Amazon Reportedly Working On Set-Top Box

Bloomberg is reporting that Amazon has plans to release its own television set-top box later this year. The device will stream video over the internet from Amazon's video service catalog. From the article: "Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is pushing the company into a broadening array of hardware, including tablets, electronic readers and a planned smartphone. ... The set-top box is being developed by Amazon’s Lab126 division, based in Cupertino, California -- the city that’s also home to Apple. Lab126 has toyed with building connected television devices for several years, the people familiar with the effort said. ... Plans for pricing couldn't be determined. Amazon’s typical strategy is to sell hardware at competitive prices, sometimes at a loss, with the intent of making up for discounts through sales of content, including books and movies. Amazon could also use the set-top box to promote its online store.

Comments

Netflix was smarter

[SuperKendall]

I'd be more impressed if Netflix were doing it.

Not me. I thought it was pretty brilliant of Netflix to have every set top maker clamoring to include support.

Then Netflix has no hardware anywhere, and whatever device you choose Netflix wins a bit.

Re:Netflix was smarter

[ethanms]

I'd be more impressed if Netflix were doing it.

Some of you people have short memories...

Back in 2005 Roku designed their streaming media box specifically to stream Netflix content... for at least a couple of years Netflix was the only content available on it.

I was part of one of the original focus groups while it was in development and it was plainly clear from the questions and marketing materials that this device was for Netflix only to start... it's only the last several years they've added Amazon Instant Video and other "channels".

As most recent parent you mentioned, it was brilliance on the part of Netflix to avoid having their own branded hardware. This paved the way for many device manufacturers to include support w/o facing competition from Netflix itself. When you buy a TV or Bluray player today and it includes Netflix support you are far more likely to subscribe vs. if you had to buy your own hardware from Netflix.

Amazon is creating a hassle for themselves... just like they have done by not producing an Android app for their streaming video (because it would compete with their Kindle). I don't want Amazon content on my Nexus 7 specifically because of this, and you'd better believe that it does influence my decision to buy Amazon content.

Re:Netflix was smarter

[dgatwood]

Agreed. And I'd go one step further and say that it makes no sense to buy a set top box built by any content provider, period. General-purpose set top box makers are competing with each other, which means that it is in their best interest to provide quality service for all content providers. A content provider, in contrast, has every incentive to make their service work well, but every incentive to make other companies' services seem substandard, assuming they even provide the ability to access those services at all.

And on the flip side, it makes no sense to buy content from any provider that also builds hardware. It is in their best interest to provide severely degraded service for everyone else's hardware. Notice, for example, that Kindle's flowing KF8 support still hasn't landed on iOS a year and a half later. Notice that (according to Slashdot discussions a couple of days ago) Amazon's new TV show pilots are not playable on Android devices except for Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets. And so on. Because they sell tablets, they have no incentive to make it work on anyone else's tablets. If it doesn't work, they can say, "Hey, you should try our new tablet. It does everything your old one does, plus it works with our content." If it works on other devices, they can't make that claim. As long as other providers aren't playing the same game, and as long as it still works on all computers (which nearly all tablet users also own), Amazon wins by default.

And people wonder why I won't buy books that I can't hold in my hand, movies that I can't stick on my shelf, etc. It's because of companies like Amazon that limit what you can do with content that you've paid for, not because there's a good technical or legal reason to do so, but rather for their own competitive advantage.

Do. Not. Trust. Digital. Content.

Is there really a use case for single-providers?

[Proteus]

No one I know would be interested in a device dedicated to a single provider's service. Everyone I know who uses Internet-based delivery for some of their media uses more than one source, and none of them would have any desire to have multiple devices. Perhaps if this was the only way to consume Amazon's video offering... but it isn't.

There's already a number of devices (Roku, PS3, XBox, a variety of DVD/Blu-Ray players, etc.) that allow access to Amazon's Instant Video as well as Netflix and a host of other media services. I can't see how Amazon thinks it's a good idea to compete with that.

Re:YASTB

[Penguinisto]

why not a kindle with a hdmi port?

...because Amazon can't make more money that way. They need a different device to sell you in addition to the Kindle.