amazon prime – SomeGadgetGuy

April 3, 2015

Amazon Brings Prime Video to Android Tablets – Still Finicky to Setup

Amazon has been notoriously slow in bringing their Prime Video service to Android. Cross platform compatibility was a key factor in making the Kindle service the most widely used way to consume e-books, but Amazon seemed happy to let Netflix, Hulu, and Google Play run away with the Android streaming video market.

Recently they caved on allowing Android phones to stream video, and now, the most recent update for the Prime Video app includes support for Android tablets.

It’s not all roses however. Getting the service up and running still requires a multi-app strategy. The fastest way we got it running?

Install the old Amazon App Store APK manually.
Sign in to your Amazon account through the Amazon App Store App.
Use the Amazon App Store to Install the “Prime Instant Video” app.
Open your tablet’s browser (I use Chrome), and log into your Amazon account through that browser.
Navigate to a video you’d like to play, and press “Watch Now”. You should get an option to “Open with Instant Video”. Use that.

Congratulations, you’ve set up Prime Instant Video on your Android tablet! From here on out, you should be able to continue using the service by using your browser to search for videos to watch.

I don’t see Amazon Prime Video unseating Netflix, Google Play, and Hulu on Android devices any time soon…

March 13, 2014

The Sky Is Falling! Amazon to raise price of Prime by 20 WHOLE Dollars!

It’s been nine years folks. Nine years since Amazon launched their Prime service, which started as a membership offering reduced prices on shipping, and has expanded to include streaming video and the Kindle Lending Library for ebooks.

It’s been around for almost a decade with nary a market correction or twitch despite increasing fuel costs, and a number of legal battles over things like state sales taxes. Good old Amazon Prime, always $79.

Now new members and people renewing after April 17th will see that price jump. Amazon Prime will now cost $99 a year and Amazon Student Prime will rise to $49. Amazon Fresh will remain unchanged at $299.

Of course this price increase is arriving with the requisite “loyal customer” echo chamber of whinging and gnashing of teeth. Continue reading “The Sky Is Falling! Amazon to raise price of Prime by 20 WHOLE Dollars!”