Amazon To Launch New Streaming Video Service

The New York Times reports that Amazon has begun a limited testing of its new Video on Demand service, which will replace its Unbox store. The significant difference between the two is that the new service will stream movies through your browser rather than requiring you to download them and use Amazon's video player. Users will also retain access to movies and shows they're previously purchased. The service is not expected to be particularly profitable; Amazon is most likely looking to the future.

so much better

I've used it and it is so much better than the old version. There is no buggy client to install and it works on Windows or Mac. When you view a detail page, the video starts playing automatically, which is a little annoying, but it is nice to get a preview of the show you are considering watching. If you decided to buy it, just click purchase in the viewer and the video extends seamlessly, it doesn't pause at all.

The new video library is way better than the old client. All the videos show up in a tiled view. You click the show you want and it flips around to reveal the options. Click play and the show starts in the current window, and is very fast to start.

The video quality seems to be lower than the download versions of the same shows. While the downloaded movies were approximately DVD quality, I can really see the artifacts in the streaming version.

Re:so much better

"Windows or Mac..."

Country *and Western

International Market?

Is this service going to open to the world market? Or just the US? There's a huge disconnect with the purported ideology of business, that is, globalisation and the free-market, not to mention the WORLD wide web, but pretty much every service (like iTunes and Steam) charge one price for Americans and another price for everyone else. This is noticeable here in Australia. Our dollar is almost at parity with the US dollar, so it's obviously to our benefit to purchase things from the US or from companies based in the US. But tracks on iTunes cost literally twice as much and we're forced to buy games from the "Australian Steam brochure" which are again, up to twice as much.

So while I see this as a good move, I hope Amazon will buck the current trend, and as a company that's based purely in the online realm, will understand that arbitrarily forcing different prices because they come from different countries is stupid when we're talking about the WORLD wide web.

Re:

The content cartels have had region-coding to game the international economy for more than a decade. No way they're going to give that up just because it's on the web.

I would venture a guess that some of that region-based pricing might be built in to contracts with the content people.

Unbox on Tivo?

Hmmm, the article doesn't mention the impact this will have on Tivo users who use Amazon Unbox. I quickly perused the Tivo Community Forums [tivocommunity.com] and saw no mention or concern there. I wonder if Unbox be grandfathered in until a solution is ready for Tivo?

Re:

There is this big trend lately, it seems, of networks and content providers letting you view content online-- as if it were some great answer to reaching us the people.

I am starting to seriously wonder if I am the in the minority of people who want to watch TV.. ON MY TELEVISION.

It's a shocking thought.

I want to watch a TV show ON MY TV.

I am a TiVO subscriber because I want to watch those shows according to my schedule, my time, my situation.

I have an Apple TV box so I can watch shows that appear on Apple T

Re:

Good points. As a Tivo and Netflix subscriber I'm a very seldom use Unbox or Netflix streaming. I've really only used both so far out of curiosity. I also very much fit your model of someone who would rather watch shows on my TV on my own schedule.

In reality, streaming movies on demand from Amazon or Netflix isn't much different from streaming from a hard disk in Tivo, but there is definitely a compromise in image quality due to more limited bandwidth when streaming remotely.

Another negative aspect of st

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

One of these days, those big evil media companies will figure out that embracing the Internet and technology will actually improve their business. This is one tiny step in that direction. Kudos to Amazon.

Xbox360 support?

But can I watch them on my Xbox 360?

Mmm hm, that's what I thought.

Thankfully my Netflix subscription will give me that at no extra cost.

Re:

with one of the unlimited plans $8.99 and up) and Xbox Live Gold, you will have access to 10,000 Netflix movies. However, I'm not sure if you can use the same account with the 360 and with Roku. If so, count me in! I have a 360 with Xbox Live Gold, and I think this new partnership with Netflix is what I was looking for.

Aside from all the above (me, me, me, me...), I don't see where Amazon will so much as put a dent in Roku, Netflix, or Hulu. Although they corner the market in some areas, I think they

Re:

it will work on your tivo

Re:

But can I watch the pile of h.264 matroska files I have on my xbox 360?

Mmm hm, that's what I thought.

The xbox 360's "media capabilities" would be laughable if they weren't an utter insult to anyone who has used xbmc on the original xbox.

Re:

They haven't stated, but I do not believe you will need to have a Gold subscription. I downloaded plenty of content and watched videos off of Xbox Live with only the Silver (Free) account.

Re:

They haven't stated if it will require Gold or not. Silver let me do pretty much everything except play games against other players.

Hopefully this is just the beginning...

When I bought my first Linux-preinstalled laptop last year, I felt like I was really discovering how great computing can be again, especially for people who are interested in computers. So it saddened me to find that the Netflix in-browser service requires a Windows machine. I still use it on occasion with an older computer, but I hope that this technology will soon be truly cross-platform like many other modern web services have become.

We bought the Netflix Roku player and have been very happy with it; we've got 135 films in our instant queue and we're glad we don't have to watch normal college-freshman-level TV (i.e. crass humor, actually aimed at 12-year olds) or hang out at our local seedy video store with the nasty carpet smell for the same old catalog.

Also, occasionally I'll blurt out something terribly nerdy about how the Roku player runs Linux and my wife will totally ignore it. This always helps bring me back down to earth for a moment.

Re:

That's funny, I'm a linux user with netflix as well and was all set to suggest the Roku before I saw you plug it. That little box has been surprisingly useful for the price.

How about this...

How about a service that creates mashups between Xbox games and streaming movies? Like Seven / Manhunt (track down and kill those committing the seven deadly sins), or GTA IV / Bullit (chase down Steve McQueen and carjack his Mustang), or even Madden 2008 / The Longest Yard (Madden: "BOOM! I think he broke his freaking neck!").

Now THERE is a service I'd be willing to pay for.

Incorrect grammar.

" Users will also retain access to movies and shows they're previously purchased. " This is incorrect. It should be 'access to movies and shows they've/they have purchased'.

Re:

*Shakes head*. How did Soulskill make such a n00bish kdawson error.

What they need to improve? Stop discrimination

Can anyone tell the reason why a person can buy DVD from a foreign country but not allowed to stream it?

I wonder instead of MPAA/RIAA conspiracy, there is a UPS/DHL conspiracy around? You know, they sell DVD for $20 but the shipping costs $30?

In 2008's Internet, with advance of trusted technologies like Bittorrent (check the .com), it feels like... "no coloured people" or something. Apologies to say it. Needless to remind that even P2P based paid services like Vuze, Bittorrent discriminates too. They will

Re:

I know the above post sounds trollish, but it's correct.

If I purchase something, I expect to be able to run it where and when I like.

By only including windows and mac, they are breaking no new ground here.

Re:

Chances are that something like DownloadHelper for Firefox will end up being able to capture the streamed content.

Re:

Given that they could well be writing a brand new, proprietary plugin (rather than simply relying on Flash), we don't know it will be cracked quickly.

It will be cracked, of course. But it's not really a step in the right direction, other than that if I can make it work well with Linux and mplayer/VLC, I'll be able to pay for more. But that's a big if.

Re:

Never mind that. Glanced down, and another comment appears to be claiming that it's "seamless", which suggests Flash.

Still not a guarantee, though; I tried to watch Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog [drhorrible.com] in FLV form, and it either skipped and popped or played way too fast. We'll see, I suppose.

Re:

Oh, so you're the one who's still on dialup! ;-)