With all of the online video services now offering much of the same (sometimes lousy) content, the new differentiating factor seems to be high definition quality. Microsoft has been there for a while (with videos over Xbox Live), as has Apple (over the Apple TV), and now Amazon is joining the gang.
The new HD option for Amazon Video On Demand is available starting today for some 500 movies and television shows. And the HD content will work with the set-top boxes Amazon streams to including the Roku and TiVo Series 3 devices. In addition, Amazon is launching On Demand on select Panasonic televisions today as well.
So Amazon is getting into the same HD streaming market that everyone else is. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any real differentiating factor from the other services. Sure, it’s nice for people who already use Amazon On Demand, but there is no real reason to switch to use it if you are already using one of the other services. Though, it is nice that the service is available on more devices than say, iTunes or Xbox Live.
But the prices, for example, are the same as iTunes ($3.99 to $4.99 to rent an HD movie — and $2.99 to buy an HD show). And the content looks to be pretty much the same as well. Amazon, in its press release, is touting the availability of the newly released Frost/Nixon. Well, I just watched it last night, in HD, on my Apple TV.
And it’s content that’s the main problem for all of these services. Apple has been expanding its HD offerings, but still only has a few hundred, several months after launching. Xbox Live’s content is the same way. Apple just rolled out the ability to buy (rather than rent) HD movies, and that is so far restricted to just a handful of movies. 500 HD titles is a good number for Amazon to launch with, but it’s a drop in the bucket of the 40,000 On Demand titles it offers.
Yeah, it sure does seem like they missed the boat on this one.
-Jack
Is it me or does Amazon seem sort of like a tech Ponzi scheme? They are always on the “edge” of some great revenue producing business; yet, things never seem to work out that way.
amazon doesn’t make it easy to find new movies either. my default view is 7 versions of james bond movies (I suppose most downloaded). Twice i”ve rented movies thinking they were new to find out they were old. Still prefer on demand by comcast – just easier thus far
is that the TV interface via one of the boxes or the web interface?
both – via Tivo and on the web – neither are great. Cannot make it hard to get the latest releases, not movies from 2 years ago nor every james bond movie ever made
All my friends (both tech-friendly and not) still watch paid channels, or buy physical products (DVD/Blu-Ray).
We loan movies back and forth if we want to see something we’re not sure about buying.
A couple of us hulu (for tv) if we’re busy at work. But never stream movies.
Seems like a tech for tech sake play. Or a tech for hype play.
Is this correct? No 5.1, just Stereo output?
to me, the major selling point for Amazon On Demand is that I don’t need to install any software, I don’t need a seperate set-top box, or player. I can view video rentals and purchases from any computer, any browser, just by logging in to my Amazon account. They are stored in your personal library (rentals until they expire, purchases indefinately). That pretty much trumps other services.
I guess. But they’re pretty late to the HD game and no real mobile support yet. And Amazon’s web interface for this is very clunky.
I’m basically just saying that I don’t see any of these really differentiating themselves yet. That’s kind of a problem as all offer their own proprietary formats that lock customers in.
You do have to install software, it’s Flash on the PC first of all. If software can provide a better user experience, especially for long form content users should be open to accepting an additional *small* plug in to do so. Hence the reason Move Networks, Swarmcast, and others exist.
Flash video on it’s own looks horrible (drops frames/ renders poorly) and continues to perpetuate the division between “web video” and “TV.”
What we see here is the IP owners getting their leverage back and driving the pricing structure by minimizing the margins so nobody can really undercut and compete on price points. Bang, instant price fixing.
Who cares..LOL
I think the splash is big. I have 2 HD 42inch TVs. One in the bedroom one thats hooked up to a home theater/bluray system. The one in my bedroom has a Roku hooked up to it. Living room has a Apple TV.
Having Roku doing Amazon HD adds immensely to the the value of the device which unlike most other devices continues to expand on its intial offerings.
I think that hs games is very late for phone support and mazon is very mature I don’t need to install any software, I don’t need a separate set-top box, or player. I can view video rentals and purchases from any computer, any browser, just by logging in to my Amazon account
Seems like VUDU still has a larger selection of titles in HD than Amazon. And Pandora and YouTube.