Amazon's Unbox video download service goes live

No surprises here, but Amazon has taken their fancy new Unbox video downloads store live, and it's looking... download-ey. Bad news first: prices are kind of xtreem, with our personal fav Rumor Has It going for $19.62, and the 1999 cult hit Office Space topping the download charts at $13.45. Luckily, the price fluctuations have an up-side, since you can catch boy wonder Elijah Wood in Everything Is Illuminated for a mere $8.99. TV prices, however, sit solidly at the $2 price predicted. As for download format, the full-length and preview videos are standard .wmv fare, but can only be played by the Unbox player. A third file is downloaded in a ".amzn" format for playback on mobile devices, but Amazon claims it's just a straight PlaysForSure DRM-scheme. They've tested the files out on the Zen Vision, Zen Vision: M, Gigabeat S, Archos AV 500/700 and the iRiver PMC, but we're guessing most devices shouldn't have much of a problem. As for the full quality flicks, we can't get an exact number, but we're just going to assume "DVD quality" means 720 x 480, and we did note that sound is 5.1 surround. With rights management, rentals allow you a 30 day window to start watching the movie, but once you've begun you have 24 hours to enjoy before the file gets deleted. Purchased movies can reside on up to two computers, with each computer being allowed to sync with one portable device, and it does seem that re-downloading will be allowed in case your HDD crashes. DVD burning is allowed for backup, but you can't burn playable DVDs, and the only way to get video to your TV is through a video out plug from your PC or media player. Now if you'll excuse us, we've just dropped a Jackson to see what crazy antics Jennifer Aniston has gotten herself into this time.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Calamier @ Sep 7th 2006 7:54PM]

Awesome!

[Bill Gates @ Sep 7th 2006 7:56PM]

No thanks... I'm waiting for the iTunes Movie Store.

[Matt Burgener @ Sep 7th 2006 8:22PM]

Help me understand this-people are being asked to pay the same price (or higher) than the cost to purchase the physical DVD? Why would anyone do that? You can buy the DVD and convert it into whatever format you like for watching on your computer or portable device.

To be honest, this kind of solution just infuriates me. The studios have no clue as to how to be innovative. They wonder why sales are down? They are business people and should realize that a download is much cheaper than a disc. Therefore, the cost should be much lower.

What's also terrible is that Amazon now introduces yet another required player to play protected files (again, why not just convert a physical DVD?). I will be surprized if this solution succeeds without a major price cut.

In the end, what the studios must realize, is that if you aren't trying to truly satisfy the customer (and their needs), you will eventually be surpased by somebody else.

I can't wait for the day when record labels and movie distributors are gone and it is a direct link between artist/actor/director and the customer.

[Jeff Foster @ Sep 7th 2006 8:08PM]

sounds like a mess.

why, again, doesn't anyone just let you burn DVDs? isn't CSS a form of encryption that would make downloadable (then burned) DVDs just as secure as a similarly priced Retail DVD?

That store sounds like a lot of seriously lame hoops to jump through to watch a movie, and the price doesn't even justify it. :

[Ig @ Sep 7th 2006 8:09PM]

Hmm..."Rumor Has It" going for $19.62 in a crippled, lossy format at Amazon, or the same movie on DVD for $13.37 at Deep Discount DVD.

Somehow I don't see this wacky Amazon scheme lasting very long.

[CharlieX @ Sep 7th 2006 8:08PM]

So you CAN'T burn then to DVD and watch them in your living room? wait...HOW MUCH DO THEY WANT FOR THIS? i'm actually stunned. really. at best I would pay 1/2 that to buy someting I couldn't get anywhere else and then burn a DVD-R for the shelf.

[Little Joe @ Sep 7th 2006 8:11PM]

I think these movie stores need to hold off until technology reaches a point where they can let us dl REAL dvd quality video.

[Reality Check @ Sep 7th 2006 8:16PM]

Wait, let me see if I understand this...$14.00 to basically "rent" a single movie?

Screw that. Netflix is still better.

[Rick Dobbs @ Sep 7th 2006 8:20PM]

Amazing, another abortion from the day of launch.

Let this be a lesson to all future entrepreneurs, make sure that when you come up with a product concept, you ask yourself "Why?"

Amazon clearly didn't and now they're coming out with a service that gives no clear value over buying a DVD. Instead they're making me use my paid for bandwidth to download a movie that I have to watch once in a single 24 hour time-span. Why?

[Shredsled87 @ Sep 7th 2006 8:17PM]

I'd rather just buy a dvd. I'd only use this as a last resort. Or if I was incredibly bored, and wanted to waste money.

[ToddW @ Sep 7th 2006 8:27PM]

The service sounds great but for $9 to $20 and to be able to only watch it at YOUR house (unless you take your laptop or external drive with you) it is kind of pricey.

Once all videos get down to $5 - $10 then I think the service will be much more used.

Not to mention once more and more fiber gets layed so we can download faster :)

[OPTICAL OUT PLEASE @ Sep 7th 2006 8:24PM]

Can wait for the de-drm software to come out .... oh wait, its still cheaper to buy (or rent) the dvd and rip it.

[Michael @ Sep 7th 2006 8:25PM]

Ig
It's even worse then that. Even Amazon.com sells the "Rumor Has it" DVD for $14.99 compared to it's $19.62 downloadable version.

[Elliot @ Sep 7th 2006 8:26PM]

Media companies just don't get it. Hell, if they had their way, we'd be paying 3.99 for a track on the iTMS. When we look back on this in twenty years, after big studios and record labels are smoldering hulks, it'll be clear what killed them: their own lack of foresight.

[puppet @ Sep 7th 2006 8:29PM]

i dont recomend installing it it wont let me uninstall the program.

[Robotron @ Sep 7th 2006 8:42PM]

Oh no....rootkit.....jk.
Anyway I like buying my DVDs with the extra features and being able to play them in my DVD player.
This will go the way of circuit citys divx.
Be interesting to see Apples pricing.

[Matt @ Sep 7th 2006 8:54PM]

Their program doesn't even work. I "bought" a TV show (it was free), but it doesn't show up in the player. Actually the player shows itself as disconnected or something.

[Reg @ Sep 7th 2006 9:04PM]

The selection of *New Releases* apparently is relative. The only actual new release video is 'V for Vendetta' and that has been out for over 1 month.

The prices are too high compared to DVDs, selection is limited and outdated, and you have to use their player to play it.

Suprisingly this is much like MovieLink, Vongo, Google Video (pay service) and all the other downloadable movie systems that have just not taken off. Way to be ahead of the curve Amazon!

Let's hope iTunes has a better take on downloadable videos.

[bgdc @ Sep 7th 2006 9:31PM]

Wow, that's all so overpriced. When will they get the pricing must be LOWER than DVDs? I can rent 20-24 movies a month from Netlfix and if I were inclined rip them all. That'd be $20 a month for 4 films at once (I started netflix in 2000) and at a quarter per burned film you're looking at $1.25 or less per movie. Sell me the same DVD-quality downloadable for $5 and I'll gladly buy it legally.

[Amber @ Sep 7th 2006 10:50PM]

I bought a TV show too got it to connect after 2 hours, and now my "licenses are all used up." I haven't even downloaded my show once. It seems to be very buggy.

[Reg @ Sep 7th 2006 10:06PM]

This is a seriously bad attempt.

I can't help thinking Amazon have deliberately made it bad so that people will simply continue buying real DVDs.

Buying tangible stuff that they ship to you via courier is Amazon's core business after all.

[dave95 @ Sep 7th 2006 9:59PM]

Do anyone know how long it takes to download?
This sounds so cripled for the price. You can only download one at a time, have to use their own special player, cant burn to DVDs, and if you rent movies, it only last for 24 hours? Even blockbuster now allow more than 24 hours! No thanks, not that it will work with my win.2000 anyway!

From their Supported Devices section:

"If your device is Plays for Sure compliant it may work, but we cannot guarantee performance on untested devices"

You mean PlaysForSure may not always PlaysForSure?

[idiot @ Sep 7th 2006 10:43PM]

i wonder if the tv eps will play on a TAVI...

[feet @ Sep 7th 2006 10:53PM]

The Unbox Video player system requirements list it as Windows XP SP2 or better only.
I couldn't even install it on Vista to see how awful it was :(

[Jeff @ Sep 7th 2006 11:10PM]

Man, how embarrassing. "Let's take a failed business model and make it worse! We'll have a bad selection, higher prices than the competition (and even our own competing products), DRM that may make videos unplayable even on supposedly supported devices, and a proprietary player that can't be uninstalled! We can't miss!"

I'm waiting for Netflix to do downloads right. The fact that they haven't jumped in yet says to me that they know the demands of the movie studios just make a service like this unworkable at this time. Best to just stick with DVD rentals - they'll work on any DVD player and can be converted to any other format.

[G Money @ Sep 7th 2006 11:34PM]

How many cpu's have s-video out??? This is set up for failure but i think this maybe due to the studios and not neccessarily amazon.

Heres my theory, The rumors out there claim apples movie store only has disney (which jobs is a part of) and I belive Lions Gate (which is an indy). It was also rumored that jobs was specific in wanting the movies for no more than 9.99 for purchase. If the rumors hold true I think the reason he only got 2 studios to sign up was becuase those were the only studios that agreed to jobs terms.

Steve did not let the studios have there way (as is the case with amazon) and let them tier the pricing to up to 20 bucks a movie.

In order for apple to knock this thing out the park they should,

- have all movies for 9.99 to purchase.
- 2 versions, 1 for ipod, and one 480p for TV
- Have some sort of airport device with HDMI output to TV
- Have rentals for 3.99
- Have subscription service ala netflix for x amount a month
- Make them burnable to DVD's

If Steve has disney and lions gate signed up for that, this whole thing will be a homerun. When the numbers get released on how many movies are being purchased/rented from the store slowly but surely the other studios will follow, just like they have with the tv shows.

Right now the studios are just being greedy, and had there way with amazon, apple wont let them do that. They are no longer having to foot the cost of DVD's the MOVIES SHOULD BE CHEAPER! ITS A NO BRAINER!

Here's to tuesday.

[Alcoholic Zombie @ Sep 8th 2006 12:16AM]

Just wait around until a new service rolls out mid next year called Vivon(hopefully the name changes or adds a catchy sub-name) that you buy this set top box that plugs into your tv or pc monitor(with hdmi input for tvs) and basically rent movies in the "30day/48 hrs once you start playing" for around 4 bucks and you get all the special features too. once you decide to keep it, they charge you for the price of the movie minus the rental fee.

Its in its infant beta stage but hopefully they stay true to the basics when they launch next year.

Also in disscussion(sp?) is once you buy the movie, its your movie period. you will be able to tranfer the entire movie with special features onto your pc and burn it to a dvd if you want a hard copy.

Also, the set top box is small to the point you can actually take to a friend or family member's house.

Hopefully, like i said, everything they are hoping for materializes(sp?) into something great later on.

Oh yeah, bring on the BRAINS!

[Alcoholic Zombie @ Sep 8th 2006 12:18AM]

Oh yeah, G money. Check my last post. Minus the subscription fees.

*gurgle*

[Carlos Rivero @ Sep 8th 2006 12:25AM]

F@#$ yeah "G Money" that is totally correct... I agree 100% .....


what is the people at amazon smoking.....??

I'm getting my credit card ready for tuesday!! ...
can you imagine... if all what "G Money" said would come true..... it would be the Internet Movie Revolution!

[dirtminer @ Sep 8th 2006 12:59AM]

Does anyone know if FairUse4DRM works on the purchased titles from here? Some slashdot posts suggested it does.

[usefulfiction @ Sep 8th 2006 10:27AM]

@ Alcoholic Zombie
Do you have a link to more info on this Vivon box?

[Cypheraticus @ Sep 8th 2006 2:43AM]

I guess you don't even bother anymore to mention that this is US ONLY. The internet is for everyone people!
Be considerate towards your global readers, Engadget.
I, for one, cannot wait until copyright laws become extinct.

[Michael @ Sep 10th 2006 8:16PM]

I downloaded a tv series Modern Marvels and it looked as if it was encoded directly from the video that you would buy directly from the networks library. I was pleased with the quality. The 48 minute video is 960 MB and its .wmv as it is VC1 encoded. The file is stored in My Videos default and has a 238 MB file .amzn that im not sure what it is.

[bgdc @ Sep 8th 2006 3:19AM]

Why are people mentioning $4 for rentals? What sort of f^cktard pays $4 to rent a movie? My god, get on netflix. At the worst you'll get 15 movies a month for $20.

$4 for a movie rental is highway robbery. $4 for a downloaded movie is an absolute ass-raping. With downloads there is nearly zero overhead v. a blockbuster store model or a netflix mail processing model.

Downloads cost to distributor:
Bandwidth cost
HD space
DBA/web geeks

Netflix (mail model) costs to distributor:
Purchase of product
Store product
Envelopes for product
Shipping to and from costs
Plastic envelopes
Processing centers manned by employees
Broken/destroyed discs
Lost mail

Store distributor:
employees (massive drain on revenue)
store front
product
broken discs
cases

downloads don't need to be shipped, they can't be broken and there's so little overhead it's highway robbery.

Price a new to dvd movie at $5 for download. Rentals go for $2. Not much difference? True, thus people will be more likely to opt to buy the damned things.

Really want to change the world hollywood? Offer new movies at $25. But that's so expensive! Not really. In a major metro area a movie costs $10 per ticket. So for two you're at $20. Add in the popcorn, parking, gas, etc and it's way over $30. At $25 most of the profit can go to the distributor (unlike now) and it will appeal to the exact segment who are avoiding theaters - people with young kids, busy professionals, aged/infirm/sick. Essentially, get money you're currently missing or that's going to small rental fees.

[bgdc @ Sep 8th 2006 3:21AM]

Copyright laws aren't going away. Copyright and rights over material encourage people to produce and take a chance on artists. Without the guarantee of profit, why would anyone bother? Take a look at communism to grasp that without financial motivation, there is no motivation to act.

[tom @ Sep 8th 2006 6:54PM]

you don't get it bgdc. copyright laws are for exactly what you're saying they're for. except the eternal variety which entails my childrens' childrens' children getting millions off my work. obviously it should stop somewhere. copyright is meant to benefit the country as a whole by fostering a competitive marketplace with limited portections. it's not meant to be a permanent source of personal and family wealth for someone.

[Jarod @ Sep 8th 2006 6:17AM]

All I have to say is God Bless Peer to Peer and to Hell with Amazon. I wouldn't pay $1 for such a service from a piece of crap, discriminating company.

[Scotty @ Sep 8th 2006 7:19AM]

At least being in the UK we don't need to think about whether we want to be ripped off by services like this, as we don't even get the opportunity...

[Scarpad @ Sep 8th 2006 8:26AM]

We've recently gotten Redbox Rental Machines at our local supermarket chain and for a $1 a night I can rent a New release and return it to any other location. Then I can dump the disk and watch it whenever I like on my HTPC.

Does anyone know what's up with GUBA? They get recent releases and they also rent the movies as well.

[General Public @ Sep 8th 2006 10:02AM]

It's relatively slow too. I'm getting around 400KB/Sec on a T1 connection. Some 25 minute to download a 20 minute long episode of a TV show. Thanks, but no thanks. End of test.

[John Laur @ Sep 8th 2006 10:09AM]

Wow 400KB/s on a T1 huh? I'd suggest that is pretty good considering it's over twice the data rate of a T1.

[Goodman @ Sep 8th 2006 10:32AM]

Keep in mind guys, it's not just the studio's greed that is keeping these prices rediculously high. The Wall Street Journal reports Wal-Mart has been threatening holy hell if the studios permit movie downloads that are cheaper than what Wal-Mart sells DVDs for. And Wal-Mart is by far the biggest seller of DVDs in America. So there's little anybody can do at this point, except watch these ventures crash and burn, and hope that consumer demand will eventually force changes to the business model that will make things like Amazon Unbox more viable.

[denisB @ Sep 8th 2006 10:34AM]

you geeks, and geek sympathizers like to complain. Fortunately for the rest of the world you're not the target market for this amazon service. You can always crank up your favorite torrent client and get whatever content you want for free and DRM free. As far as the rest of us are concerned this is excellent news. This is how progress comes about, competition for iTunes store means cheaper prices for all. This is a step in right direction, sure the software and the interface needs some tuning and the pricing is a compromise with the studios, but in a broad picture of digital movie/show distribution this is a victory for the consumer.

[prosumer @ Sep 8th 2006 11:06AM]

denis
i agree with you about the complainers. my beef isn't the pricing or speed, but the fact that amazon is a store. a store that sells ipods, every variety. i'm all for competition on pricing, but why would they shut out the largest segment of personal video consumers? how can they sell apple computers and ipods and at the same time not support those products. when they sell dvd's, they play in a every dvd player, not just sony.
i could see if unbox came from microsoft, that makes sense. but amazon is the equivalent to the brick and mortar walmart. a store that sells everything from a to z. did microsoft buy amazon? i don't get it.

[nikster @ Sep 8th 2006 11:51AM]

Hmm.... here in China a DVD costs $1.50 in perfect quality, or 80 cents as DVD-5.

Now I am not absolutely sure that these are 100% legal DVDs so of course I would never buy one. In fact, I have reported them to the $$IAA several times since I heave learned that this can be a serious crime akin to car-jacking.

I am just afraid that others won't be this careful and choose the $1.50 region-free DVD over the $19.95 "WillSelfDestructForSure" downloads...

[david @ Sep 8th 2006 1:36PM]

So, I can buy the DVD cheaper than I can download it and watch it on my TV without using the computer. AND I can pop the cheaper DVD into my computer and rip it for use on my computer and/or portable video player.

Now explain it again...why would I download a movie from Amazon?

[Richard @ Sep 8th 2006 5:27PM]

I tried a TV show download. The playback on the PC is NOT DVD quality. Maybe TV quality as if you recorded it off a tuner or something. Then I tried to transfer the show to my PPC-6700 PocketPC phone which is supposed to be compatible. It sees the storage card and all but when you try to transfer it says "Cannot create file when file already exists." I even formatted the card so it was empty and same error. This is clearly BETA software at best. The rental option is even more of a joke.

[Alcoholic Zombie @ Sep 9th 2006 3:23AM]

"@ Alcoholic Zombie
Do you have a link to more info on this Vivon box?

Posted at 1:25AM on Sep 8th 2006 by usefulfiction [ ! ]"

just vivon.net but since it is still beta, the website is still under contruction.

[keith waddington @ Sep 9th 2006 11:32PM]

I don't even think disney will allow Apple to provide what people really want. I hope I'm wrong but I think the iTunes movie download will have the same very limited success that the TV shows have.

I also have a feeling the movies will be intended for ipod viewing and not TV. And this again is not what people want.

waddo
http://www.waddo.net/

[Edwin @ Nov 5th 2006 8:58PM]

Please read this article before thinking about using Unbox.

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/09/15/amazon_unbox_to_cust.html