Posts Tagged ‘Amazon On Demand’

Roku rolls out Amazon Video-On-Demand support

No longer limited to Netflix support-only, today Roku announced that its $99 set-top box, following a software update, can now be used to rent and purchase movies and TV shows from Amazon’s Video-On-Demand (VOD) service.

Amazon VOD (US-only) has a library of over 40,000 movie and TV titles, with new releases offered on the same day they are released on DVD, something that Netflix is currently unable to match, instead focusing more on back catalog material offered as part of a fixed monthly subscription that also includes traditional DVD rentals by post. In this sense, the two services both compete and complement each other, depending on how much and what kind of content customers want to consume.

See also: No more downloads, Amazon moves its online video store to the cloud

The Amazon tie-in also takes advantage of the e-tailers’ expertise in ‘cloud’ computing. Since the Roku digital video player is only capable of streaming not downloads, purchases are stored on Amazon’s own servers, making it possible, for example, to begin viewing a movie on the PC and then continue on the TV via a Roku set-top box.

Video demo courtesy of NewTeeVee after the jump…

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Internet TV partners: Intel and Adobe, Roku and Amazon, Netflix and LG

With the Consumer Electronics Show just around the corner, it’s traditional for companies to push out a flurry of pre-show announcements, hopefully clearing the way for more exciting news. Today, a number of industry players announced partnerships relating to getting Internet content onto the TV – a theme that will, once again, be prevalent at CES.

Roku and Amazon

Roku’s set-top box will soon be adding support for the streaming version of Amazon’s on-demand video service. Previously, the hardware was a one trick pony, with Netflix ‘Watch Instantly’ functionality only. From the press release: “Beginning in early 2009, the Roku Player… will offer access to Amazon Video On Demand’s more than 40,000 commercial-free movies and television shows enabling Roku customers for the first time to watch new release movies titles instantly.”

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No more downloads, Amazon moves its online video store to the cloud

With the gradual roll out of Amazon’s new video service, starting today, the company hopes to have fixed everything that was holding back adoption of its original “UnBox” video download store.

Gone are the lengthy downloads or the need to install special software, and instead, “Amazon On Demand” utilizes streaming so that content begins playing almost immediately all within a standard web browser. Additionally, the relaunched service is now Windows and Mac-friendly, and will also be available through Internet-connected televisions, starting with Sony Bravia TVs that are compatible with the company’s rather costly Bravia Internet Video Link device.

“For the first time, this is drop dead simple,” Bill Carr, Amazon’s vice president for digital media, tells the New York Times. “Our goal is to create an immersive experience where people can’t help but get caught up in how exciting it is to simply watch a movie right from Amazon.com with a click of the button.”

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