Amazon Launches Unbox Video Downloads

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.amazon.com/b/?&node=16261631' target='_blank'>http://www.amazon.com/b/?&node=16261631</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/amazon-unbox-logo.gif" /><br /><br />Amazon has just launched their online video ordering system, and it looks pretty slick - though, unfortunately, it's available to US-based customers only, so I can't actually order any videos. Prices are about what I'd expect: $1.99 for one-hour TV shows such as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000HAEK40/ref=amb_link_3401662_4/102-0696570-7256951">24</a> (with a 20% discount for buying the whole season) and full-length movies range in price from $9.99 to $14.99. That seems a bit high to me, though the price is offset by the fact that the purchase price includes two versions: one DVD-quality download for playback on a PC, and one mobile-ready version for playback on a portable video device. Both downloads seem to be WMV and use Microsoft DRM, so iPods won't be compatible.<br /><br />Amazon has an impressive array of TV channels, including A&amp;E, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, BBC, The Biography Channel, Cartoon Network, CBS, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, E!, Fine Living, FOX, FX, MTV and others. Movie studios that have signed on so far: 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros.<br /><br />Supported mobile devices include the Creative Zen Vision: M, Creative Zen Vision, Toshiba Gigabeat S, Archos AV 500, Archos AV 700 and the iRiver PMC (Portable Media Center). No word on other supported mobile devices, but given that PlaysForSure support is required, I'm inclined to think that Windows Mobile 5 devices will also work, but seeing as I can't order a movie, I have no way of testing this. Someone care to give it a try? Once the DRM authentication happens, Windows Media Player should offer to transcode the video file is necessary.<br /><br />The whole thing centres around the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/video/help/install-client.html/ref=atv_dp_faq_cdl/102-0696570-7256951">Amazon Unbox Video Player</a>, a Windows-based software application that serves as the central point for movie ordering and transfers. Unfortunately, this service <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=atv_dp_cs_tv/102-0696570-7256951?ie=UTF8&nodeId=3748#watch_tv">does not allow DVD burning</a> in a format that a DVD player can read. There's no mention of a Windows Media Center Edition 2005 plugin either, so I think the "TV" portion of this offering is a bit ridiculous. What do you think of what Amazon is offering? Is it compelling enough for you to try? They're offering a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/video/help/promohelp.html/ref=amb_link_3187542_1/102-0696570-7256951">$1.99 rebate</a> on your first purchase, so if you're in the USA, go grab a free TV show!

[Phillip Dyson]

If the Scifi Channel was included, I'd be all over it.
Of course what I'm looking for is something compatible with my SageTV setup.

My kingdom for a download service that doesn't require a standalone player.

[malcolmsharp]

If the Scifi Channel was included, I'd be all over it.
Of course what I'm looking for is something compatible with my SageTV setup.

My kingdom for a download service that doesn't require a standalone player.

Both Star Gates are included. Firefly, too.

[Phillip Dyson]

Both Star Gates are included. Firefly, too.

Yeah, but the crown jewel is Battlestar Galactica. 0X

***long quote edited by mod JD***

[Ed Hansberry]

Both Star Gates are included. Firefly, too.

Yeah, but the crown jewel is Battlestar Galactica. 0X

:werenotworthy:

[GoldKey]

Just an FYI, Sci-Fi is having a Firefly marathon of the entire series starting at 8am (Eastern) on September 18th. Even though I am a huge scifi fan, I've never seen the show, but am really looking forward to getting the whole thing in one shot.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Firefly in one shot? You will NOT regret it.

[dcharles18]

Here's my beef with this: Call me crazy but if I purchase something to own it, then I should own it. I should be able to take it with me to watch where I want when I want. Be it at home, at a friend's house, on vacation, or on my mobile device. Until all this proprietary stuff stops, I'll stick with DVDs.

[Brad Adrian]

I've tried CinemaNow, and it offers downloading and burning of the actual DVD in its original format. So, I can play it on my DVD player. But, if I want to watch it on my Pocket PC, I've still got to rip it. SO, the Amazon offering has things I like and things I don't like.

IMO, what ultimately makes ANYTHING like this work is SELECTION. If a store has WHAT people want, they'll find a way to make it work HOW they want.

Forget about formats, burning, players, etc. Focus on how complete their shelves are.

BTW, this is a PERFECT play into how Amazon has gotten so filthy rich; now, they don't have to even have partners that keep actual DVDs on shelves. All they need is a server(s) that can handle the downloads.

[Underwater Mike]

Here's my beef with this: Call me crazy but if I purchase something to own it, then I should own it. I should be able to take it with me to watch where I want when I want. Be it at home, at a friend's house, on vacation, or on my mobile device. Until all this proprietary stuff stops, I'll stick with DVDs.

Ditto, and I am an Amazon fan. I don't buy digital content that comes with substantial limitations on how I may reasonably use it.

[DaleReeck]

Here's my beef with this: Call me crazy but if I purchase something to own it, then I should own it. I should be able to take it with me to watch where I want when I want. Be it at home, at a friend's house, on vacation, or on my mobile device. Until all this proprietary stuff stops, I'll stick with DVDs.

Unfortunately, I don't think the "proprietary stuff" will ever stop. DRM is here to stay.

[CTSLICK]

With no DVD ripping and no defined way to put this onto my TV set I'll pass for now. But things are getting closer.

[JvanEkris]

I agree. The stuff on the shelves sounds fantastic, but if there is no way to get this to a mobile device I own, I gotta pass. What I personally see as a problem is that there are far more PocketPC's/Smartphones out there than PlayForSure-certified dedicated solutions. So I do not understand their coice....

Jaap

[Jason Dunn]

Has anyone tried buying a TV show and synching it to their Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC? I'm really curious to see if that will work...

[PPCRules]

Here's my beef with this: Call me crazy but if I purchase something to own it, then I should own it. I should be able to take it with me to watch where I want when I want. Be it at home, at a friend's house, on vacation, or on my mobile device. Until all this proprietary stuff stops, I'll stick with DVDs.
Or compensate for it with a significantly lower price. Why would anyone pay DVD prices for something with [even these looser than some] restrictions?

I wish these schemes would fall flat on their faces, but unfortunately they'll be "successful" enough that nothing will change for the better. It's the whole ebook thing all over again, but there are a lot more vegging customers for video than there are for books, so this will look like a relative success.

[pacer1079]

Has anyone tried buying a TV show and synching it to their Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC? I'm really curious to see if that will work...

:cry: They'll be no 24 on my XV6700, that's for sure. I've tried synching and it won't recognize my phone. It just says "No device detected"

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[pacer1079]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

I'm also sorry to be the jumper of the gun :)

A quick reboot of my laptop and Amazon UnBox happily recognized my PDA. 24 hasn't finished downloading yet (I interrupted it wit my reboot), but when it does I'll post again to let you know how I made out.

***quote edited down by mod JD***

[JvanEkris]

A quick reboot of my laptop and Amazon UnBox happily recognized my PDA. 24 hasn't finished downloading yet (I interrupted it wit my reboot), but when it does I'll post again to let you know how I made out.Sounds promissing!

Jaap

[Paul Martin]

I haven't downloaded my freebie TV show yet. I was doing some looking around and found this article through digg.com:

From Amazon Spends Over A Year Developing Movie Download Service Then Shackles It With Absurd Restrictions (http://www.uninnovate.com/2006/09/08/amazon-spends-over-a-year-developing-movie-download-service-then-shackles-it-with-absurd-restrictions-4/)
You must give Amazon an absurd amount of control over your computer

In what must be the scariest license agreement in years, Amazon is requiring an amazing amount of control over your computer if you want to use Unbox. According to the license agreement:

* You must install any software patch Amazon releases or you can no longer watch movies you have already purchased. Imagine if you couldn’t watch DVDs anymore unless you agreed to let Sony poke around inside your DVD player anytime it wanted.
* You must agree to let Unbox report what movies you watch back to Amazon without notice.
* If you try to uninstall Amazon’s Unbox player for any reason, Amazon has the right to automatically delete all of your movies without notice to you.
* You have to agree to let Amazon spam your computer with “promotional downloads” that appear unsolicted in your Unbox player. You also have to agree to let Amazon delete these promotional downloads from your computer without notice.
* Amazon can discontinue the Unbox service at any time without liability. What happens to all the movies you bought then?
* Amazon can change the terms of the agreement at any time and you must agree to the changes or you lose the right to continue watching all of the movies you bought.

Yes, you read that right. You have to pay just as much money to build an Unbox video library as it would cost to build a DVD library, but you can lose the whole library at Amazon’s whim with no recourse.

Somehow I don’t think this is going to be the hit service Amazon that hopes it will be.

[Paul Martin]

OK. Here's my user experience. The short version :evil:

The details. I browsed through to find a tv/movie. I found one and did the purchase. I discovered that although the prices were the same, there were some that were long features and others very short. I picked a movie about the Marines, mainly because it was listed as 120 minutes..more for my free money. :) Somewhere in the midst of downloading, IE flaked out but the movie continued to download. Though I have a 6 MB cable connection, download speeds were only around 3-400 k, so it took a while.

On the desktop, it puts the wmv file in your documents folder under \My Videos\Amazon\ but it does allow you to change this allocation. It also made a second copy of the file with "(Mobile)" added to the end and uses an amzn extention.

After a reboot in the morning, I plugged in my Dell X51V. I figured a newer device might work. It gave me a Device Error: Not Implemented. But, it DOES show up (under the Pocket PC's device name in the Device section of the Unbox player) as well well as the CF Card that's in it. I tried to use it to copy over the movie file. It does say something about checking license, etc. I realized I had too much junk on my 2 gig CF card and tried to copy it back to the desktop. The Unbox player gave me a communications error...surprise.
:lol: But, now when I try to copy over the file, it says "Device Error: Cannot create a file when that file already exists". I cannot find the file anywhere on my CF card to delete it and start over. I found that it does create a hidden folder WMDRM folder with some small file...perhaps a key or some sort of cert. I tried renaming the folder. It also created the following from the root CF directory \Video\Amazon but I can't find any files in it. I tried deleting that folder. Neither action "reset" the card, so I've sent an e-mail on to Amazon's help to see if anything comes if it.

So, if I had paid with the intent of watching on my PPC, I'd be a little ticked, but since it was free...it was just a waste of time. YMMV.

[Jason Dunn]

Thanks for giving it a go pmradio!

[Paul Martin]

Just wish it "went". On a hunch, I renamed the "mobile" file with the (Mobile).amzn at the end to just .wmv. It would play on my desktop and appears to be a much smaller "mobile" version. Still having no success with the Unbox player, I copied the renamed file directly to my CF card. When I tried to get my Dell to play it, it tried to find a license and then bailed when I had it hooked up to my desktop (the pass-thru is not working for me). I tried again while on wifi and it also failed, but launched the Amazon Unbox page in my browser.

I'll post back if I get a response from Amazon.

[Paul Martin]

I did hear back from Amazon. Here's some of their response:

Hello from Amazon.com.

I have read over your email, and I do apologize but since you used a device that is not listed in the approved supported devices for Amazon Unbox. We are unable to assist you in your issue, I have included additional information that may help you fix your problem.


It then just explains the basics of how it automatically transfers to approved devices.

As an aside, since WM 10 would play the video, I tried using it sync to my PPC so that the license would be copied (both the original and the renamed AMZN file. It failed, saying it was unable to obtain license. Wish there was a way to copy that particular license file over.

A little more info on the file itself:

Original file
Bit Rate: 2.68 Mbps
Video Size: 640 x 480
Audio Codec: Windows Media Audio 9.1 Professional 192 kbps, 48 kHz, 2 channel 24 bit 2-pass VBR
Video Codec: Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile

AMZN file
Bit Rate: 696 Kbps
Video Size: 320 x 240
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: Windows Media Audio 9.1 96 kbps, 44 kHz, stereo 2-pass CBR
Video Codec: Windows Media Video 9