Amazon Prime packs new perks, discount membership

Amazon is bestowing more perks to prime subscribers, and a few to non primers. I'm Bridget Carey, and this is your CNet update. [MUSIC] Video game connoisseurs should be pleased about Amazon's newest Prime perk. Physical copies of new release video games are discounted by 20% for Prime members, which could save you about 12 bucks, and it gets you free two day shipping. The folks at Best Buy can't be happy, because the retailer also cuts 20% off the price of its new releases. The prime membership normally costs $100 a year. And with it, you get free two day shipping, along with access to a library of e-books and music to stream. And there is Prime Instant Video, which is Amazon's version of Netflix. But if you do not have Amazon Prime, and you're considering signing up, now is a good time to buy in the US. Because a year subscription is on sale for $73 starting Friday. Why $73? Well, it's to celebrate the 73rd annual Golden Globes. Because the Amazon Prime video exclusive show of Mozart in the Jungle just won two Golden Globes, one for best comedy series. The s Last until Sunday night. It's only for new members. But maybe you can get around that by purchasing a gift subscription and then emailing it to yourself. And over the weekend, you can also stream the series Mozart in the Jungle for free until midnight on Sunday. Even if you do not have prime, the comedy drama is about a guy trying to make it in the classical music scene in New York. And it's also available in 4kHDR if you have something that can show 4k ultra HD. research group Coen surveyed 2500 U.S. shoppers And reported that about 38% of U.S. households could be subscribers of Prime, but that's not the only Amazon buzz this week. The Amazon echo could be losing the power cord and become portable. That's according to a report from the Wall Street Journal citing anonymous sources. The next version of the Echo could be smaller, portable and cheaper. The current echo is a $180 speaker with an Internet connected assistant named Alexa that's trapped inside. And it's similar to Apple's Siri. And it can answer questions, take orders and play music. That's it for this tech news update. And you can catch up on all the latest news at cnet.com. From our studios in New York, I'm Bridget Carey. [MUSIC]