Amazon takes on Netflix with rebrand of LoveFilm video-on-demand service
cgk
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Amazon is hitting back at Netflix in the UK by rebranding its LoveFilm video-on-demand service.
LoveFilm, bought out by Amazon three years ago in a deal worth nearly £200m, will be folded into the online retailer's British website next week, creating a one-stop service for digital streaming, DVD rental and books.
"Consumers will be able to shop for what they want, read what they want and watch they want anywhere at any time," said Tim Leslie, vice-president of Amazon Instant Video for the UK and Germany.
LoveFilm, which offers streaming of television series such as The Walking Dead and hit films such as The Place Beyond the Pines and Wall-E, will be merged with the Amazon Prime subscription service, which gives members perks including unlimited free delivery and borrowing up to 500,000 Kindle ebooks.
Existing subscribers will get access to the new LoveFilm service, to be called Prime Instant Video, which will have the effect of enabling Amazon to leapfrog Netflix as the UK's biggest digital TV and film streaming business.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/20/amazon-lovefilm-revamp-film-tv-rental
So they are moving towards the model they have in the US...
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"Amazon Prime costs £49 annually. The new combined package will be charged at £79, about £6.58 a month, making it 35% cheaper than subscribing to each service separately."
Edit: I checked my Prime management page and it says I'll be charged £79 when I renew towards the end of the year. Well that's a bummer. I liked the next day delivery but the streaming is of no interest to me. Jeeze.
It's real and all over the amazon site.
Just looked doesn't seem to be an option to opt out. Anyways got nearly a year of prime so will have plenty of time to asses the service, there are a few TV series I'd like to watch. Here's hoping they bring out a Apple TV app, otherwise it's airplaying from iPad.
The USA only pays £47.40!
Bad news (though not happening immediately).
Using exchange rates are misleading though because its simply a financial value for converting currency. In real terms there are other factors that have to be taken into account, wages especially, which make $1 being worth £1. If you are doing a job that pays $80k in the US and then take the same job in the UK you won't find yourself making under £50k but rather around ten £80k range.
As such cost the cost to provide products and services is higher so the price to purchase these things is higher but in terms of purchase price to wages ratio its around the same.
Should also be noted US prices are without tax where as ours are with tax as we have a single tax rate but there changes depending on which state you live in
They talk about how the mail and streaming services are being split and how you will get two charges showing, one that's Lovefilm by mail and the other prime instant video but don't tell you how much each one will cost. It does state that if you pay for prime and Lovefilm by mail it will be less than you currently pay for both services but that could mean by 1p. I wouldn't be surprised if they reduce the mail service by less than £3 making that part of the service actually more expensive
Amazons Instant prime in the US is generally much better than Lovefilms so it may be the case that the switch does allow them to offer a better streaming quality because they can just use their US video framework rather than using Lovefilms custom one.
Should also hopefully see the streaming come to more devices as they should be able to use the streaming apps they use for the American service over here too in the same way Netflix can use a single app for both countries
The Lovefilm help section states the Rent by mail is staying as a separate service supposedly at a reduced price but they don't state what this reduced price is.
As for prime certainly worth signing up now to save £30 for the year. Also if anyone gets prime and their amazon purchase don't show up next day when they should be its worth complaining everytime even if its only a day late (thus still quicker than normal amazon delivery) because their usual response is to say sorry and extend your prime membership so the £49 can be even better value.
Since getting Prime last October I've had four late deliveries, two by four days. I've only had my membership extended by two months and been told that that is the max. they can extend a membership by.
I wasn't going to continue with Prime come renewal time and certainly not for £79 just for the sake of having Prime Video added - I've already tried out LoveFilm Instant a couple of times and the selection and HD quality have not impressed.
Another problem with Lovfilm is that they still don't have a client for Android. I know they want to encourage people to buy a Kindle Fire but there are still a lot of potential viewers with other Android devices.
I can see where you are going with this and yes I agree to a certain extent, but it is still a sharp increase for more or less the same service if you only use it for the original intention
They are only doing this to get people to use their video service, which I think have been knocked down by Netflix.
If you got family members or if there is anyone else in the residence that uses Amazon.
My friend only got her daughter living there and she don't use Amazon that often.
My friend told me that she may take the offer this year, but next year she will drop Amazon. It will give her time to look elsewhere.
But not that much of a increase. Amazon should give people a choice, either Prime by itself or prime with extras.
It is not as if their streaming is that good anyway, I only tried it once as a trial and thought it was pretty naff to be honest.
I don't buy enough from Amazon to bother with prime, but I do use lovefilm, only two disks a month, i have been meaning to cancel for a while to be honest, I use netflix for streaming. for a while now Lovefilm have bugged me about linking my amazon and lovefilm account, I will not do that.
I doubt it has anything to do with pushing the Kindle fire as they are perfectly happy supplying apps for the iPad and iPhone.
Its more to do with Android as a platform being a pain in the neck to develop for due to the sheer number of devices. This is especially the case when its an app the delivers other people's copyrighted material. You will notice how netflix didn't launch on all Android devices at once and there are still some that won't run it. Sky also rolled out their apps for Android after iOS and did so staggered by devices and iPlayer updates usually come to iOS first and then rolls out in batches to andoid.
The increase in reality isn't that high tbh when you think about it. Anyone who does a reasonable amount of Amazon shopping will even at £79 be quids in unless they only buy things in batches to get meet the super saver threshold. Even then the benefit of getting the item next day is a major benefit rather than 3-5 on super saver. Most retailers charge at least £5 for next day after all.
Certainly if you don't have prime you are paying between £2 and £6 an order for First class so if you order at most just 4 of the cheapest to post items a month you have covered the cost.
Also as prime is marketed as something you share with your family members you can pay! add them and get them to contribute towards the costs while getting the same benefits
Also it may be more than an increase due to the streaming being added as Amazon did hint they would be rising the price of a prime in the US.