Amazon continues to disrupt the online marketplace by adding more perks to its Prime Service. Priced at $99/year, Prime members already receive free two day shipping and free access to movies, music and Kindle books. Its latest addition, free unlimited photo storage, is another perk that makes the online shopping giant even more attractive to online shoppers.
“This time of year in particular, families are capturing thousands of photos of holiday parties, family gatherings and opening presents,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President Amazon Prime. “With free unlimited photo storage, we’re providing one more reason for members to use Prime every day. Prime has always allowed members to conveniently save time and save money, and now with Prime Photos they can save memories too.”
Is it Safe?
With recent photo hacking scandals involving other online photo services (including iCloud and photo sharing services, SnapChat), this release couldn’t have come at a better time for consumers looking for another option. The phrase “Safe, Secure, and Backed Up” was used in branding of Amazon’s new cloud service, a comfort to those worried about the security of other cloud services on the market. Whether Amazon will succeed where so many have failed remains to be seen, however, Amazon is already trusted online re-seller with very strict (“world-class” in their words) security practices that will likely be used to keep careful watch over users private photos. They even promise to keep your photos safe if your phone, tablet or computer is lost or damaged.
Multi-Device Compatible with an Intuitive, Smart Layout
Amazon Cloud Drive will be compatible with any device including Android, iOS, Fire phone (Amazon’s smartphone) and tablet as well as Windows and Mac. Along with being able to view your photos on any of these devices, you can also view them on your TV if you have Amazon’s Fire TV stick. The free mobile app features a timeline layout that makes it simple to locate photos you’re looking for and makes for a fun way to look back at your life in photos. Automatic backup makes sure that photos you take are added to the cloud, even if something happens to your phone or tablet.
Amazon vs the Competition
There are several other services that offer something similar to what Amazon recently introduced. Apple’s iCloud is costly ($20 a month for 1 TB of storage) and amid recent security breaches, may not be as secure as its users want. Google Drive has a photo service but photos are more difficult to view and count toward your drive space. Facebook allows you to upload an unlimited number of photos but it can be slow to upload photos and not all photos you want on a social media platform (even if the setting is private). Trunx, a free app, offers unlimited photo storage for free if you sign up by the end of 2014. Rumor has it that they will be introducing a pricing plan for users that sign up in 2015 but for now, it’s a great free way to free up space on your phone.
Is this new offer something that will make you consider signing up for Amazon Prime? If you’re a member, are you going to be taking advantage of this free photo storage?
