Amazon launches Unbox Video downloads Service

A long awaited online video service has finally rolled out on Sept. 7 by the leading purveyor of goods online, Amazon.com, in a hope to launch online movie watching to the masses in the manner it did online shopping.

Through the newly introduced service, called AmazonUnbox, the widely known e-commerce site has started selling digital products, offering movies and television shows that can be downloaded and watched on a computer or portable video player.

The move to sell downloadable entertainment is the first major effort by Amazon. Seattle, Washington-based Amazon has at times moved toward offering music downloads but never introduced a music service. Nonetheless, it offers some free promotional music files.

Amazon’s Unbox Video Service features a stuff of entertainment including current releases and classics (movies, TV shows, sports events, etc.), from suppliers that include six major Hollywood studios. The service enables consumers to transfer the desired stuff to their computers.

The AmazonUnbox will retail most movies for $7.99 to $14.99 and most television shows for $1.99 (the same price as Apple’s iTunes Music Store). The service will offer TV shows from such networks as CBS, Fox, A&E and MTV and the films, including "V for Vendetta" and "Ben Hur". Consumers can also take movies on rent for a 24-hour period for $3.99. For many new movies, Amazon’s $14.99 maximum price is lower than other download services, like Movielink, which offers most new releases for $19.99. As a matter of fact, Amazon is the first video service to license the original “Star Trek” series.

In case of buying, the user will be able to keep the videos and in case of renting, the videos will expire.

Amazon’s new video service will compete with an array of digital video stores including iTunes Music Store of Apple, Google, Movielink, CinemaNow Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL.

The online service provider said users downloading full-length movies, will each take up about two gigabytes of hard drive space, over cable broadband connections could generally start watching them within 5 minutes. It offers DVD-quality downloads; triple the video quality of the leading competitors, and a free downsized version for some Microsoft Windows-compatible portable devices.

The new service also includes some Amazon twists, like user reviews and features from the retailer's Internet Movie Database website.

Despite the major chances of getting fame with its new quality services, AmazonUnbox is also criticized by some analysts. The new service too has some drawbacks. For instance, it is restricted by a raft of viewing limitations imposed by movie studios. Consequently, says Phil Leigh, president of Inside Digital Media, a Tampa market researcher, "This is going to appeal to only a small sector of the market."