Amazon flicks on its streaming-video service

Amazon.com on Thursday made available to the general public its video-on-demand service, through which ad-free movies and TV shows can be streamed on Macs, PCs, and Sony Bravia flat-screen TVs.

The broader release of the Amazon Video on Demand service comes two months after the online-retailing giant .

Amazon's service aims to enable users to instantly watch movies or TV shows via a Web browser on their Mac OS or Windows machine. The online retailer is also teaming up with Sony to enable users to purchase or rent movies and TV shows directly through Sony's Bravia Internet Video Link device on the Bravia TV sets.

Amazon will continue to offer movies and TV shows for download via its Unbox application. TV shows and movies added to Amazon users' Video Library accounts can be accessed and streamed to a Web browser.

"The ability to watch content instantly without downloading first was among the most requested features of our customers, and now it's live," Roy Price, Amazon Video on Demand director, said in a statement.

[skyfreedom]

If Amazon wants to get some attention on this copy cat venture, they better make an iPhone app., that should put them ahead of the pack.

[dirty55409]

based on the simple fact that realtime streaming of full length video would be difficult on any phone let alone an iphone (i.e. slipping in and out of 3g spots, loss of signal etc) I doubt they'll ever make an app for streaming vid onto the phone unless they spend the time to set up some sort of Vcast thing which isn't very good to begin with. I think amazon is wasting their time. I can click over to netflix and watch movies instantly already... for free (sort of/ monthly subscription applies) but I can watch countless movies daily for free. Imagine watching 1 movie a day on amazon on demand for $3 a video. OR $10 if you want to keep it in their little "My Videos" vault. that's almost $80 you've spent on watching movies on your PC lol as opposed to unlimited viewings on netflix for $16 a month. Stop wasting your time amazon.

[Brooklyn Bankruptcy]

I still dont understand who would want to watch movies on a 2 inch or 15 inch screen. Still doesnt make sense.

[RobSee]

Uh, why watch on a small screen? I don't get why anyone would want to watch ANYTHING on a phone, but why don't you just hook up your computer to your TV if all you have is a 15" screen. It just takes the right graphics card and/or a computer with Windows Media Center. Run a few cables and you're done. No need for boxes or anything fancy. I get the streaming NetFlix movies all the time and watch them on my regular TV. They look fantastic.

[BCF1968]

Well with Amazon I can download to my computer and stream it ot my TV through my XBOX 360 or I can download the movie to a USB thumbdrive and stick that into the USB port on my 360 And watch it that way. Cheaper than renting a DVD in my area and I save 2 trips to the video store.

[makebeleive]

Seems to me that free sites such as hulu or TVPC offer great content. Not sure why I'd pay for Amazon's.

[BCF1968]

Hulu doesn't have near as much as Amazon. Not to mention I can download the movies and TV shows. TVPC? Is that even legal? Not that some here may care. Those of us with morals do.

[rllaw]

no idea whether tvpc is legal. I do know that to conflate "legal" with "morals" isn't a good call. Are copyrights legal? Sure are. Are they moral? Tougher question.

[renGek]

I watch movies/tv shows on my 5inch portable archos on the plane all the time. But a 5 inch screen is probably as small of a screen as I would go. iPhone for example is way too small. Trying to watch a 2 hour movie on that is not possible without eye strain and migraines. If amazon puts out HD quality movies on its streaming service on more recent films then its a perfect alternative. For one thing, I won't need a blue ray player to watch HD content ( which really is the way it should be, no reason one should need proprietary devices).

And to add to brooklyn bankruptcy who don't understand watching something on a 15 inch monitor. You're not anchor to your computer and monitor. Think broader terms. You can stream the amazon movies onto your TV very easily. I have an old pc with wifi and its connected to my tv for that purpose.

[peestandingup]

Lets see, pay Netflix $9 a month & stream an unlimited number of movies/shows to my computer/Roku box or watch 3 movies on Amazon for the same price?? Hmmm.

[BCF1968]

I would hardly call Netflix's stream selection "unlimited". Not to mention you're paying $100 for the Roku box. Also Amazon offers some movies TV episodes for free. Also some newer movies are offered for $1.99 or even 99¢ on occasion. That's not to say Netflix sucks, but their Amazon's streaming library is in fact larger than Netflix.

[hnavp66]

Amazon, bad news, Comcast wants to put you out of the streaming business with its new monthly transfer qoutas.

Too bad, Internet video had so much promise. But I guess that's when happens when a direct competitor controls the pipes. Sure glad we have the government folks watching out for our best interests.

[dpinto888]

Amazon, bad news, Comcast wants to put you out of the streaming business with its new monthly transfer qoutas.no idea whether tvpc is legal. I do know that to conflate "legal" with "morals" isn't a good call. Are copyrights legal? Sure are. Are they moral? Tougher question.
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