Amazon took a leap ahead of its competitors today by offering downloads to its subscribers for offline playback on their iOS or Android devices. The new app is available for upgrade on both platforms for Amazon members in the US, the UK, Germany and Austria. This business decision certainly set them apart from their biggest rival yet. Netflix, last year, stated that they will NEVER add an offline playback to their services.

Whether it's a problem with licensing agreements or mainly Netflix's business model that revolves around video streaming, it's clear that Amazon made a huge innovation to the industry. The downloadable content available extends to more than just movies and TV episodes. Members will also have access to Amazon's award-winning original series. It's hard to believe that all of this comes with no additional charges if you're already a member.

So what does offline access mean to Amazon subscribers? This new feature means you can access the dowloaded content, be it a movie, series or TV show even if you don't have internet. Previously, streaming services will require you to be connected to the internet whether you're watching content for the first time or revisiting a beloved title. This comes in handy when you're travelling or going to places where internet connection is scarce to none.

The Amazon Prime service is also accesible via a free trial on the company's website. After a 30-day free trial, the service will charged at $99.00 per year and you can cancel any time. Of course, the service is not limited to just watchable content, you will also have access to Amazon's unlimited music streaming where you can custom build your own playlist. Amazon also has an extensive collection of ebooks that you can borrow with no due date. At this point, Amazon is shoulders above Netflix and it would be interesting to see how the competition will react to this new stream of revenue.