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Amazon Blocks Video Streaming On BlackBerry Tablet, Blames Apple
AZA43 writes "Amazon.com has blocked its Instant Video streaming service on BlackBerry PlayBook tablets, in an apparent effort to make its Kindle Fire device more attractive to tablet buyers. And it says Apple is the reason why it blocked the service. But the company hasn't blocked comparable Android tablets from streaming Instant Video, and Android tablets hold a much larger portion of the overall tablet market than PlayBooks. Amazon will likely succeed only in alienating customer with PlayBooks who have already purchased lots of streaming video content."
"Amazon will likely succeed only in alienating customer with PlayBooks who have already purchased lots of streaming video content."
Yup, that single customer is going to be really really upset about this. Good thing it doesn't affect more people.
OK, this doesn't smell right. This allegation is based upon one email from customer service, and given the context it's even quite possible that "Apple" (mentioned once in the message) was a brainfart with the customer service agent intending to write "Adobe". Lest anyone think I'm grasping at straws, the entire email makes no sense whatsoever if taken literally (as it kind of implies Apple wrote Flash!), but makes perfect sense if you read "Apple" as "Adobe".
After waiting less than a day for confirmation from Amazon the author of the article decides to go ahead and make the claim despite the somewhat dubious circumstances. I don't believe it for a second, and I think the author's an idiot.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Looking at the situation, I would say that the message about it being Apples fault is a canned response to people asking about playback on the iPad that got miss-routed as a response to this new issue with the PlayBook. I suspect that Amazon does not know why its not working on the PlayBook, or at least does not have a fix. I also would not be shocked if they did not fix it as the PlayBook seems like a dead platform from a development standpoint. Lets remember that a PlayBook native player would require dedicated development time since the whole Android apps on PlayBook thing never really panned out. Coupled with the out of date flash player, there's not a lot Amazon can do.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
No, RIM's customer has more than one, he's a big fan of the platform as it happens!
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
"Amazon will likely succeed only in alienating customer with PlayBooks who have already purchased lots of streaming video content."
Is this just an elaborate way to say "nobody will care", or is this thing more popular than I imagine? I have never even seen a PlayBook, never mind buying streaming video content for it.
Every expression is true, for a given value of 'true'
You buy ACCESS to data, and the moment the supplier doesn't like you, some obscure line in the EULA is found and used to deny the User ACCESS to the Data. But the user never actually owns the Data, in that the data is resident on machines of their possession.
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
I have one! It is an excellently designed tablet, with a nice feel in the hand, physical buttons for media and volume, cameras, a great screen.
I sincerely wish I had paid more and bought a cheap android tablet instead.
... Amazon blamed the PlayBook's Flash player for the issue, saying the Flash software needed to be update, even though my Adobe Flash software is up to date (v11.1.122.4) ...
So its Adobe not Apple?
FWIW being current and needing an update is plausible. Amazon may have learned of an exploit in Flash and will only resume streaming after the security problem is fixed. OK, plausible but not terribly likely.
... Apple owns the rights to the hardware and software that would allow Amazon video content to be played on the BlackBerry PlayBook? Yet Amazon has allowed Instant Video customers to play video content on RIM's tablet for the past year, and just now the company decided to block the functionality? Something isn't right here, and I reached out to Amazon.com's media relations team more than 24 hours ago for clarification, but I haven't received a response. The above response from Amazon customer service could simply be misinformation sent by an irresponsible customer representative ...
Then maybe a better title for your article would have been "Amazon Blocks Instant Video on BlackBerry PlayBook, Customer Service Rep Blames Apple"
Steve Jobs' revenant is NOT going to like this!
I hear both Playbook owners are absolutely livid about this.
Well to be fair the second guy has not got word to us yet, still trying to find his Blackberry so he can get an email out about his fury.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Also, from the email, it seems not to be "We won't support your Playbook because we're mean" but "We cant support it because of licensing issues."
Which makes the blog author look even more like a "I spend money at your store, how dare you not support X" over-reactionary.
I agree with you and think we should give them the benefit of the doubt. Still, the way I see it, the "blaming on Apple" part is not really the important one. What matters here is that we have hardware and software that can perform a task, and that Amazon prevents this from happening so that they can sell more of their own hardware (or so they think). Whoever they blame this on is secondary, and focusing on this secondary aspect would make you miss the important bit here: Amazon is evil for blocking its streaming service.
To be honest, the PlayBook is a non entity, I am very surprised they would block this device. It does raise a lot of concerns about the future plans they have with Android/iPad/Win8. If they pull back from any of these OS's or devices it will severely alter the relevance of their streaming media/Prime offerings. They are walking tightrope here. All that being said; why start with the PlayBook? Who is buying one of those over a Kindle Fire?
...as if 4 voices suddenly cried out in terror and then went on with their lives.
Total Playbook activations are closer to the 1M mark actually...
Dear RIM, I appreciate you. I'm sorry that so many others feel threatened to the point of acting like jerk-bags to you. 2011 was a lame year, but you're still here and your new Playbook OS will make ripples. Keep promoting and enabling quality content creation and you'll do well. Afterall, people care more about their own lives than anything else, so keep on with helping them express themselves through your products. I like Amazon just fine, but blocking you like this, that's just a tempertantrum that provides you with otherwise hidden opportinuties. Keep up the quality work. Thank you RIM.
You can quit looking guys - we found him.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
I think the user is doesn't understand the phrase "does not support" This does not mean Amazon is blocking the device. I means they don't test their service on Playbooks and don't fix bugs that occur on Playbooks. The error message is "Playback Error: Sorry we were unable to stream the video. This is likely because your Flash Player needs to be updated." That doesn't look like the message they would return if they were blocking the device.
I had the Nook Color (running CM7) and overclocked (1.2 Ghz) but it still felt laggy. I gave that away over Christmas so I need a new cheapie tablet that doesn't lag. The Playbook felt fine when I was testing it, but without a lot of apps it would just be used as a web tablet.
Does Not Support means they don't fix bugs for a given device. If they have an App on the PlayBook app store then they should still be supporting the device. If they don't then its fine that they are not. Its up to RIM to fix bugs in its Flash Player and web browser.
Well there's a difference between being compatible and outright blocking.
"Amazon will likely succeed only in alienating customer with PlayBooks who have already purchased lots of streaming video content."
Isn't that a bit dramatic?? I mean look at this, "RIM sold into the channels approximately 150,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets in the third quarter...".
Ok, that is Q3, and you can go back to April 2011, but still, just how many are there really who a) bought a PlayBook, and b) "have already purchased lots of streaming video content" ??
I venture to think Amazon maybe "doesn't give a shit".
And yet he was able to play streaming video recently and is using the latest adobe flash player.
You might want to read the article sometime so you don't sound like an ass.
Clearly a case where TL/DR does not apply.
The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
"physical buttons for media and volume"?
Wow, I feel so inadequate now.
You never really know how close to the edge you can go until you fall off.
I did read the story. If Amazon started encoding their video in some new Adobe DRM then it might not be supported by the PlayBooks Flash implimentation. If you read the comments on his site older videos still seem to work. This is Flash remember. It is known to be buggy.
I would say his flash software is not up to date. He is stating the PlayBook is using: v11.1.122.4 FireFox is using 11.1.102.56 Android is using 11.1.112.61 Clearly each device gets its own build. I bet 122 is the Playbook device number. If so then there have only been 4 versions of Flash released to the PlayBook compared to 61 versions on Android.
Look at the Vizio 8 tablet, it's a little behind in OS being a gingerbread tablet, but it includes a fancy universal remote app and IR port, and it has 3 speakers to do stereo sound in either orientation. I do not own one, I have a ASUS Transformer, but they are not budget machines at all.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Also, see the GoogleTV vs many of the content providers web sites when GTV first came out. They were rushing to get all sorts of fixes to viewing their content on things there were not a traditional computer.
OMG, I went to Slashdot.org to watch some videos and they are not loading! Amazon is really pissing me off.
I guess I'll go to Nintendo.com next so I can try to check my email. If that doesn't work, boy am I ever going to post about this on the Internets.
I hate to be so crass in a subject, but that is just stupid. Not Amazon - the article. The author. WTH is wrong with people?
There is so much wrong with the above that I could, and may, barf. 'PlayBook' is seen in quotes, denoting (to me) that Amazon has it's very specific list of support devices and your 'ThingyMaJig' is not on that list. Ok, moving on...
The use of Apple, as noted by another poster above, was probably wrong on the service rep's part - Adobe is more likely what they meant but instead pulled the standard response for Apple customers who don't have Flash installed (or aren't up to date, as is the case here possibly). The author goes on in to the whole versions business, comparing his Android tablet of his and it's more-outdated version of Flash and saying that it's totally an anti-RIM/anit-PlayBook injustice!
Of course, it could also be:
- the browser
- the cache
- some weird headers
- his Flash install
- Bill Gates having a field day with his monies
- Apple, because, you know, Apple and PlayBooks and RIM Jobs and errr....
The fact that this got picked up on /. is not surprising, sadly, as nothing of unimportance seems to be left out these days. "Disgruntled PlayBook owner DENIED ACCESS TO AMAZON STREAMING - Amazon blames Apple!" <-- someone thought that, and then thought it was legitimate news. I'm going back to ONTD.
It means Apple "care", as in they see the Playbook as a greater threat to their gadgets than Android devices. "Start worrying, details to follow," as some like to put it. RIM is the only company that really compares to Apple in terms of hardware quality and market.
Speaking as someone who does a lot of Customer Support, there is also a difference too between 'We do not support' and 'We no longer support'. "It used to work on [insert never-supported hardware here]" is a phrase I have heard many times before. It's entirely possible that they never tested it on a Playbook during development. The fact that it worked in the past was good fortune for the playbook's owner, and due to recent changes it no longer works on a platform it was never tested to work on anyway,so they had no motivation to make sure that it still worked there.
Free Pie! The Pie is Also Evil!
Hi Netflix, this is Linux calling...
I can't heeeere you!
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
RIM, then?
Amazon started using DRM on some videos in mid-January. It also breaks playback on certain Linux systems -- specifically those using 64-bit flash plugin, and those where (deprecated) HAL has been removed. As a Linux user and Amazon Prime subscriber, the videos I can watch are hit and miss.
Clearly a canned response that the CSR forgot to switch out Apple for RIM in it. Nothing to see here.
The (sweet) xbmc plugin Bluecop wrote suddenly quit working when they changed to use 'DRM' flash. See this thread for details;
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=108124&page=32
Pretty painful.
It seems the Hegemons of Humorlessness are failing to applaud our homophonic hero.
"The conduct of neither [party], if strictly examined, will be irreproachable." -Elizabeth Bennet
Total Playbook activations are closer to the 1M mark actually...
The op is obviously being facetious but the number of activations does not necessarily mean current users because hardware failures and returns would not necessarily be counted as decreasing that number of activated devices.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
I was amazed by an Amazon CS rep telling me the reason that I couldn't use Amazon Instant Videos on my Tivo was because my FIOS connection wasn't nearly fast enough.
I hung up and contacted Tivo who told me they don't support Amazon Instant Videos.
They did not blame Apple for it. ;)
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
They assumed that the Playbook was an Apple product.
Read it again with that misconception in mind.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Since their latest Amazon Instant Video upgrade, I've been unable to watch any Amazon videos either on my 32 or 64 bit system. I've made sure I have the latest Adobe flash plug-in and have HAL installed. Their tech support was useless. I've cancelled my Amazon Prime membership over it.
And they wonder why some people resort to bit-torrent.
The Bolachek Journals
Bought a cheap Playbook for the wife, to pair with her 'phone. She loves it - who am I to argue? She didn't want the big i-Pad the daughters bought. 'Horses for courses'. Tablets for girls.
"And it says Apple is the reason why it blocked the service."
http://i39.tinypic.com/28b9tnc.jpg
About 10 less than that.
Amazon needs to get off their butts and create an instant video app for iOS and Android. I can watch instant video on my Android phone, but the experience is horrible, and there is currently no way to access Amazon IV on an iOS device. Seriously Amazon? I realize that Apple is really the company screwing me here by deciding thou shalt not run flash on an iPad, but Hulu, Netflix, etc have released Apps to let me watch their content, get with the program.
Technical explanation for the problem, if you care
Not all Amazon content is using the new DRM; if you've already downloaded something, even if it uses DRM, then it will continue to function.
The actual issue is a combination of the Flash 11 update on Jan 31, combined with Amazon switching Flash Access DRM on Feb 4/5/6.
The Flash Access DRM requires downloading and installing a new shared object, which is why it complains about needing an upgrade.
The code is busted. It uses hald/libhal (which was deprecate in May 2008 by FreeDesktop.org) in order to construct a unique machine identifier for use in the Flash Access DRM.
The code is busted again. It attempts to communicate with hald using dbus, and when it can't, it assumes that the problem is a faulty component, rather than hald not answering the phone because it hasn't been installed. So basically, it's piss-poor error checking in the code that results in the update request, for the wrong reason.
So for most Linux systems, you can just do "apt-get install hal", and your Amazon will start working again.
This won't work for embedded systems with trusted code paths that need to sign code and won't download random crap onto your machine by default. I suspect the Blackberry would fall into this category. For these systems, you'd need an update from the vendor which included the Flash Access shared object.
If it makes you feel any better, almost every Linux and BSD based system on the planet got bit on the butt by this.
It's a good argument against DRM, even if you weren't worroed that they would upload your specific device identification information in a non-hashed form, and use that information with other databases to correlate your network activity.
-- Terry
Nope, nary an apple product in my house -- the only one being my son's iPod (which was a gift from his grandma).