Amazon Unbox Video Downloads

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Amazon Unbox

Did Amazon beat Apple to the punch? We’re all speculating that Apple will release some kind of movie download service next week, but Amazon did it today. They’ve officially opened Amazon Unbox, a download service for DVD quality video from 30 TV and movie studios.

Mac users won’t be too happy about this, as the new Unbox video service doesn’t work on a Mac, and the movies won’t play on an iPod. The service only works with Windows XP, SP2 and above. You also have to install the “Amazon Unbox™ Video software”.

You can get the full details over at Playlist Mag

6 thoughts on “Amazon Unbox Video Downloads”

  1. As I am a regular customer of Amazon’s I wish them luck in their venture, but I wish they would have chosen an open format. This proprietary model is getting out of hand. The media companies gain success, but customers suffer. Won’t work on an iPod??!!?? I don’t think the overwhelming popularity of the iPod is a flash in the pan. I don’t think we even need to address the frustration of the Mac movie lovers. But Windows users who love their ipods won’t be able to make their downloaded movies portable. Does this seem exclusionary to anyone else? Here’s a shiny, new, red bicycle…but you can only ride it in your driveway…in circles.

    Some mobile phone carriers (read Verizon) are opening similar media outlets (read VCast) that work in a proprietary format. They advertise that their phones will play mp3s. Great, I’ve got mp3s. What is not as openly advertised is that the mp3s are encoded into m4as with Windows Media Player 10, which is only available for Windows. You really need to do cartwheels to get your iTunes playlists to play on Verizon compatible hardware.

    Everyone is trying to take Apple head-on. Video is video and songs are songs, let paying customers use them how they’d like without a 4-5 step workaround the proprietary format.

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