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- The $73 deal is live. Go get yourself some cheap Prime.
I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber, but I don't watch any of the company's shows. Heck, I forget the option exists. No matter, Amazon already has my money. The online retailer/TV production company is after other folks, and so it's dropping the price of Amazon Prime to this weekend (from $99). If, like me, that number seems odd to you, then you're probably equally unaware that the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards aired this week, and that Amazon's Mozart In The Jungle won an award for Best Musical or Comedy Series (with its lead actor Gael García Bernal earning Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Series).Psst, Amazon, yeah, I told everyone about your show. Mmhmm. Yeah, I think they heard me. Mmhmm, eh, the people who cared already knew. Oh, right, I forgot that part. Hold on a second.Whether you're an Amazon Prime subscriber or not, from Friday 15th at 9PM PT until 11:59PM local time January 17th, you can watch the first and second seasons of Amazon's show for free using the Amazon Video app or your desktop browser.Okay, I told them. Mmhmm, yup. Take care, Amazon.Alright, I'm back. Thanks for being patient. Amazon loves to promote its shows. I'm ambivalent toward them, but that free and speedy shipping is a great way to get Android gadgets. If you want in on that action, this weekend is a decent time to save money signing up for a year of Prime.
Amazon, Gunning For "Biggest Jerk" Award, Will Be Banning Chromecast And Nexus Player Listings From Its US Store
Amazon is banning Chromecast and Nexus Player from its US Store.
If you have a Chromecast or Android TV, you've probably noticed the one big glaring hole in content on those devices: Amazon Instant Video. Now, it seems more unlikely than ever that these devices will be getting AIV support, because Amazon is apparently preventing sellers on the US site from listing them altogether, and will remove all existing listings for the devices on October 29th. An email appeared on reddit late last night purporting to be from Amazon is below:
Amazon, cut this crap out. Seriously, I'm getting really sick of it. As someone who pays you for media on a regular basis, to say nothing of my recurring Amazon Prime payments, I feel like I'm more than justified in telling you to stop sabotaging your own damn products.
Android TV may look different from vanilla Android, but underneath that tiled interface is the same operating system you know and love. That means it's possible to sideload whatever APKs you want. The thing is, without a touchscreen, most of them are pretty useless.
Amazon doesn't seem to particularly want Android users to enjoy its video streaming service. First it took its sweet time expanding the offering out from Fire and iOS devices. Then when it did finally bring the app to Android, it required installing the standard Amazon app, which then prompted you to install a dedicated Prime Instant Video app from the Amazon Appstore (Google Play, what's that?). After that, it only ran on phones. Tablets, for the most part, were inexplicably left out.The latest version of Amazon Instant Video for Android fixes that. You still have to go through the website to watch videos, but at least it works. Here it is on my Nexus 7.
With Amazon Original Movies, The Company You Buy Everything From Is Getting Ready For The Big Screen
Amazon may be on its way to a theater near you. Amazon Studios, the online retailer's video production wing, has announced that it will start producing and acquiring its own original movies, debuting them in theaters and bringing them to Amazon Instant Video shortly thereafter. These works will come under the banner of Amazon Original Movies.Amazon Studios has already produced a number of television series such as Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent. This has furthered its competition with Netflix, the video on demand provider that has broken records with its own originally-produced series House of Cards and plans to release its own original movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend in the summer of 2015.
Update: the developers of Primecast have confirmed to Android Police that they were "locked out" of the app's streaming functionality.
Update: ...aaaaand it's gone.
Guys, the final piece of the puzzle is now in place: Amazon just announced that FireTV will be getting HBO GO. Since it launched without the service, it raised the question of whether it would ever be available to FireTV users; it looks like Amazon was just busy inking the deal with HBO, because there's actually even more to this story than that.
Mega-retailer Amazon has scheduled a press event for Wednesday, April 2nd in New York City. The press invitation teases the event with the phrase, "Please join us for an update on our video business from [Amazon Kindle VP] Peter Larsen." A background with a couch and a bowl of popcorn makes it clear that Amazon's sights are set squarely on the living room.
Two weeks ago, we took a look at the invite-only beta of Redbox Instant. In that article, we gave a brief glimpse into what the fledgling service's library had to offer. Of course, the inevitable question had to be asked: how does it stack up against Netflix? Or Amazon Instant Video for that matter? While we're at it, how does Google's Play Store compare? Those are pretty big questions! So, they deserve pretty big answers. Today, we have them.
Update: Turns out the app is only compatible with LG Google TV's for the time being (meaning no Google TV set top boxes are compatible at this time). That's lame.
Potential Kindle Fire owners, pay attention! Amazon's offering a free $30 voucher code towards the purchase of a Kindle Fire to anyone who asks right now. As a bonus, once you order your Kindle Fire, you'll receive $5 worth of Amazon Instant Video credit. Pretty sweet deal!