17 July 2008
Amazon Rethinks Unbox, Debuts New Service Today
Posted by andybeach under: Announcements; Cool Technology; Ramblings; Software .
EDIT: Slight update - after reading more, looks like this is a new service, not replacement. Unbox remains available for download to own and rent, and this will be a streaming service, much like netflix’s instant queue. Curious to see how and where it integrates - maybe it will also show up on my little Roku box?
18 months old and its already being put out to pasture it seems….
Amazon has announced they will be rolling out a new download service, presumably to replace Unbox, which debuted about a year and a half ago. Now I actually use Unbox quite a bit, though I hated it when it first appeared.
Why the initial hate? The main reason was it was PC only and the second was files could only be played back (at that time) on the computer and a handful of portable device i didn’t own. Last fall I ditch my Time Warner cable boc for a Tivo Series 3 and Unbox suddenly because a great option for renting movies and buying TV shows I’d missed. During the writer’s strike, I watch the first full three season of House courtesy of Unbox. I have enjoyed the TV shows way more than the movie selection, though I have grabbed a few movies in time of desperation from here as well. All in all, I’ve enjoyed the service and the ability to buy both via the internet (like while i’m at work and remeber i want to watch something) or from the Tivo remote. The update to the Apple TV software early this year did mitigate my Unbox usage some, as I went back to actually using Apple TV some to watch shows, but again, I have liked the options Unbox has provided. My bigesst complaint (as with all online video services) is the content choices - give me more and i’ll be happy! 
If they would add Mac support, i’d be even happier - especially now that Silverlight would allow the same DRM video to be played on both platforms - but then that is a whole other complaint and blog post.
So I’ll be very curious to see how the Amazon service changes and whether the functionality i’ve gone used to is different (or god forbid missing) and if they are adding more or “better” content as they do the roll out.
As I read the releases, I’m slightly nervous that there was no mention of the Tivo integration and its support moving forward (the big Hardware announcement is support for the Sony Bravia TV’s). Still, we shall see what happens overt he next few weeks as this becomes available. Apparently its release is limited for now (boy, wonder how i get on that list?)
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