Countries Archives

Amazon Prime Video Is Coming to Over 200 Countries Including India in December

Ever since the launch of Amazon Prime in India in July, a lot of us have been waiting eagerly for the launch of Amazon Prime Video. Unfortunately, Amazon has only said that Prime Video is “coming soon”. Now, the company has finally given a timeframe for the launch of Prime Video in India, though it stopped short of giving an exact date.

In a tweet by The Grand Tour team, which was shared by the verified Amazon Prime Video India account, the former Top Gear stars revealed that Amazon Prime Video isn’t just rolling out in India, but will soon be available in over 200 countries.

This is somewhat reminiscent of the launch of Netflix in January, when it announced its entry into India and 129 other countries. It would seem that Amazon also decided that rather than spreading its service piecemeal through the world, it makes more sense to launch everything at once. You can see the full announcement video here:

Amazon Prime subscriptions are still available at Rs. 499 per year, or under Rs. 50 per month. With this, you get free shipping and special deals and discounts, which is already a pretty good offer, but in the rest of the world, you also get bundled extras such as Prime Video, and Prime Reading, which gives unlimited reading from a rotating selection of Kindle e-books.

Although Amazon has not officially confirmed that Prime Video will be included in this price in India, since that happens everywhere else, you can be pretty sure India will be no different. This means you’ll get unlimited video viewing, with in-demand local content, and Amazon’s award winning original shows at monthly cost that’s less than a single cup of coffee.
Amazon Prime Video has the potential to be a really big disruptor in the Indian market. The company has made a lot of deals with Indian movie studios, and it’s in the race for the rights to air IPL matches. Unlike Netflix, which is targeting the most affluent users, Amazon’s pricing and content strategy makes it a product that could actually build a mass audience.

We have written to Amazon for confirmation for the exact date in December when Amazon Video will launch in India, and will update this story as and when we hear from them.

[Source:- gadgets.ndtv]

Wikipedia Zero Free Access Programme for Developing Countries Killed Off

Citing low awareness of Wikipedia outside the US and Europe, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) has announced it will be stopping its “Wikipedia Zero” programme that provides the service free of charge on mobile phones, in developing countries.

According to the Foundation, since 2016, it has seen a significant drop-off in adoption and interest in the programme.

“This may be due, in part, to the rapidly shifting mobile industry as well as changes in mobile data costs,” the Foundation said in a blog post.

“The ‘Wikipedia Zero’ programme will end in 2018 while new partnership opportunities will continue to address critical barriers to participation in free knowledge around the world,” it said, adding that the Foundation has stopped forming new carrier partnerships.

The Foundation provided free access to more than 800 million people, through 97 carrier partnerships in 72 countries over the course of the programme’s life.

Launched in 2012, the free-to-access programme provided zero-rated Wikipedia access to more than 800 million people in countries such as Myanmar and Nepal.

Meanwhile, the organisation said it is exploring more ways to service the developing world, including campaigns designed to raise awareness of Wikipedia’s missions in various countries.

“We will explore other ways we can leverage the findings from our research and the Wikipedia Zero programme to direct future work with partners,” it added.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

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