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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.
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.
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 are getting into this game a little late to make much difference.
" 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'.
Next time try the search function.
There is a thread about exactly that topic http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=399594
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/ where a TiVo VP of Product Marketing is reported to have said that Amazon Unbox will announce HD capabilities "in the not too distant future". Personally I don't find the quotes supplied in that article very convincing (they're awfully indirect and incomplete) as they feel like they may have been strung together to imply a context that wasn't present but it is a tantalizing prospect.