Follow him live on our Facebook app.
Knocking Down Apple’s Walled Garden: HTML5 vs. iOS Apps | ReadWriteWeb
Today Amazon launched an HTML5 browser version of its market leading eReader application, Kindle. Called Kindle Cloud Reader, it’s a direct response to the 30% cut of sales that Apple now takes from in-app purchases and subscriptions via iOS apps. The 30% Apple toll hits businesses like Amazon hard, because the margins on book sales are slim enough as it is.
The HTML5 Kindle site appears to be optimized for the iPad. It’s accessed from the Safari browser in the iPad, so it routes around Apple’s App Store. That means Amazon doesn’t need to give Apple 30% of an eBook sale. Because the HTML5 site is very close to the functionality of the iPad Kindle app, this is going to have huge ramifications for Apple. Yes, Apple’s walled garden has just been structurally weakened. I’d go as far as to say that it’s a matter of months, not years, before Amazon pulls its iOS Kindle app from the App Store.
Amazon Prime Members Now Have Unlimited Access To Boatloads of On-Demand Video
Whoa now, Amazon. I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but as someone who uses Amazon fairly frequently, it’s almost as if you’re trying to entice me into becoming an Amazon Prime member. Not only do you get free two-day shipping and cheap overnight shipping once you join Amazon Prime, but now, if you take a look at the screenshot 3 inches above this text, you’ll see that members get access to 5,000 streaming TV shows and movies. Not too shabby for $79 a year. Well played, Amazon, well played.
5,000 titles isn’t exactly the largest selection ever, especially with players like Netflix around, but I’m sure that number will grow over time.
The future of TV and home movie-viewing is inching ever closer to everything being streamed, on-demand, and that sounds pretty damn good to me.
