Amazon To Launch New Streaming Video Service 51
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.
No Thanks (Score:1)
so if you watch in the browser, but can't download, then that means proprietary player & format. No thanks. I'll keep net flux & Rip the DVDs to Divx for my media center
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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.
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Whoever marked my post redundant must certainly agree with me.
This service is redundant.
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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.
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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.
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I agree, .avi to use how I wish. Once again Im going to stick with ThePirateBay because once more they are going to be superior to the "legit" version.
I want to beable to download the
so much better (Score:5, Informative)
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 (Score:4, Funny)
"Windows or Mac..."
Country *and Western
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I thought with TiVo it just needed to download enough so that once you start playing, it'll finish downloading before the movie is over. With the Unbox client, that only took like 5 minutes or so.
That said, this new one doesn't have that problem, it begins playing immediately; where immediately is about 10 seconds.
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International Market? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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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.
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Hence why they have a failing business model.
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Maybe I need to flip through the rule book again, but I'm pretty sure we're against globalization and multinationals around here.
Unbox on Tivo? (Score:2)
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?
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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
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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
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Most computers sold now are laptops, and a large number of laptops have composite or s-video output. Newer TVs have HDMI input and so (with an adaptor) you can plug in the laptop's DVI output.
A TV is just a screen. It has a variety of inputs, but they are converging with those found in the PC market. With things like set top boxes for digital broadcasts, satellite, and cable TV, the ability for a TV to do anything other than display a picture is going away.
Re:Unbox on Tivo? - yes and soon in HD (Score:1, Informative)
Next time try the search function.
There is a thread about exactly that topic http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=399594 [tivocommunity.com]
The short of it is (as the NYT article also explained), Unbox is "being replaced" only in the same sense that Apple's "dot Mac" service was recently "replaced" -- i.e. new services are being added while the old ones remain available but under a new brand name.
That thread has a more interesting reference tohttp://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/05/not_boxed_in_jim_denney.php/ [tvweek.com] wher
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. (Score:2, Insightful)
Xbox360 support? (Score:2)
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.
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They haven't stated if it will require Gold or not. Silver let me do pretty much everything except play games against other players.
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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.
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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
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From their help files [netflix.com]: 1-disc plans may watch on one device at a time, 2-disc plans on up to two devices at the same time, 3-disc plans on up to three devices, and plans with four or more discs on up to four devices simultaneously.
Also, you can apparently deactivate a device at any time - so, if you're on the 1-disc plan and want to use your Xbox, you'd just deactivate the Roku box. Can't confirm as this little nugget of
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it will work on your tivo
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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.
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How can you manage to hear a movie being played on a 360 over all that noise the box makes?
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Oh, I don't know, maybe because mine is quiet when it's not playing a game?
Hopefully this is just the beginning... (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
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So Netflix hates Linux (and mac) but Roku loves it?
Makes me think that what I actually want is a *Roku account.
How about this... (Score:3, Funny)
Now THERE is a service I'd be willing to pay for.
Incorrect grammar. (Score:2, Informative)
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Link anyone? (Score:1)
Is it a closed beta or does anyone have a link to the new Amazon Video On Demand service?
What they need to improve? Stop discrimination (Score:2)
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
unbox is pretty cool (Score:2)
I only rent though, I don't buy.
I guess I can live with DRM on a rental, but not on a purchase.
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As I understand it, there's no such thing as a purchase with DRM. You're actually just licensing all the stuff you buy, not buying it.
Streaming is DRM in sheep clothes (Score:1)
> The service is not expected to be particularly profitable; Amazon is most likely looking to the future.
It won't be particularly profitable because it won't be particularly successful. 'Streaming' is just a variation of DRM. Even if you 'retain ownership' of the movie, Streaming is a pain in the ass. Every time you watch it, deduct x Mb of your bandwidth, lag days, can't watch while not connected and one day they'll kill the servers just like Microsoft did with their DRM music. Take Lynda.com: a great
Video as a Service (Score:2)
So now, instead of paying to download a video that you have to play with their buggy, proprietary, could-disappear-someday player...
You pay to stream the video from their could-disappear-someday web site, with no ability to keep a local copy at all?