AmazonVideoOnDemand
Latest
Nielsen is tracking streaming services like it does broadcast TV
To address the new normal of cord cutting, Nielsen is going to start tracking subscription-based streaming numbers in a big way. The idea is to measure streaming services in the same way that the outfit has tracked broadcast TV for decades: with demographic info and the number of people streaming a program. As TechCrunch notes, Nielsen is only tracking Netflix for now, but expects to start getting data from Amazon and Hulu streaming services by next year.
DVPRemote iOS app easily replaces your factory Roku remote (video)
This, friends, is what happens when convergence is approached correctly. Rather than asking you to keep yet another remote in the hopper, one Phil Irey has crafted DVPRemote -- a lovely iOS app that enables your iPhone or iPod touch to act as your main control mechanism for any Roku set-top box. The app itself has been floating around in the App Store for a tick, but its the newly released version 2.0 that's really of interest. This build ushers in a completely overhauled user interface, and aside from providing the standard Roku shuffle controls, it actually goes above and beyond to make your night easier. There's full integration with Netflix to support automated Instant Queue navigation, full keyboard support for any screen that requires text entry, direct navigation to user-organizable Channels, toolbars for added channel functionality within Netflix and support for the new "Instant Replay", "Info", and "Back" buttons. Heck, it's even compatible with iOS 4's background operation protocol. Head on past the break for a hearty demonstration, and tap that iTunes link when you're ready to ditch Apple's own Remote App and part ways with $2.99. Update: Hey Android users -- looks like someone's lookin' out for you, too. Check out Roku Remote over on your side.
Amazon planning subscription video service to challenge Netflix and Hulu?
Looks like one company's not ready to let Apple claim the spotlight with tomorrow's rumored $99 iOS-based Apple TV launch -- the Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon has a subscription-based streaming video service in the works. Reportedly focused on older content more easily pried from the iron fist of traditional media (similar to Netflix Watch Instantly and Hulu Plus), the service is aimed at the usual array of internet-connected devices -- the Xbox 360 was called out specifically -- and one anonymous source told the publication that Amazon intends to get the connected entertainment party started by Yuletide. Mind you, Amazon's not exactly new to the streaming video game. Remember Unbox? The day the company turned that service into Video on Demand it came with 40,000 programs -- a good 11,582 more than today's Hulu Plus. So, if the rumors are true, we imagine that over two years and many integrated systems later, Amazon might still have a decent leg up.
Cox to offer retail TiVo Premiere DVRs next year, first with cable VOD & Amazon, Netflix access
TiVo users, even with boxes provided by their cable company in the case of RCN and Comcast, have so far had to make a compromise: Choose their cable company's video on-demand offerings, or bring their own DVR and access online video from sources like Amazon and Netflix -- but that's no longer the case. Cox and TiVo have reached an agreement -- sound familiar? -- that will see allow retail CableCARD equipped TiVo Premiere DVRs to access Cox's VOD, as well as all that over the top internet video we've come to love. The SeaChange powered VOD will work similarly to RCN's, but we're waiting to see if this can give the new universal search an extra source to pull from as well. The deal also means Cox will cross promote the TiVo in its own marketing, and provide free installs for units purchased at Best Buy and other outlets including the TiVo website. The only bad news here? While TiVo plans to start testing later this year, it won't see a wide rollout (in "all major markets") until 2011. Check out the press release for all the details before calling your cable company, why should Cox customers get to choose between two different modernized, integrated set-top box platforms while the rest of us are stuck with interfaces and access rules that have been around since before the X-Games?
Project Leap hopes to hop into your TV screen, source-agnostic VOD in tow
Last year, Bittorrent portal Vuze allowed you to push downloaded video directly to game consoles and iDevices, sure, but the company's latest product promises to let you pull media from the internet and any network-connected device right to your TV. Dubbed "Project Leap," the application lets you simply type in the name of a film and searches your local computers, attached storage, Amazon, Hulu and Netflix databases for a match, after which point you can play, add it to your queue, begin instant streaming or purchase (if need be). The program pulls up a widget-like selection of additional data as well, including Rotten Tomatoes reviews and YouTube trailers, and those who enjoy company with their digital celluloid will be happy to hear to hear Twitter, Fandango and live internet chat might make appearances as well. Though we didn't get hands-on for ourselves, the scrolling, card-based interface seemed plenty polished in its present, five-button (up, down, left, right, ok) iteration -- the challenge now is to find a device manufacturer who'll build it into a set-top box or connected TV. Vuze CEO Gilles BianRosa said he might settle for it becoming a Google TV app or Yahoo widget itself, but only if the final combined product was simple; no offense to septuagenarian matriarchs, we're sure, but he told us it must be "grandmother" easy. While he said he's already received interest from unnamed consumer electronics companies, the product will launch one way or another -- even if Leap doesn't land in embedded hardware quite yet, a beta will be available in September for Mac and PC.
How would you change the TiVo Premiere?
TiVo loyalists have waited a long, long time for this. The Premiere is marketed as the DVR to end all DVRs, and unlike those plain-jane boxes served up at your local pay-TV provider, there's actually a decent amount of ingenuity within TiVo's freshest set-top box. Unfortunately, those good intentions didn't really lead to a beautiful implementation, and we found quite a few bones to pick during our time with it. Make no mistake -- TiVo's still charging a small fortune for the privilege of using its user interface and hearing its bloops and beeps, and frankly, we expected more for the premium. Are you in the same boat? Couldn't disagree more? We're anxious to see how you'd retool the Premiere if given the opportunity, and what you'd do differently now that you've been relying on it for the past couple of months. Go on, comments are waiting for you.
TiVo Premiere review
When we first heard rumors of new TiVo hardware back in April of 2009, our imaginations started racing. The current TiVo HD and HD XL have been the best DVRs on the market for their entire three-year run, and while they've received significant feature updates in that time, the overall experience of using a TiVo simply hasn't kept up with the explosion of online content and the revised viewing habits of consumers -- in fact, the interface has remained largely unchanged for nearly a decade. So while the actual TiVo hardware has actually gotten smaller and simpler, it's the software that's received a substantial makeover this time around -- it's migrated to Flash, and the main elements have been totally redesigned for HD displays and the invisible integration of online video services. Is it enough to keep TiVo afloat in a sea of cheap cableco DVRS? It is worth upgrading from an existing TiVo HD? There's only one way to find out -- read on for our full review. %Gallery-88972%
Leaked Dell Streak flyer shows multitude of color options, confirmed specifications
There's no denying that the Mini 5 is real, but up until now, we've had to provide all of our own promotional material. At long last, it seems as if the suits in Round Rock are finally getting around to crafting the first advertisements for the upcoming slate, and while we knew about the 5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, capacitive touch front buttons, front-facing VGA camera (for video chatting) and the 30-pin docking connector, we weren't aware of Dell's plans to reveal a slew of vivacious color options. If this here flyer proves legitimate, we could eventually see the Mini 5 available in an array of premium finishes and hues (thanks, Design Studio!), and we're hoping for a few different spec builds as well. So, are you opting for the pink, or are you crossing your fingers in hopes that Dell allows you to print that embarrassing shot of you and Mr. T on the rear of one? Update: Oh, snap! We just landed a few more official slides from an internal Dell document, and it's safe to say that the company is going to call this beauty the Streak. Or, at least that's the internal codename. Better still, it looks as if it'll launch with an Amazon content partnership, which will bring a Kindle e-book reader app, Amazon MP3, Amazon video streams and pretty much any other material that Amazon sells in digital form right to the slate. C'mon now -- how's about a ship date and a price? %Gallery-87842%
Sony's $200 BDP-S470 is company's first 3D-ready Blu-ray player
And the flood gates are now officially open. Just hours after Panasonic introduced its newest 3D Blu-ray recorders and players, along comes Sony to brag about its first 3D-ready standalone deck. The BDP-S470, which is slated to ship later this month for $200, arrives with the ability to handle BD, DVD, CD and even SACD, with a 3D Blu-ray upgrade (via firmware update) planned for this summer. You'll also find BD-Live support, BRAVIA Internet Video, a USB socket for playing back media stored elsewhere, 1080p DVD upscaling and TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. If you were planning to snag a BDP-S570 BD player or one of the BDV-E770W / BDV-E570 Blu-ray Disc home theater systems, you'll be elated to know that those systems will also get a gratis 3D update in just a few months, with exact pricing and release details tucked down there in the source. Time to pick up a pair of 3D Gunnar Optiks, don'tcha think?
New Sony Blu-ray players do 3D, WiFi, iPhone remote, more
Since releasing the initial Blu-ray players on the market years ago, Sony has been lagging a little behind in regards to features. Today that's about to change as the top of the line BDP-S770 (pictured above) not only supports 3D, but also has built in WiFi, and iPhone/iPod Touch app for a remote (in addition to the standard remote) and plenty of streaming options like Netflix, Amazon and many others. The BDP-S570 also has built in WiFi, but unlike the 770, it will require a firmware update before DLNA works. The BDP-S370 brings the line home which is similar to its bigger brothers but requires an optional WiFi adapter if you need wireless.
Amazon Video on Demand supports 5.1 surround on TiVo (plus hands-on)
So we were pretty bummed in our early testing of Amazon's newly HD-enabled Video On Demand service to find that it only streamed stereo audio instead of full 5.1 surround, but it looks like that's actually device-dependent -- we just tried it out on our TiVo HD, and movies play back in Dolby Digital 5.1. Yeah, that's still no Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD, but it's definitely a vast upgrade from the sad two channels we got off the Roku Video Player. So why the difference? The TiVo doesn't stream content like the Roku -- it actually downloads a video file and plays it locally from its hard drive. That means that in addition to surround audio, we also saw a pretty dramatic increase in picture quality over the Roku -- not exactly Blu-ray, but at least on par with the Apple TV, which also downloads content locally. Sure, downloading first means playback can be much slower to start, but we'll take the delay over a blocky image any day. Our only gripe is that the TiVo interface is far less attractive and workable than the Roku's -- although it has a search feature, everything seems a little clunky and thrown together, and the UI just feels plain slower. Overall, though, it's hard to see TiVo owners complaining about this upgrade -- check out a hands-on video after the break.
Amazon Video on Demand HD on Roku Video Player hands-on
Roku hooked us up with an early preview of Amazon Video on Demand in HD for its Video Player, and while we didn't have much time to poke around, but what we saw was mostly impressive. Video took a little longer to buffer in than Amazon SD or Netflix's HD streams on our 10Mbps cable connection, picture quality was noticeably better, although still not at Blu-ray levels. Apart from the HD content, the experience on the Roku box is essentially same as always: there's still no search in the interface, so be prepared to hunt around for what you want -- anything other than popular or blockbuster titles requires a little digging. Selection and pricing seem to be about on par with Apple TV / iTunes, but you're getting a little less for your money, since audio is stereo-only compared to Apple's 5.1 encoding. That's a potential dealbreaker for us, but it might not matter to you, and Roku's $99 Video Player is now an undeniably appealing way to beef up your HD content options. Short hands-on video after the break.
Amazon Video on Demand goes HD, comes to Panasonic VIERACast TVs
After months of leaked testing images and rumors, Amazon's finally updated its Video on Demand service to HD. 500 shows and movies will be available in high-def to start, and the service is expanding to include Panasonic VIERACast TVs in addition to Series3 TiVos, the Roku Video Player, and the Sony Bravia Internet Link. Head to head with the Apple TV, the only downside we see is that audio is stereo-only and not 5.1, but we're super-picky like that. Rental pricing will be between $3.99 and $4.99 for HD content, and the service should be live on all devices today -- let us know when you get the update. Full release after the break.
More proof that Amazon is about to sell high-def TV shows
We've seen sprinkles of hope that have led us to cautiously believe that Amazon was gearing up to start selling high-definition TV shows, and now our hearts are dead set on believing. Here recently, Amazon's Video On Demand service has been expanding onto just about every media playing console / box / etc. out there, but now that Apple has stepped up the game by offering HD movies for sale, it seems that Amazon's about to pop out some new functionality of its own. Long story short, the noodling crew over at NewTeeVee managed to poke around and find some pretty hard evidence that Amazon will soon be selling HD TV shows for $2.99 apiece, and while none of the links they stumbled upon were live, we reckon it's only a matter of time at this point.[Via Boy Genius Report]
PlayOn media server upgraded with Amazon VOD & plugin beta
Just in time to ease worries that your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or other DLNA-capable device was falling behind the Roku video player in video capability, MediaMall has updated its PlayOn software for Amazon Video On Demand access. Version 2.59.3352 went out earlier today and also enables a beta version of its plugin system, that should allow interested providers to put their feeds into the PlayOn browser starting right now with Revision3. What's next? ABC.com on the content side and the Nintendo Wii on the hardware end. Of course, we could've just mentioned the (still working) Hulu to your TV access which is at least enough reason to give it a trial run.
Roku Amazon Video on Demand hands-on
Roku was nice enough to upgrade our player for Amazon Video on Demand a little early, and we're basically impressed -- although we're not in love with SD video and stereo audio, it's hard to complain about a free service update. Actually, that might be the best thing about the newly-rebranded Roku Video Player: Roku's opening the platform to third-party channels, so eventually the $99 box will be able to stream from all kinds of sources. Amazon is just the first additional channel built using the new tools, and for the most part, things work just like Netflix -- the interface has been only slightly modified to enable selecting content from the box itself instead of from your online queue. We're talking really slightly: there's no search interface, so it's sort of like having lots of categorized queues. One minor complaint: the rental clock starts when you purchase content, not when you start playback, which isn't necessarily the most flexible setup, but it makes sense given the streaming-only nature of the service, we suppose. That said, purchasing is easy and fast, and we had no problems streaming in the highest-available quality on our 10Mbps cable connection -- Max Payne didn't look super-awesome in SD, but it was certainly watchable. Bottom line? It's perfect for a bedroom, but we're way more particular about the home theater -- Roku tells us the Video Player can actually do 1080i and 5.1 if the content is there, so hopefully we'll see someone leverage those capabilities and turn this thing into a $99 Apple TV / Vudu killer. Quick little demo vid after the break.%Gallery-46283%
Amazon Video on Demand arrives on the Roku Video Player
Amazon Video on Demand has been in private beta on the Roku Video Player for about a month now, but now everyone can stream rentals and purchases to their TVs. The free Roku update enabling the service will roll out this week, and once it's installed, you'll be able to browse, rent, and purchase any of Amazon's 40,000 movies and TV shows. The interface is an extension of the familiar Netflix interface, slightly re-jiggered for selecting content directly from the box instead of the web, and payments are authorized with a five-digit PIN so the kids can't go on crazy buying sprees. Not a bad little bump for the $99 box, but until Amazon gets HD and surround audio we don't know if it'll be enough to take on the competition. Full release after the break.
Sony expands connected BRAVIA HDTV line with new W-Series
While these three weren't quite ready for CES, they're still being debuted in Las Vegas alongside Sony's new Blu-ray devices. The W-Series, as with the recently announced BRAVIA Z5100 and XBR9 models, is fully equipped with an Ethernet jack and a Yahoo!-powered widgets engine. Consumers who bite on the 52-inch KDL-52W5100, 46-inch KDL-46W5100 or 40-inch KDL-40W5100 can expect easy access to Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, Sony Pictures content, etc. The new family also includes Sony's Motionflow 120Hz technology, DLNA compatibility, a USB port for loading up external media, BRAVIA Sync (HDMI-CEC), four HDMI inputs and the Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface. As expected, each one sports a 1080p panel, and while pricing details are still sorely missing, the trifecta should hit retailers later this Spring. Full release is after the break.
Amazon Video On Demand content comes to Panasonic TVs
Hooking up with digital content distributors is definitely the thing to do here at CES, and you ought to know that Panasonic isn't leaving Vegas without a partner of its own. In between announcing snazzy new HDTVs and a litany of camcorders, the company has proudly announced a partnership with Amazon that will bring Amazon Video on Demand material to VIERA Cast TVs. The service is expected to launch early this year, and quite honestly, we're hoping that this isn't the only release of this kind. For Panasonic's sake.
Roku digital video player adding Amazon Video On Demand
Roku owners looking to go discless are one step closer, now that Amazon Video On Demand will be available on the box after a free software update in early 2009. Fulfilling the promise of more "big name" providers to come, flicks like The Dark Knight, Pineapple Express or any of Amazon's 40,000 other titles can be purchased and played back to the TV for a 24 hour window. The bad news? Max bitrate is an h.264 compressed 1200Kbps. Not bad if SD only is your bag, but we're even more eagerly awaiting another Amazon VOD HD rumor.
