The Morning After: Amazon reportedly exploring free cell phone service for Prime subscribers

According to Bloomberg, Amazon is in discussions with multiple US-based phone carriers about offering cheap – around $10 a month – or even free phone service to Prime customers. The company is reportedly negotiating with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile as well as the Dish Network, though it sounds like talks with AT&T have fallen off in recent weeks.

It’ll likely be awhile before you see such an offer – if a deal is struck at all. Bloomberg says talks have been underway for about six to eight weeks. Given how expensive mobile plans can get, especially in the US, this could be a potentially interesting offer for Amazon customers.

If you’re not already hooked on a Prime subscription, with its delivery perks, video service, music service, free games and things I’ve already forgotten about, would this convince you to sign up?

– Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Apple needs to prove why its mixed reality headset matters

Hitting the Books: Why we like bigger things better

Apple WWDC 2023: What to expect, from iOS 17 to new MacBooks

Nintendo’s ‘1-2 Switch’ party game is getting a sequel

Man allegedly used a Nintendo ‘Duck Hunt’ gun to rob a convenience store

Twitter’s head of brand safety and ad quality has left the company

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

And Logic Pro, too.

The latest argument for making Apple’s iPad your go-to work machine received a boost when the company revealed its own powerful chips – and put them to work in its tablets. But to push those chips hard, you needed some tough software. Now, with versions of Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro for the iPad, we get audio and video workstations to make your iPad even more versatile. And while it comes with a subscription cost, ($5 a month or $49 a year, each), on the Mac, you’re looking at a $200 one-time purchase for Logic Pro, or $300 for Final Cut Pro. It could be a cost-effective way to get more powerful software in your hands.

Continue reading.

This appears to be the first-ever successful attempt.

Solar space power is a thing now. We recently reported that Japan’s space agency, JAXA, aims to send solar power to Earth from space by 2025. Now a team of Caltech researchers have accomplished early success in practical experiments last week. Their space-borne prototype, called the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1) collected sunlight, converted it into electricity and beamed it to microwave receivers on a rooftop at Caltech’s Pasadena campus.

Continue reading.

The Model Y, too.

Tesla has updated its website to show the rear-wheel drive Model 3, including long-range and performance options, now qualifies for the full federal tax credit for EVs. You’ll also get to enjoy the same amount of savings if you’re buying the all-wheel, long-range or performance Model Y. This means you can now get the maximum possible tax credit of $7,500 no matter which model you’re getting.

To comply with the Inflation Reduction Act, the US government issued a revised set of guidelines for which electric vehicles qualify for the federal tax credit in March. When these guidelines went into effect on April 18th, vehicles using battery components 50 percent made or assembled in the US qualified for a tax credit of $3,750, but shoppers could only get the full $7,500 credit if their manufacturer sources at least 40 percent of their critical minerals from the US or its free trade partners, which don’t include China.

Continue reading.