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Epix is the latest streaming channel to launch on Amazon Prime
MGM's premium cable network, Epix, has come to Amazon Prime for $5.99 a month.
Amazon's StyleSnap puts fashion from photos in your shopping cart
Amazon is releasing a feature that will make it easier to replicate a look you've seen on Instagram or a style in a magazine spread. At the company's re: MARS (machine learning, automation, robotics, and space) 2019 conference, Amazon announced an upcoming tool called StyleSnap for the Alexa app. StyleSnap will use AI to make fashion recommendations from Amazon based on user-submitted photos. There's no word on when the feature will be released.
Amazon is reportedly interested in buying Boost Mobile
If helping to create a competitor is a necessary condition to get the Sprint/T-Mobile deal done, then perhaps Amazon can help. A report from Reuters suggests the retailer is interested in buying Boost Mobile from the combo, particularly because it would come with the ability to use T-Mobile's network for six years. The unnamed sources also claimed the company could be interested in spectrum the newly-merged pair would have to divest. Amazon has tried to get into the mobile business before -- remember the Fire Phone? -- and it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see it add wireless to the suite of services it offers. Yesterday's report pointed to the possibility of a cable company trying to rise up as the fourth major mobile operator, but if Amazon can pass regulatory scrutiny, maybe Prime will cover one more thing pretty soon.
Amazon will deliver packages to the trunk of your Ford or Lincoln
Apparently having packages shipped directly to your door in two days or less -- even placed inside your garage -- is not enough. Last year, Amazon began delivering packages to newer GM and Volvo cars. Now, the company will chase down even more vehicles. Ford announced today that select Ford and Lincoln vehicles are now eligible for Key by Amazon In-Car delivery, meaning Amazon will track you down and deliver your package wherever you've parked.
'Too Old to Die Young' is the first streaming series to make it to Cannes
It's been one year since Netflix stirred up controversy around the Cannes Film Festival. For those who don't remember, when a new rule banned any movie from competition that didn't have a theatrical run, Netflix decided not to screen anything at all. Netflix won't return this year either, but it looks like Amazon may fill its shoes. According to Deadline, Amazon's new TV series Too Old to Die Young is expected at Cannes next month. That makes it only the third episodic series to screen at the high-brow festival and the very first streaming show to be invited.
Donald Glover's new movie is streaming for free on Amazon
As of this writing, Childish Gambino is still performing live at Coachella (which you can watch on YouTube all weekend), but he also has a new movie premiering on Amazon Prime. Guava Island is available (in 4x3 aspect ratio -- it's a choice) for free for at least 18 hours, so if you'd like to check out the hour-long flick about an island-based musician trying to put on a music festival while being kidnapped and dating Rihanna, now is the time to do it. There's a longer trailer out now, but it doesn't really explain more about the plot, so you may be just as well off going directly to the movie. According to Vanity Fair, Guava Island will also stream on Twitch and YouTube at 8 PM ET tonight.
Now Amazon's Twitch Prime comes with a year of Switch Online
Amazon keeps tweaking the benefits of its Twitch Prime package for Prime customers with moves like adding free games and taking away ad-free streams. The latest change will be particular appealing to certain gamers, as it's teamed up with Nintendo to dangle up to a year of free Switch Online service with the package.
‘Good Omens’ and the art of avoiding Armageddon
The world will end one day. That's a plain fact; what's unknown is the exact manner in which humanity will be erased from existence. Whether the oceans will boil us from below like a massive earthenware lobster pot, or a nuclear holocaust will strip the planet bare, or biological warfare will infect our evolutionary timeline, is anyone's guess, and everyone has a theory.
Amazon's next big step in sports: buying into the Yankees Network
As Disney completes its acquisition of Fox there's more than just the Marvel universe at stake. One condition of the purchase is that it will sell off Fox's portfolio of regional sports networks, and as rumors late last year suggested, one interested party is Amazon. Reports from the New York Times and other outlets claim that while the Yankees are completing a deal to become the majority owner of the Yankees Entertainment Sports Network (YES), Amazon and Sinclair Broadcasting are among the groups chipping in to pay part of Fox's $3.4 billion asking price for the 80 percent the Yankees didn't already own. YES Network broadcasts games for the Yankees, Nets and the NYCFC MLS team. According to the reports, Amazon's stake in the business is enough for it to have the right to stream games in their local territories. That may not shift the live sports balance of power nationwide, but as Bloomberg points out a note from one analyst saying this could be a step toward unbundling regional sports networks from cable TV packages.
Amazon teases when its 'Lord of the Rings' series will take place
Amazon has offered precious little information about its forthcoming Lord of the Rings series, but some Twitter and Instagram teases that started last month are finally bearing fruit. Previous posts showed the map of Middle-earth slowly being filled in with more info, and today's reveal gives a good idea of where the show will focus. The island of Númenor was added to the map, something you won't usually find on most Middle-earth maps. That's because the island was destroyed at the end of the Second Age, thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings.
Amazon Prime members can now set a weekly delivery day
Instead of having another package arrive at your doorstep every single day, Amazon wants to cut down on cardboard and delivery trips by giving Prime members the ability to schedule what day all of their packages arrive. The new feature, called Amazon Day, will round up your week's worth of goods and bring them all on the same day every week. The idea is to make deliveries more predictable and less wasteful.
'The Tick' returns to Amazon Prime Video on April 5th
Amazon renewed its quirky superhero series The Tick for a second season all the way back in January last year, and we finally know when you can expect the next batch of episodes on Prime Video. Along with the April 5th release date, Amazon released a trailer showing the some of the offbeat antics and wordplay to expect this time around. It also highlights some of The Tick's allies and enemies, including a seemingly friendly man with a rubber arm, John Hodgman as what appears to be a research guru and the return of the villainous Miss Lint.
Redesigned PS4 media hub showcases the best streaming videos
Sony is streamlining the way it presents TV and video on the PlayStation 4, making it easier to discover films and shows from across apps, all in one convenient location.
Amazon quietly ends its student loan discount program
Just a few weeks ago, Amazon and Wells Fargo announced a program that would give Prime Student customers a modest 0.5-percent interest rate discount on new student loans. It appears that partnership is already over -- the promotion's original landing page now simply redirects to Amazon's top "college deals," with no mention of the discount on Wells Fargo's loan page or on Amazon Prime. Neither company gave a reason for why the promotion ended so soon, but Wells Fargo flatly told Bloomberg that the "promotion for Prime Student members has ended."
Soon you can have your student loans serviced through Amazon
Amazon is the best place to shop for Star Trek: The Original Series on Blu-ray at 3 AM as well as a pallet of Surge to down while watching at the same time (not that I've done this.) But soon enough it will also be the same place you can apply for student loans.
Amazon is offering deep smartphone discounts for Prime members
If you're an Amazon Prime member in the market for a new smartphone, you might consider one of these enticing offers. The retail giant is offering exclusive pricing on select unlocked Android phones, including the BLU R1 HD for $49.99 ($50 off its retail price of $99.99) and the Motorola Moto G for $149.99 ($50 off its normal price of $199.99.)
ICYMI: Street View pollution hunt, Easier Amazon and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-768351{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-768351, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-768351{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-768351").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Google Street View cars are rolling through U.S. cities to measure pollution, measuring harmful compounds like methane and carbon monoxide. Amazon's new Dash buttons are now available, which let consumers instant-order basic household items with a push of a literal button. And NASA is crashing planes to help improve the reliability of Emergency Location Transmitters, so that the signal actually turns on when something goes terribly wrong.
Amazon Prime same-day delivery is now free in 14 cities
Amazon can get you a package in an hour, but if you "only" need it the same day, delivery is now free in 14 metropolitan areas. To get the service, you'll need to place an order of $35 or more and be an Amazon Prime subscriber at $99 per year. You'll also need to be in specific urban centers, including San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle/Tacoma (check your zip code here). The move is yet another carrot for Prime subscribers and probably a blow to brick-and-mortar stores, who now rely a lot on impatient shoppers.
eBay's testing Amazon Prime-like shipping service in Germany
Amazon Prime offers many benefits to its subscribers, starting with super-fast shipping on web purchases. Not surprisingly, retail competitor eBay must try to match this. Over in Germany, the company has started trialling a program slightly similar to Prime, reportedly called eBay +, which will be launching in the second half of this year. Buyers there are said to have to pay between €15 and €20 (roughly $17 and $22) per year, an amount that would be reasonable considering the service's main purpose: free, fast shipping and other undisclosed exclusive benefits.
Amazon's Fire TV Stick arrives in the UK next month for £35
Google's Chromecast streaming dongle has proven to be quite the hit, but it does come with some drawbacks. There's no physical remote, for instance, and the lack of menus or any overarching UI can be alienating for some. Amazon took a swing at the idea last October with the Fire TV Stick, and after launching in the US it's ready to tackle the UK too. It'll begin shipping on April 15th, although Prime members can pre-order the device today for £19. That's a sizeable discount on the regular £35 asking price, which is just a smidge higher than Google's offering (£30) in the Play store. If you've been weighing up a new Prime subscription, this could be the time to take the plunge; the company will knock the stick down to £7 for anyone that's willing to sign up for a new 12-month membership.
