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L.A. Times sees possible competition for Netflix coming from Walmart, Best Buy, Vutopia and more
Until Amazon launched its Prime Instant Video service earlier this year Netflix was almost completely alone on the subscription video streaming mountaintop, but an article this weekend in the Los Angeles Times suggests there could be competition on the way. There's plenty of rumoring from analysts and the typical "people familiar with the matter, but their sources have been on the money in the past and indicate retailers like Walmart and Best Buy are seriously considering angling their Vudu and CinemaNow efforts in the subscription direction instead of VOD like they've done so far. Meanwhile Hulu Plus is reportedly considering expanding its movie selection, and Amazon is likely to puff up its offerings while iN Demand, the PPV baby of the cable companies, is considering expanding its 200~ title Vutopia service. Still, according to the article no one's signed any of the big checks necessary to take on the 20-million subscribers strong behemoth yet, but don't be surprised if serious competition arrives shortly.
Clicker.com analyzes Amazon Prime Instant Video offerings vs the competition
Amazon's Prime Instant Video service is finally here, and while we know how it works and that, unlike Netflix, it will play nicely with your 'Droid, how does its content measure up? Clicker.com pulls in feeds from all the online video sites and has broken down its data into this handy chart to investigate just that. The numbers above don't lie, Netflix has far more content at the moment, and right now, the Amazon service compares more directly to Hulu Plus than anything else. However, it is an excellent start for Amazon to grow from and the breakdown points out what numbers might miss -- while Amazon's movie selections are hurting for any high profile flicks not already on Netflix, it does bring some otherwise unavailable episodes of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, Bonanza and Dr. Who (1963) to bear -- click through for all the details, while it may not be enough to cause you to switch just yet there's definitely enough reason to keep an eye on this latest entrant to the market.
Amazon Prime members can stream movies, TV shows for free
Yes, it works on Macs. If you subscribe to the Amazon Prime service, which gets you free two-day shipping or overnight shipping for $3.99, you can now get about 5,000 movies to watch on demand at no additional cost. Amazon Prime costs US$79.00 per year. What's going on here? Well, Amazon has been rumored to be lusting over the Netflix space for some time. This update to Prime is likely an initial baby step, and it will get a lot of attention. The Amazon library is small with just 5,000 movies and TV shows, while Netflix can stream about 20,000 films. Customers will find some dogs like Battlefield Earth, cult flicks like Arlington Road and several decent documentaries like Ken Burns' National Parks. The feature also works on many interconnected TVs, Blu-ray players and set top boxes, so you can watch on your big screen. Non-members can try Amazon Prime for free for 30 days. The movies require Flash 10, so iPhones and iPads are a no-go -- it's not just like Netflix, which works on all iOS devices. Still, if you are an Amazon Prime member, it's a no brainer. If not, it might put you over the edge. Amazon Prime video streaming is a US-only feature.
Amazon Prime Instant Video hands-on
Amazon has just turned on its Prime Instant Video service, letting paid Prime subscribers (sorry, students) in the US (sorry, foreigners) stream any of 5,000 movies and TV shows directly to their machines free of charge -- well, free beyond the $79 Primers already pay. Jeff Bezos has confirmed that there will be no extra charge going forward for this service and that Prime itself will not be getting more expensive to pay for all these bits and bytes. Right now the selection is limited, particularly if you already have a Netflix subscription, but we just had to try it out. Click on through for our impressions on a variety of devices.
Rumor: Amazon could launch unlimited movie streaming in February, no major studios on board yet
Just a few days after we got an early peek at Amazon's unlimited movie streaming setup, the LA Times reports "people familiar with the matter" say we could see an official launch by the end of this month. Amazon apparently pushed back its original date for technical reasons and while it tries to acquire more content to take on Netflix. Amazon reportedly has yet to lock up content from any of the six major Hollywood studios, which matches the selections seen in our screenshots, as the studios continue to evaluate the impact of streaming on their DVD sales. Amazon may not be the only one jumping in either as Hulu Plus could be looking to add more movies, though both are primarily looking at titles more than seven years old. That's bad news if you were hoping to see a fresher selection than what Watch Instantly offers for your $7.99+ a month, but as always, any of these things could change before launch. %Gallery-115340%
Amazon rolling out Netflix-like unlimited video streaming for Prime subscribers?
Rumors of Amazon either purchasing Netflix or launching a competing option have been circling and now one of our readers says he's seeing an unlimited video streaming section to complement the current Amazon VOD options. That's a nice bonus for the $79 / year package that currently adds a few free shipping bonuses and it would be cheaper on a yearly basis than Netflix's Watch Instantly ($95.88.) As seen above and in the gallery, it consists of "unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows" with selections that mirror the Watch Instantly catalog closely. Resolution is apparently limited to a "pretty solid" 480p SD, but there's no word on audio or subtitle options. We'll wait to hear if anyone else is seeing a similar page before assuming a wide rollout, but it certainly appears that there could finally be a viable competitor to the Netflix juggernaut. Update: We weren't able to pull up the option on any of our Prime-enabled accounts and from the comments it doesn't appear any of you were either. According to our tipster, the option has disappeared from his page as well. One other interesting note came from commenter vfiz, who found that several variations of the primeinstantvideos.com domain name were registered by Amazon-owned DPReview January 5. %Gallery-115340% [Thanks, Pavel]
