Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.K. have finally been given access to the Prime Reading benefit that was introduced to the U.S. version of the service last year. Prime Reading offers a rotating selection of books and magazines for no added fee over the cost of a subscription.
This added incentive shouldn’t be confused with Kindle Unlimited, which is a separate subscription service offered by Amazon that grants unlimited access to a broad range of books, magazines, and audiobooks. Kindle Unlimited certainly boasts a more comprehensive selection, but Prime Reading is no slouch considering it’s a free bonus.
Prime Reading launched in the U.S. in October 2016, so it has taken a little while for the incentive to make its way across the pond. This isn’t particularly uncommon — despite Prime Video having been available in some form stateside since 2006, it wasn’t available in the U.K. until 2014.
However, Amazon should be praised for localizing the content with care, as the reading material available to customers in the U.K. is quite different from the selection available in the U.S.. This is particularly true of the list of magazines that are on offer, which includes the likes of Chat, Red, and BBC Gardeners’ World, according to a report from Engadget.
The fact that Prime Reading offers a selection of content that lends itself to the Kindle line of devices certainly plays into the wider Amazon ecosystem, but the incentive isn’t only available to users of the company’s proprietary eReaders and tablets. The Kindle app can be used to access the library across a wide range of devices.
Prime is a hugely important part of Amazon’s business model, so it makes a lot of sense for the company to continue to bolster the subscription service in all its key markets. Customer retention is key for a business like Amazon, and appealing Prime incentives such as this one help ensure that shoppers keep coming back.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.