Team-BHP - Amazon Prime Video in India!

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 4287591)

For a person who doesn't watch movies. and is not much into new music (other than a lot of what is already collected), and normally doesn't do impulsive shopping, -- Is Amazon Prime of much help ? I do sometimes search for older melodious hindi songs, but that's about it with music.

Have you tried apps like saavn/gaana, if it is just about music? I have a gaana subscription and I am pretty satisfied with it.

No affiliations with any of the above mentioned apps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 4287609)

Thanks, Engine_Roars, but the question is about Amazon Prime ? Will it be of any use to some one like me ?

Amazon Prime :

Is good if you watch streaming movies or series
Is good if you intend to buy items during a festival sales (early access to deals)
Currently doesn't have the amazon prime music (will come in future).
Have some special deals with respect to Amazon devices (Latest example is Amazon Echo devices)
Is way cheaper with 500rs per year, when compared to other services.

Hope its clear.:)

At ₹500 I am not sure there is anything I can ask more from Amazon.
1. Prime video hosts some amazing content. I am watching brilliant TV shows which I didn't know exist in FHD without paying for any extra channel subscription.
2. Free unlimited fast one day delivery for 1 year.
3. I can place orders below ₹500 and still get free fast delivery.
4. How else could I consume 180GB data Airtel offers me at 16mbps. Still Amazon Prime video somehow offers FHD content on a diet.
5. I have an Android smart TV box that has features like HDR and also the H.265 HEVC codec. Amazon prime video content at FHD looks brilliant on my TV, I don't like watching the regular TV anymore. The picture quality is so good that it just leaves people jealous.

Here is a twister:

I was a member of Amazon Prime from October last year till yesterday. I ordered Amazon Echo which comes with a complimentary one year membership of Amazon Prime, on October 6th this year. I figured that my Amazon Prime membership would continue, uninterrupted and that i would not need to renew my Prime membership by paying-since i ordered the Echo.

The twist is that Amazon says that the Prime membership would only get activated on activation of the Echo, after delivery. I figure that since the price i have paid for the Echo includes the membership of Prime, they should activate the membership immediately since i would not want to be out-of-status from 15th Oct till 6 Nov (6th Nov is when they would deliver the Echo). My payment for the Echo (which includes the Prime membership) is already in Amazon's account.

The relevant issues that matter is the Amazon is unable to deliver before 6th November and that money for the membership has already been collected on 6th October.

While Amazon's policy may be acceptable as far as a completely new membership is concerned, existing customers may have to be treated differently.

Do i have a case?

Quote:

Originally Posted by earthian (Post 4287805)

They would be renewing subscription for already existing prime customers. So if you go ahead and pay for prime membership now, it would be renewed automatically next year when current subscription expires. I think it's fair.

Quote:

Originally Posted by earthian (Post 4287805)

Do i have a case?

Not really, what if you enjoy the Prime services for an entire month(between your order and delivery date) and cancel your order before delivery? They will have to refund entire amount to you, and you end up enjoying a free month of Prime lol:

Has anyone got their hands on the Echo yet?

I put in a request the day it was on the website, received the invitation the next day (think this was first week of Oct) but when I went to place an order saw that it would be available around Oct 30th.

Decided to wait and check out the reviews and hence did not go through with it.

So, I received my Echo device today after pre-ordering it almost a month ago. These are my initial impressions after using it for a couple of hours. I got the regular Echo, not the Dot or Plus.

Firstly, setup was pretty easy. Just connected it to a power source and logged in to the Wi-fi network and my Amazon account. It looks pretty understated and doesn't feel like a regular speaker. I purchased the Black one, maybe the grey version may have looked cooler.

Voice control is very good for short phrases like playing music, getting news and weather updates. There may sometimes be an issue in understanding long phrases like asking for a mathematical equation. It understands the Indian accent really well and you don't have to speak like a robot to help it understand what you're saying, neither do you have to speak loudly.

Music quality is really good for it's size and I feel it rivals some of the bluetooth speakers that are available in the same price range/size. I am still trying to figure out how to properly control my Fire Stick with the Echo and also, trying some other commands through IFTTT app.

I don't have any smart home devices like Phillips Hue lights or smart plugs in my house so, I can't pass judgement on that operation.

Overall, I feel it is a worthy purchase where the device fulfils the need for a speaker as well as a AI control. It has made me consider upgrading my lights and plugs to take advantage of the whole smart home ecosystem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sahil (Post 4298920)

Great news! I can finally stop paying for Apple Music every month :Frustrati

When is the launch date, is it similar to apple music app?

Everyone has their own offerings.
Amazon Prime Music is free with Prime , but has a limited music collection of some 2million songs I think.
Amazon also has Amazon Music Unlimited (not rolled in India yet) where you are supposed to have access to any song.

Google Play music is Rs 99/- per month in India
Pretty much any English song is available (did not check regional though)
Their free offering lets you load your own music on the cloud too ( upto 50,000 songs)

Overall the Google Play music available collection is supposed to be somewhere around 10x times that of Amazons
(I read this earlier somewhere, but cant find the link now)

Earlier the logic was , why should I upload my own music and waste bandwidth playing it ? but now that is no longer applicable with the existing data plans available.