Amazon Unboxes video download service

[neo]

Amazon has launched a video downloads service in the US, Amazon Unbox, selling 'DVD-quality' movies and TV shows.
The service has begun selling movies from seven movie studios as well as TV shows from more than 20 broadcasters, including the BBC. Content is encoded at 2,500Kbps using the VC-1 Advanced Profile codec and downloads include a second file optimised for playback on any Windows Media-compatible portable device, but not an iPod.

Mac users are ostensibly excluded from the service as it requires Windows XP to run the Unbox video player software. Of course that does not preclude Mac users from running the software using Apple's Boot Camp technology or virtualisation software such as Parallel Workstation, though compatibility with either has yet to be confirmed.

A two-hour movie compresses to a 2.4GB file, although the progressive download technology means that users can start watching a film or TV show before the download has been completed.

Unbox RemoteLoad technology permits playback on two PCs and two portable devices and although they can be backed up to a data DVD they cannot be burnt to a disc that can be played on a standard DVD player. However TV playback is possible assuming the computer can be connected via its video-out ports.

'Amazon Unbox offers TV and movie enthusiasts a fast, convenient way to watch thousands of their favourite videos from around the world,' said Bill Carr, Amazon.com's vice president of digital media. 'Now Amazon.com customers can choose to get videos delivered to their doorstep from Amazon's DVD store or choose Amazon Unbox and download DVD-quality picture movies or television shows to their PC.'
Unbox users will be able to access their videos in the Amazon Your Media Library, a personalised Web page that indexes and organises media purchases from Amazon.com, including books, CDs, DVDs and Unbox videos. The library can also be used to download a previously purchased movie or TV show to a second PC.

Television series costs $1.99 per episode, with most movies priced from $7.99 to $14.99. The latest movies will be available to rent for $3.99, for which the user will get 30 days in which to begin watching the film and then 24 hours to finish viewing it. The movie will then be automatically be deleted from the user's computer and their Your Media Library.

The participating movie studios comprise: 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal, Warner Bros., Lions Gate and MGM. The TV companies are: A&E, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, BBC, The Biography Channel, Cartoon Network, CBS, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, E! Entertainment Television, Fine Living TV Network, FOX, Fuel TV, FX, HGTV, The History Channel, KBS (Korean Broadcast System), Logo, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, The N, PBS, Speed, Spike, Travel Channel, TV Land and VH1.

Bill Carr, Amazon.com's vice president of digital media, would not comment on the possibility off making the service Mac-compatible but inferred that it has not been ruled out.

'It's our goal to reach as many customers as possible,' he said.

However, Mac users, at least in the US, may not have long to wait for digital movies. Apple is holding a 'Showtime' special media event next week, when it is expected to announce that it is to begin selling movies alongside the TV shows it is already distributing through its iTunes Music Store.
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