Fully Charged: Prime Instant Video apps add offline play, and contactless payment limit raised

Prime Instant Video gets offline downloads

Amazon’s Prime Instant Video offerings – available to Prime subscribers – may pale in comparison to those of Netflix, but Amazon just took a huge step forward: it now allows iOS and Android app users to download videos and save them for offline viewing.

While previously possible on Amazon’s own tablets, this means that many, many more subscribers can load up their devices and watch movies and TV shows without the need for an Internet connection. TechCrunch says that while the entire library isn’t available for offline viewing – due to limitations of deals with content makers – many top TV series and movies can be snagged for later viewing.

[Source: TechCrunch]

Contactless payment limit raised

Users of Apple Pay and other contactless payment services in the UK have been impeded by a £20-per-transaction limit, but now that figure has been raised to £30. The update went out to terminals yesterday, but it still could be a few weeks before every store is up and running with the new limit.

Granted, that still means you won’t be able to make any terribly large purchases using your phone or watch, but at least you’re less likely to bump up to the limit after having a few pints or grabbing a small basket of groceries. The UK Cards Association says that contactless payments have surged: UK spending nearly doubled from £287 million in January to £567 million in June – and that’s before Apple Pay even launched here.

[Source: UK Cards Association]

Tesla Model X orders begin

Finally. It’s been a long, delay-filled odyssey, but the first Tesla Model X orders should be rolling off the assembly line this month, as promised. In fact, Tesla has opened up its configurator tool for existing orders, letting customers tweak their electric crossovers before they hit the streets.

For those of us who aren’t buying a Model X, this detail might be a sobering reminder that we probably won’t be anytime soon: the initial Signature Series model starts at US$132,000 (over £86,000) before tax credits, and that doesn’t even include the optional US$10,000 (about £6,500) Ludicrous Speed upgrade. You’ll need ludicrous bank to afford this ride, but if you already placed an order, we suspect that won’t be a problem.

[Source: The Verge]

Behind Google’s new logo

Surely you’ve seen Google’s new logo by now, and if so, you probably have an opinion about it (like the rest of the Internet). But have you read about its creation, and seen some of the other options? Google’s design blog has a deep dive into its genesis, and if you love nerding out about typography and fonts, you’ll want to read through it.

[Source: Google Design]