It’s been a long time coming and now it’s here: Amazon set its Prime Instant Video service free for Android phones. Previously, the video app was available only for Apple iOS devices and Amazon’s own Fire OS tablets and phone. There’s a bit of a catch, or hassle, however to get the software on your Android phone: You first have to install Amazon’s own Appstore app.

The strategy is a clever one by [company]Amazon[/company]. Although I don’t think it will gain much by requiring its own mobile app store on Android phones for the video service, it opens the opportunity for millions of people to experience Amazon Prime. Amazon is making the Prime service available as a free 30-day trial through this software release; that could boost Prime subscriber numbers to the tune of $99 for each new user. Sweetening the deal is 5 GB of Amazon Cloud Drive…