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Amazon's new Prime perk gets you the best seats in the house
With the weather beginning to brighten up, Amazon's introducing a new perk for Prime members that aims to get you to down your Kindle, drag yourself off your comfy sofa and venture out to see some live gigs and events. Starting this Thursday, Amazon Tickets -- the UK-only service (for now) we'd also kinda forgotten about -- will begin offering Prime members early dibs on gig and theatre tickets at least 24 hours before they go on general sale, starting with the upcoming tours of acts including Art Garfunkel and The Darkness. And if you really want to make a night of it, Prime subscribers can also splash their cash to get on the list for Amazon's premium seating and luxury lounges at various London venues.
Jamie Rigg03.28.2017
Amazon's delivery drones could drop packages with parachutes
Amazon's much-anticipated (and long time coming) drone deliveries might technically finally be happening, but a new patent spotted by CNN suggests your next book or box-set might actually arrive via parachute. There are many practical, legal and technical challenges that drone deliveries present -- and getting the parcel on the ground is just one of them.
James Trew02.14.2017
Amazon UK will take £10 off orders over £50 today
Sometimes, it's nice to be appreciated. In Amazon's case, that means ranking number one in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index. While the company sits back and basks in the knowledge that it's scoring highly for professionalism, quality and efficiency, problem solving and complaint handling -- for the second year running -- it's extending an offer to all of its UK customers. For today only, if you place an order over £50, Amazon will take £10 off the total. To get involved, you'll need to enter the discount code "BIGTHANKS" at the checkout and ensure that the products in your basket are all sold directly by Amazon. Like last year, digital items, gift cards or anything listed by a third-party seller won't count. If you've been putting off that New Year purchase, now might be the time treat yourself.
Matt Brian01.20.2017
Amazon spins out Prime Video and launches it globally
For years, Amazon has used its video streaming service as a carrot to get customers to sign up to its annual Prime subscription. It meant that viewers who didn't live in one of Amazon's supported countries couldn't watch the retail giant's original TV shows and movies without having to resort to alternative means. With Jeremy Clarkson and co. now on the service following the big-budget debut of The Grand Tour, Amazon has decided to fully engage Netflix and spin out its streaming service, today launching Prime Video in "200 countries and territories" around the world with a low introductory price of $3/€3 per month.
Matt Brian12.14.2016
Amazon lets Prime members add HBO and Cinemax to their plans
Amazon already offered Prime subscribers the ability to add streaming services to their account and today it tacked on two more big names. If you're willing to pay a few extra dollars a month, you can now add HBO and Cinemax to that annual membership. Through Amazon Channels, HBO will set you back $15 a month while Cinemax requires an extra $10 monthly fee. Of course, the advantage here is that you're getting on-demand access to content from the two networks without the need for a cable plan.
Billy Steele12.01.2016
WSJ: Amazon ponders live sports on Prime
Amazon already offers a robust library of movies and television for streaming, but the online retailer could be looking to tackle one of the last remaining strongholds of pay television. The Wall Street Journal reports the company has held talks over the last few months with the NBA, MLB, NFL and MLS. Amazon has reportedly also met with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which has it's own network with a hand from ESPN, in addition to Campus Insiders and 120 Sports for college athletics coverage.
Billy Steele11.21.2016
Amazon Prime Now delivers Morrisons products in an hour
To help expand its grocery delivery service quickly, Amazon teamed up with Morrisons, the UK's fourth biggest supermarket chain. It's allowed the online retail giant to add lots of fresh and frozen products to Amazon Pantry and Amazon Fresh, as well as open hundreds of in-store lockers in select Morrisons locations. Today, though, the two companies are expanding that agreement with the announcement that Prime customers can now choose from thousands of additional products to be delivered in under an hour.
Matt Brian11.16.2016
Amazon Prime discounted to £59 for 'The Grand Tour' launch
Good news: The Grand Tour, Amazon's answer to Top Gear, is now only three days away from release. The bad news is that you'll need a Prime subscription to watch it. Amazon knows this, so it's sweetening the deal by slashing £20 off the price of its annual subscription for anyone who has yet to sign up.
Matt Brian11.15.2016
Amazon UK now offering one-hour deliveries from local London shops
In a bid to boost its Prime Now offering in London, Amazon has teamed up with a pharmacist and a wine dealer to deliver more than 7,000 additional products in under an hour. The company announced today that customers in selected London postcodes can grab "luxury health, wellbeing and beauty products" from John Bell & Croyden -- pharmacists to Her Majesty The Queen -- and fine wines and spirits from Spirited Wines.
Matt Brian11.09.2016
Amazon might launch a Prime housekeeping service
After years selling the products you need to keep your home tidy, Amazon may soon actually help you clean it. Two job postings, first spotted by The Seattle Times, show that the company is looking for "Home Assistants," who work with customers to tidy people's homes, do laundry, put groceries away and "assure that customers return to an errand-free home."
Matt Brian11.08.2016
Amazon's bookstores charge more if you're not a Prime member
If it wasn't clear already, Amazon really wants you to sign up for Prime. As GeekWire reports, the company has adopted a unique pricing model inside its physical bookstores: one sticker price for Prime members, another for regular customers. Subscribers get the same amount shown on Amazon's website, while everyone else has to pay the normal (usually higher) list price. The unusual system has been in place since August, according to one store clerk, but this is the first we've heard of it. The message from Jeff Bezos is simple: sign up for Prime if you want the true Amazon experience.
Nick Summers11.02.2016
Amazon Prime arrives in China to further challenge Alibaba
With over 63 million people already paying for Prime, Amazon is now expanding its subscription service to one of the largest marketplaces in the world: China. The retailer has announced that mainland users can now enjoy free, unlimited shipping on millions of domestic items, as well as others from the special "overseas orders" category. As part of a promotion that lasts until February, Amazon is offering the membership for $188 yuan (around $30) for the first year. Once this rate ends, Prime will cost 388 yuan (about $60) every 12 months.
Edgar Alvarez10.28.2016
Amazon Prime now includes a 'Family Vault' for sharing photos
Slowly but surely, Amazon has built out its Prime subscription to offer access to more online services. Faster deliveries and streaming video often dominate the headlines, but over the past couple of years, the company has also offered unlimited photo storage. In its bid to lure users away from and close the gap on Google's free image hosting, the retailer today announced the launch of Family Vault, a new feature that lets anyone with a Prime subscription invite up to five friends and family members to join their account and upload as many photos as they like.
Matt Brian10.18.2016
Amazon's latest Prime perk is free books and magazines
While members of the Amazon Prime club get all kinds of benefits with their subscription, bookworms don't receive a great deal of special treatment. Sure, they can borrow one e-book for free each month and access new novels early, but the all-you-can-read Kindle Unlimited service requires a separate, $10 per month subscription of its own. That isn't changing today, but Amazon has just announced something of a light version of Unlimited called Prime Reading, which is now available to Prime subscribers in the US.
Jamie Rigg10.05.2016
Amazon chronicles Hugh Hefner's life in upcoming original series
Like Hulu and Netflix, Amazon continues to add to its library of original content. Today, the online retailer announced a 13-episode show that will chronicle the life of Hugh Hefner. American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story will span the media mogul's six-decade career at the helm of Playboy magazine. The show will take on a documentary-style approach, starting with the founding of the iconic publication in 1953. Using 17,000 hours of never-before-seen footage from the magazine's archives and content over 2,600 of Hefner's personal scrapbooks, there's sure to be a wealth of info for the series to pull from.
Billy Steele08.11.2016
Amazon Video for Android adds support for SD cards
Amazon just pushed a small, but important update to its Android video app: starting today, users can choose where downloaded files are stored. It sounds insignificant, but for heavy users, this is a really big deal -- until now, Amazon Video would only store content on a device's internal storage, severely limiting how much content one could keep on the device. Not anymore. Now, if you have an SD card, you have room for more movies. The feature is rolling out to customers in the US, UK, Germany, Austria and Japan. It's about time.
Sean Buckley07.15.2016
Amazon's Prime Day sale is causing headaches for customers (updated)
If you're an Amazon Prime subscriber who's having issues making a purchase the retailer's big sale, you're not alone. The company tweeted this morning that some customers were having issues checking out. Replies to that post indicate that some customers are having trouble adding products to their cart as well. Amazon said it was "working to resolve this issue quickly," but the headaches are affecting eager customers during one of the site's biggest sales of the year. Today the company is holding its annual Prime Day sale, discounting thousands of items for folks who have a Prime subscription. We've reached out to Amazon for more information on the matter and we'll update this post when we hear back.
Billy Steele07.12.2016
Amazon Prime Day 2016: UK deals you need to know about
It's July 12th. For many, it's just another Tuesday, but for Amazon, it's another chance to sell millions of customers gadgets, homeware and lots of other stuff they don't need. Yes, it's "Prime Day," a marketing gimmick where Amazon discounts thousands of products for Prime subscribers. To keep on top of things, you'd normally have to track shopping websites or keep an eye on social media, but we want to help. We've listed a number of all-day deals that we think are worth keeping an eye on, but act quick, other deals on the site will only be available for a couple of hours at the most.
Matt Brian07.12.2016
Amazon adds PBS Kids shows to its children's lineup
Amazon is always looking to pad its streaming library, and that includes new shows for younger viewers. The company announced today that it's now the "exclusive subscription streaming home" for a number of PBS Kids series. Shows like Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Wild Kratts, Odd Squad, Dinosaur Train and more are available to Prime members at no extra charge.
Billy Steele07.01.2016
Amazon reportedly working on a standalone music streaming service
CNBC is reporting that Amazon plans to launch a free-standing streaming music service, according to sources within the company. The as-of-yet unnamed service will reportedly launch in the late summer or fall, after the company finalizes its licensing agreements, and should cost $10 a month.
Andrew Tarantola06.10.2016