Gadgetory

amazon is stepping up its battle with netflix with new subscription plans but the math doesn't always add up I'm Bridget Carey this is you're seen that update amazon is now selling its prime memberships in new monthly packages but it's not gonna save you any money in the long run let's start by breaking down the prices you can still get the standard one year of prime for $100 and it comes with all the perks but if you don't want to commit to a full year there's a monthly plan for about $11 a month and if you just want video streaming you can now buy that separately for $9 a month but over the course of a year both of these are more expensive than just getting the normal full year of prime for $100 it only makes sense to get these other options if you just want a few months of access but here's what makes the options interesting that video only choice for $9 a month is a dollar cheaper then Netflix is standard service Amazon is taking the battle against Netflix pretty seriously as it also invests in more original shows Amazon's also making updates to the Amazon echo smart speaker it continuously adds new support for different apps such as letting you give it voice commands to control different smart home appliances or control music on Spotify or even book an uber car but now the speaker can answer questions a parent may have about their child's health like what they should do if there's a fever how much medication is safe to give the echo also works with the home advisor app so you can talk to the speaker to hire a plumber or another handyman service and just a few quick updates to mention before we wrap Microsoft Skype video calls now work without needing to download any plug-in that is if you're using the Microsoft edge browser folks on Chrome Safari Firefox and old internet explorer so you download a plug-in to do a chat over the website and LinkedIn just launched a new app for college students it's simply called LinkedIn students it helps connect students with alumni and resources to help in the job search it even shows you what other graduates at your school are doing with their degrees now so things are looking depressing you could still change course before it's too late that's all for this tech news roundup and you can head to cnet.com for the latest from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey