twitter

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Are you a frequent Amazon shopper and a heavy Twitter user? If so, you'll be delighted to know that you can now add products to your shopping basket without ever leaving Twitter. It couldn't be easier: simply find a tweet containing an Amazon product link, reply with #AmazonCart and voilà - the product in question gets quickly saved in your Amazon shopping basket.

You can add as many products as you want this way before checking out at your convenience later. #AmazonCart is currently available in the United States and in the United Kingdom, where it's called #AmazonBasket...

Alleged internal slide reveals Amazon’s upcoming smartphone

Cody Lee ∙ May 1, 2014

Amazon is expected to unveil its first smartphone in the not-so-distant future, and according to a new report from BGR, this is what it's going to look like. The site says the image on the above slide was created for internal use by graphic designers at Amazon.

Note that the handset looks quite different than the prototype we saw last month—BGR explains this is because that device was housed in a protective casing. The actual phone's design resembles that of the iPhone and other smartphones currently on the market...

Amazon launches new Wearable Technology store

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

In case you needed any more proof that wearables aren't just a passing fad, Amazon launched a new storefront this week dedicated specifically to the space. Dubbed the 'Wearable Technology' store, the page highlights health trackers, smartwatches and more.

Since it's likely that many of Amazon's customers aren't familiar with the new devices just yet, the company has supplemented its retail offerings with other content like 'Learning Center' videos, product comparisons, recommendations and editorial reviews...

Apple has 2x or more credit cards on file than Amazon

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 28, 2014

Following Apple's most recent earnings report, Tim Cook revealed in a conference call with analyst that there are now more than 800 million iTunes accounts in use and said that “the majority of those have credit cards behind them.”

How does this compare to Amazon, the king of online commerce? Turns out that Apple actually has twice as many credit cards on file than Amazon, at least. This poses a tremendous opportunity should Apple decide to introduce a mobile payment service of its own, as expected...

IMDb app gains US showtimes, Amazon Prime availability info and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 23, 2014

Hot on the heels of announcing a landmark online-only streaming deal with HBO for old TV shows, Amazon has updated its nicely done IMDb iOS app with several notable enhancements, including U.S. showtimes, media links to its Instant Video streaming service, new page design on the iPhone, bug fixes and more.

The update is now live in the App Store. The app was refreshed with iOS 7 friendly styling last December.

Amazon should be credited for adding new features to the IMDb app on a more or less regular basis. This just exemplifies how the online retailer is able to leverage various services and apps to lure customers into its vast entertainment empire...