Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Amazon intros free video streaming for Prime members

Amazon Introduces Free Video Streaming For Prime Members
Huffington Post's Amy Lee reported this today, as it was announced in Amazon's business wire, which has not gone out in Amazon email as I write this.
' Amazon Prime Members Now Get Unlimited, Commercial-free, Instant Streaming of More Than 5,000 Movies and TV Shows at No Additional Cost

...Prime membership will continue to be $79 per year. Amazon Prime's all-you-can-eat free Two-Day Shipping has already attracted millions of members. Customers can learn more about an Amazon Prime one-month free trial and start watching instantly at www.amazon.com/primevideos.

"Millions of Amazon Prime members already enjoy the convenience of free Two-Day Shipping," said Robbie Schwietzer, vice president of Amazon Prime. "Adding unlimited instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows at no additional cost is a great way to give members even more value for their $79 annual Amazon Prime membership."

Movies and TV shows included with an Amazon Prime membership can be watched instantly on Macs, PCs and nearly 200 models of Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes that are compatible with Amazon Instant Video.  The selection of videos available for instant streaming currently includes movies, such as "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy, "Amadeus," "Syriana," and "Chariots of Fire," noted documentaries such as "Food Inc.," "March of the Penguins" and "Ken Burns' National Parks," plus TV shows, such as "Doctor Who," "Farscape," "Fawlty Towers" and children's shows, such as "Arthur," "Caillou," "Super Why!" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."
. . .
Amazon Instant Video is a digital video service that offers customers more than 90,000 commercial-free movies and television shows to buy or rent on an a la carte basis.  New-release movies are often available as soon as they are released on DVD, and many TV shows are available the day after their first broadcast.  Amazon Instant Video also offers thousands of movies and TV shows in high definition.  With Amazon Instant Video, customers can watch instantly on Macs, PCs, and nearly 200 Internet connected TVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes.  To learn more about Amazon Instant Video on your TV, visit www.amazon.com/watchontv. '

They add:
  "Customers who receive Prime shipping benefits through our Amazon Student and Amazon Mom programs can upgrade to receive paid Prime benefits for just $79 a year."


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Posted by Unknown at 2/22/2011 - To Mail this:
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4 comments:

  1. Tom SempleFebruary 22, 2011 at 9:47:00 AM PST

    The 'prime eligible' content consists of about 5,000 titles out of the total available of about 90,000. Much of that is also available on Netflix streaming as well. And our Amazon-capable device (a Sony BluRay player) does not make it easy to browse for content. Still, I'm not complaining.

    It's interesting that Amazon provides much of Netflix's backend infrastructure for streaming.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 22, 2011 at 10:04:00 AM PST

    Tom,
    I did mention the 90,000...

    I do have Netflix and wrote that and then erased it as it shouldn't matter what I do, but Netflix is just amazing, with all the added streaming lately.

    Yes, I'd forgotten that the provide much of Netflix's backend infrastructure. A lot of people still like to put Amazon down as "just a bookseller" while having little understanding of what's involved in what they offer now to large companies in this area.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2011 at 10:45:00 AM PST

    Won't work on my iPad because of course it is flash. This is a pity and I believe an opportunity missed by Amazon. I'll be sticking with Netflix for now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFebruary 22, 2011 at 11:26:00 AM PST

    Anonymous,
    Apple refuses to support Adobe Flash in its devices and you say AMAZON missed an opportunity ???

    I'm with Netflix. That does not mean I can't take advantage of other offerings.

    ReplyDelete

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