Overnight Recap: Amazon Cloud Drive, h.h.gregg iPad Deals, Office 365 Personal

The Apple Online Store went down in many parts of the world overnight, and eager shoppers were discouraged to find nothing new when the lights came back on. That is, unless they happened to be in the market for one of those affordable 8GB iPhone 5c handsets, which have now shown up in 14 more countries — but the USA is sadly not one of them, so you'll have to be satisfied with our morning recap instead...

Amazon Cloud Drive 3.0 Released, Kindle Storage Consolidates

Now that Amazon's Fire TV is on the market, the company's Cloud Drive Photos app makes a whole lot more sense — and it finally got updated this week with a complete redesign that falls nicely in line with the look and feel of iOS 7. The photo and video app now features easier navigation and sorting, with better status updates for automatic or manual uploads. If you also happen to own a Kindle, Amazon has another treat for you: According to iMore (and confirmed with the screenshot above from our own account), the e-tailer is consolidating the 5GB of free cloud storage used for Kindle Personal Documents with that offered by Cloud Drive, which winds up as 10GB for all usage. Send-to-Kindle documents now appear in a dedicated Cloud Drive folder and are finally stored in their native format, but you will need to currently own or have previously owned Kindle hardware to take advantage of the storage bump.

h.h.gregg Slashes Prices on iPads with Free Shipping

Speaking of tablets, the folks at retailer h.h.gregg reached out to us earlier this week to give readers a heads-up on special pricing for select iPad models for a limited time only. Among the deals are non-Retina iPad minis for $299.99, and another $100 bumps you up to the latest and greatest Retina Display model. Prices include free shipping or in-store pickup, and h.h.gregg store card holders can save an additional five percent on products priced over $497, with up to 24 months to pay the bill.

BGR Claims to Have First Peek at Amazon Smartphone

BGR may have given the world its first glimpse at an Amazon-branded smartphone on Tuesday, which is rumored to use up to six cameras to provide some form of glasses-free 3D for its custom user interface. The leaked pictures don't reveal a great deal about the handset, which is encased in a security housing to prevent prying eyes from getting a close look at what it actually looks like. Rumors have persisted for years that Amazon is building their own smartphone, which will likely debut in the U.S. only at first and could arrive in more than one variety to cover every budget.

Microsoft Launches Cheaper Office 365 Personal Subscription

Too cheap to pay $99.99 for Office 365 when you don't have a family to share it with? Microsoft has heard your cries for help, and on Tuesday the Windows maker made it a little easier to subscribe with the new Office 365 Personal plan at $69.99 per year or $6.99 per month. The stripped-down package provides Office access to a single Mac or PC as well as one tablet plus 20GB of extra OneDrive storage. While it's a step in the right direction, clever shoppers can already purchase the more robust Office 365 Home subscription for around the same price if they know where to look, which is a much better value for up to five computers, five tablets and five OneDrive users. We're just sayin'...

A&E, History for iOS Add Authenticated Live Streaming

If you're paying for cable or satellite service but don't have the time to sit on the couch and stay caught up with your favorite TV shows, the folks at A&E and History have great news for you. The free, universal iOS apps can now stream live television feeds straight to an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad — but cord-cutters can forget about using it. The feature requires authentication with a paid TV service, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise, since most every kind of television app does these days.

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