Amazon.co.uk has announced that starting today, free shipping will be available for delivery to customers in 17 European nations, as long as they spend over GBP 25 on their order.
Until last year, the UK was the only nation to receive free delivery, with Ireland joining in October 2009.
As of today, the service is extended to Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg and San Marino.
“Free delivery has been an important part of the great value Amazon shopping experience for many years and we are delighted to announce its availability to even more European customers in time for Christmas,” added Brian McBride, Managing Director of Amazon.co.uk. “The aim is for European customers to be able to purchase anything they want to buy online at a low price from a vast selection of products. Now, tens of millions of customers in Europe can also benefit from delivery to their door, absolutely free of charge.”
Amazon UK has recently expanded its selection, adding electronics, home and garden, baby, watches, clothing, shoes, sports and leisure, health and beauty and tools sections.
Result for: italy
Following a lengthy investigation into copyright infringement, a Milan judge has this week ordered the operators of a few unauthorized music download sites to forfeit $2.4 million euros.
The sites were each accused of offering unlicensed music for download, either for free or for prices much cheaper than iTunes or Amazon MP3.
The investigation was headed by the Italian Fiscal Police, and began in 2003. 54 suspects were arrested in Italy, but all went free after the “case was dropped as a result of the expiry of the relevant limitation period.”
Despite that technical difficulty, the Judge for Preliminary Investigations said it had been proven that the offenses had indeed been committed and the money, which had been frozen anyways, was seized.
Result for: italy
Sony has said that it will be bringing the music and video download service VidZone to European PlayStation 3 consoles this summer, allowing users to watch music videos at their leisure, for free.
VidZone currently runs the service from their own independent website, and is has deals with Sony BMG, EMI and over four thousand independent labels. The service on the PS3 will be ad-supported and will allow gamers to stream over 25,000 music videos and “behind-the-scenes commentaries.”
“VidZone is not just about giving music fans access to thousands of music videos, but offering a completely interactive and personalised music experience,” added VidZone CTO Michael Russo.
The VidZone application will be made available through the PS3’s Xross Media Bar (XMB) with a later firmware update and will allow users to create playlists, save a video library, or select any individual video from the catalog.
“Music has always been popular on PS3 and now VidZone is set to transform the way we view music videos by letting you completely tailor your experience and is just one more reason for PS3 to be the most valued player in your living room,” concluded Isabelle Tomatis, hardware and platforms marketing manager at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
The app will be available in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, German, Spain and Australia.
