Amazon announced Tuesday it is offering unlimited photo storage (called Prime Photos) to its Prime members. The service comes with the $99 per-year membership to Amazon Prime, reports CNET, and is similar to other popular cloud storage services like Dropbox, Microsoft's OneDrive, and Google Drive.
Despite the name, however, Amazon's Prime Photos service allows members to store not only photos, but also other digital content such as music, videos, and documents. These files can then be accessed by users through the internet or via a number of supported devices, such as Apple's iPhone and iPad, as well as those running Google's Android operating system.
"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 of Amazon Prime in the official press release.
"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," Greeley added.
Those who have already signed up for Amazon's Cloud Drive service are already enjoying 5 gigabytes of free storage, regardless of whether they are Prime members or not. Moreover, this offer of unlimited storage "seems to play into Bezos' strategy of being willing to lose money on products and services to attract more customers and tie them into the Prime system," according to CNET's Donna Tam.
Aside from working with iOS and Android devices, the Prime Photos service can also be accessed through a downloadable program or via the Amazon Cloud Drive itself, writes CNN's Jose Pagliery. Mac users in the meantime will have to access the service through a web browser.
Amazon Cloud Drive is relatively cheaper compared to its main competitors. Google charges users $120 per year for unlimited storage space, while Apple charges $240 for one terabyte of space, and Microsoft's asking price is $84 for the same amount of space.
Pagliery offers consumers a warning, though:
"If the idea of storing your personal photos in the cloud sends shivers down your spine, be forewarned: Amazon doesn't offer two-factor authentication to secure your photos. ICloud, Google, Microsoft and Dropbox all do."
