Press release follows verbatim:
Amazon.com today announced the launch of Amazon Unbox(TM), a new digital video download service offering customers thousands of television shows, movies and other video content from more than 30 studio and network partners from Hollywood and around the world. Unbox is the only video download service to offer DVD-quality picture. In addition, Unbox RemoteLoad(TM) technology allows customers to buy from one PC (such as an office computer) and download to another (such as a home computer). Customers can visit http://www.amazon.com/unbox to try the Unbox service with a free TV show.
Unbox offers triple the video quality of the leading commercial Internet video services, delivering content encoded at 2,500 kilobits per second using the ultra-efficient VC-1 Advanced Profile codec. At no additional charge, Unbox also automatically includes a second file optimized for playback on any Windows Media-compatible portable device. In addition, Unbox uses progressive download, eliminating the need to wait for the entire video to download before watching. This means the typical cable broadband customer can start watching any Unbox TV show or movie within five minutes of ordering.
“Amazon Unbox offers TV and movie enthusiasts a fast, convenient way to watch thousands of their favorite videos from around the world,” said Bill Carr, Amazon.com’s vice president of digital media. “Now Amazon.com customers can choose to get videos delivered to their doorstep from Amazon’s DVD store or choose Amazon Unbox and download DVD-quality picture movies or television shows to their PC.”
Unbox RemoteLoad technology offers customers the convenience of shopping for Unbox videos on Amazon.com from any Internet-connected PC — like their PC at the office — and download their videos to that PC or any other connected PC — like their PC at home. Plus, customers get the added flexibility of taking their video collection on the go using any Windows Media video-compatible portable device, including the popular Creative Zen Vision:M.
“Amazon has built the ultimate solution for anyone who has ever had a friend or coworker tell them that they missed a great TV show last night,” said Carr. “Now customers can visit Amazon.com while at work and download DVD-quality TV shows and movies to their PC at home or wherever it is most convenient for them to watch.”
Amazon Unbox customers will be able to access their videos in the Amazon Your Media Library, a personalized Web page that indexes and organizes their media purchases from Amazon.com, including books, CDs, DVDs and Unbox Videos. Your Media Library provides each Unbox customer a place to keep track of their Unbox video purchases, and even download them to an additional PC.
Amazon Unbox customers can download episodes of their favorite television shows that aired as recently as last night or favorites from decades past. Unbox offers current hits from top networks like CBS with “CSI” and “Numb3rs” and FOX with “24” and “Prison Break” as well as classics like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Firefly” and “Star Trek.” Unbox also offers a broad selection of popular shows from cable networks such as A&E, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, FX and several channels from MTV Networks, including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV and VH1. From September 14th through September 27th, all of the final, cliffhanger episodes from last season’s “CSI,” “CSI: Miami” and “CSI:NY” will be available for $0.01 to celebrate CSI Week and the launch of the season for all three “CSI” series.
Several television series and films will make their digital download debut with Amazon Unbox, including all 79 episodes of the original “Star Trek” series (plus the pre-Shatner original pilot), many anime series including “Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.” HGTV, FINE LIVING TV Network and VH1 are three networks making their digital download debut, offering titles such as “Design on a Dime,” “America’s Dream 18” and “Breaking Bonaduce,” respectively.
Movies available on Unbox include new releases such as “V for Vendetta,” “Inside Man,” “Failure to Launch,” “RV” and “Walk the Line” as well as numerous classics like “Ben Hur,” “Chinatown” and “Poseidon Adventure” from top studios including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. Unbox will also have independent films from studios such as Focus Features, Fox Searchlight and Lionsgate, including “Akeelah and the Bee,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “Friends With Money.”
Amazon Unbox also offers a broad selection of international television shows and films from the UK, Korea, Hong Kong and Japan. These include the epic Korean period drama “The Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-shin”; the popular BBC comedy “Coupling”; Hong Kong’s “Hand of Death,” directed by John Woo starring Jackie Chan; and Japan’s “Escaflowne.”
Unbox customers can purchase television series episodes for $1.99 per episode, purchase most movies for between $7.99 and $14.99, or rent the latest movies for $3.99. To learn more about Amazon Unbox and to download your first television show free of charge, visit http://www.amazon.com/unbox.
Participating Television Networks
A&E, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, BBC, The Biography Channel, Cartoon Network, CBS, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, E! Entertainment Television, FINE LIVING TV Network, FOX, Fuel TV, FX, HGTV, The History Channel, KBS (Korean Broadcast System), Logo, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, The N, PBS, Speed, Spike, Travel Channel, TV Land and VH1.
Participating Movie Studios
20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc.
Unbox Partner Quotes
CBS
“With its broad and extensive user base, impressive marketing capabilities and the Unbox technology, Amazon.com is uniquely positioned as a programming platform in the online world, and we’re excited to be one of their charter content providers,” said Larry Kramer, President, CBS Digital Media. “The site is a perfect vehicle to further extend the reach of our Network brand and create more opportunities for audiences to discover current and classic CBS programming.”
Fox Entertainment Group
“We expect the convenience of Amazon’s Unbox to be a catalyst in expanding the reach of our digital offerings,” said Peter Levinsohn, President, Fox Digital Media. “Amazon has made a name for itself as having the biggest selection of physical goods online. We are happy to be a part of its effort to realize this same goal in digital content.”
MTV Networks
“VH1 has chosen Amazon Unbox for our download-to-own premiere of select shows because it offers viewers a flexible and high-quality way to enjoy their favorite programs — the very qualities our 30-something viewers find important,” said Tom Calderone, executive vice president and general manager, VH1. “We are excited to join the other MTV Networks’ brands in this launch, and to extend VH1’s hit shows to yet another platform.”
Paramount
“Amazon is one of the great trusted brands in the digital space with an excellent track record of building direct consumer relationships via the Internet,” said Thomas Lesinski, President, Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment. “We are very excited about Amazon’s new Unbox service, which will provide consumers with a convenient high-quality option for downloading movies directly to their computers.”
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
“This agreement with Amazon is very exciting for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. It represents the first time one of our established customers has embraced digital distribution,” noted Benjamin S. Feingold, Worldwide President of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Digital Distribution and Acquisitions. “Sony and Amazon share the goal of delivering outstanding entertainment to consumers whenever they want it, on whatever platform they choose to experience it and in the most efficient manner possible, and we are delighted to partner with Amazon in fulfilling this mission.”
Universal Studios Home Entertainment (USHE)
“We are pleased to partner with Amazon on this exciting venture, which offers a convenient and flexible alternative for purchasing and enjoying Universal films,” said Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. “Consistent with NBC Universal’s strategy for ubiquitous content distribution, we are very excited to align with Amazon, a top-tier partner that is on the forefront of a unique new electronic sell-through technology to deliver our entertainment product: The Unbox Experience.”
Warner Bros. Entertainment
“Warner Bros. digital distribution strategy is to provide consumers with access to our world-class entertainment through as many platforms, devices and channels possible,” said Simon Kenny, President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “Amazon is the Internet’s leading online retailer, and our customers are already comfortable acquiring entertainment from the website. Unbox is a natural extension of this and a good fit for Warner Bros.”
MGM
“Delivering on our strategy of distributing MGM movies and television series on robust new digital platforms, we are very pleased to be able to offer MGM programming to the launch of Amazon’s Unbox service and hope to include additional product in the weeks to come as the service undoubtedly flourishes,” said Douglas A. Lee, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Digital Media at MGM. “We are thrilled to extend our partnership with Amazon as it introduces its millions of users to its new service, and welcome them to receiving new ways of obtaining MGM’s extraordinary library of films and television,” he said.
MacDailyNews Note: From the FAQ: Can I make a DVD from my Amazon Unbox downloads? You can store your downloaded files on a DVD or other removable computer storage device for the purpose of backup in the same format as the original files. However, any DVDs that you burn with Amazon Unbox files will not be readable by a DVD player. You can only view the files using Amazon Unbox installed on the computer that originally received the downloads.
Amazon Unbox System Requirements follow:
Minimum System Requirements:
OPERATING SYSTEM: The Amazon Unbox video player application is only compatible with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows XP Professional SP2, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition SP2, or Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2. The Amazon Unbox video player is not compatible with Apple/Macintosh operating systems.
COMPUTER HARDWARE: A PC with a 1.5-gigahertz (GHz) processor or faster, at least 512MB of memory, and a DirectX 9.0 complaint Video (64 MB Memory) and Sound Card.
INTERNET CONNECTION: Broadband internet connection capable of 800 kbps sustained transfer speeds.
Recommended System Specifications
COMPUTER HARDWARE: A PC with a 2.4-gigahertz (GHz) processor or faster, at least 1024MB of memory, and a DirectX 9.0 complaint Video (128 MB Memory) and a Multi Channel 5.1 Capable Sound Card.
INTERNET CONNECTION: Broadband internet connection capable of 1.5+ mbps of sustained transfer speeds.
MacDailyNews Take: “The popular Creative Zen Vision:M?” Yeah, right. Please define “popular,” Amazon. Come on, please, just for laughs? Fact: the Creative Zen Vision:M is about as “popular” as a case of the crabs (and we’re not talking about the online game).
Yet another Windows-only also-ran? Tsk, tsk. Not very smart to ignore the computer users with the most disposable income, Amazon.
Oh well, that’s okay, we can wait to spend our money until Tuesday. 
Compared to iTunes, this and other online media services look and feel like “rush jobs” to us. You can almost hear the Amazon execs screaming at their web coders late last night, “Rush, Jobs is launching in 5 days!!!” It’s not good when the press release is better organized than the website.
Addendum: As we wrote on August 29th, “Apple’s iTunes serves both Mac and Windows customers, as does Apple’s iPod. Obviously, all of these [other] services feel they need to use Microsoft’s DRM. Why they make this decision is another question, as using Microsoft’s DRM has proven to be a death sentence for many services for years now… Boil it all down and the basic question still remains: why can’t Microsoft make a DRM that’s Mac compatible? What exactly is the problem, Redmond?”
[UPDATE: 11:58pm EDT: Added to “Take.”]
Related MacDailyNews article:
It’s Showtime: Apple invites media to special event in San Francisco on September 12th – September 05, 2006
Steve Jobs says: ” The magic word is, appropriately, “expect.””
I think we all have been. For a long, long time now. And since this whole Intel deal was all about the video in the first place, I think we all also except it to be worth it.
Please, don’t disappoint.
My magic word is “district”, which is really appropriate too since … because … well … ok, it’s completely pointless to the conversation.
Shit.
Stoopid Magic Word!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”cool mad” style=”border:0;” />
this is complete bullshit. See Irene’s commen (#8)
Macs and iPods are the best selling products in their catagories on amaazon and they snub us. What a bunch of a@@H###!
I was about to order 20 workbooks at about $8 each for a class, but after reading Amazon’s lame and false statement blaming Apple, I will order it elsewhere.
Had an item on backorder at Amazon……. $400 + ……… not anymore.
I’m going to miss those little smiling boxes…
How the hell is Amazon snubbing Mac users?
Studios will not permit Amazon to sell movies and TV shows without DRM. Windows DRM is available to be licensed for Windows machines. Mac and iPod, on the other hand, have only Fairplay and Apple won’t license Fairplay. And Fairplay is the only DRM that works with the iPod.
So what’s Amazon supposed to do? Come up with a new DRM scheme for Macs because Apple won’t license Fairplay–and then have that new DRM scheme not work with iPods anyway?
Who the hell would waste the time and resources doing that?
Amazon’s FAQ is completely accurate.
If they had really tall, muscular women with lassos hand delivering the movies, I might be tempted.
What a bunch of drama queens. Seriously, threatening to not shop Amazon over this perceived slight? Think about it–would Amazon be selling Apple products at all if they had some sort of vendetta against Apple? Of course not. Given the chance, would they make their videos iPod compatible? Of course they will. They’re not idiots.
In all likelihood, they wanted to be first to market, and this was the quickest way to do it, with the maximum possible customer penetration (because Windows has the largest user base). Maybe at some point they’ll figure out how to make this compatible with Apple (then again, maybe not).
Besides, why are you all so all het up anyway? Chances are you’ll be using the iTunes store once it launches on Sept 12, so why complain about something you won’t be using?
So go ahead and boycott Amazon. Me, I’ll continue to buy books, DVDs and electronics from them. I’m not interested in overpriced video downloads anyway.
To leave a nasty message for Amazon.com … do the following-
1. go to Amazon.com
2. click on CSI video in far right column(top seller)
3.click on “see full system requirement”
4.click on “contact us” … by email
5.Blast Amazon for discriminating against Mac users and siding with the dark side of the force
6.tell everyone you know never to buy at Amazon and give them an alternate place to buy Mac stuff and any other stuff
7.rest and sleep well… prepare to continue the battle tomorrow
I just surfed over to Amazon to take a look. The interface is surprisingly confusing. It was difficult to tell what they were selling for download, what they were renting, and what they were selling. iTunes’ interface isn’t all that clever, but it gets the job done much better. I agree w/ MDN’s “Rush Jobs” theory.
I hope that Apple can debut a tighter solution next week–with more than one studio too!
OpJ,
In the same way that PCs are able to use Fairplay DRM because Apple wrote iTunes to work on Windows, the Mac would be able to run Windows DRM if MS would write Windows Media Player to work on the Mac. Apple isn’t forcing MS not to do so. (Amazon Unbox is a wrapper around MS Windows Media Player.) WMP used to work on the Mac, but not anymore.
But the worst thing about this is Amazon’s explanation for why it can’t do so. It blames Apple, rather than blaming Microsoft. We know that MS put them up to it because it echoes the comment MS once put up on its MSN music store explaining why songs bought on MSN don’t work on a Mac.
Do you understand now?
We’ll see how Amazon feels about partnering with MS when this fails, and MS decides to open its own store for its future Zune video device.
I’ve written to Amazon customer service and informed them that I will no longer be using their service.
If they choose to exclude mac users, why should I reward them with my business?
If Amazon chose to use the H264 MPEG4 standard in HD there would be no issues for it to play on Macs. It would not play on PCs though, unless they had QuickTime, VLC, or DivX too I think will play H264. Windows Media Player doesn’t support ISO Standard MPEG4. Microsoft decided that rather than support H264 like everybody else, they would strong arm the SMPTE group in to making Windows Media 9 an ISO standard and call it VC-1.
It took a long time for SMPTE to approve VC-1 and there were rumors that there was a lot of conflict and bitterness within the group over it. If you dig around you can also find news articles about how several other company’s code was found within the Windows Media code – part of becoming a standard means handing over your source for scrutiny. The stories quietly went away. VC-1 is just another example of MS trying to control things by creating their own standard that isn’t interoperable with anything else.
It stinks
Mo’s right; I read all those articles.
Wonder what made it go away quietly. MS payoffs for silence???
Boy, Amazon really threw this thing out the door. Everybody knows your don’t release anything on a Thursday and especially on a Friday, cause over the weekend it will be completely forgotten about, especially at Wall Street.
They should have at least announced it this past Monday or Tuesday to get any hype at all. This may be a godsend to all the sheep, but what device besides the iPod is gonna play it.
Netflix has everybody beat if you are gonna watch a DVD, but the iPod with video and hopefully the new full screen touch screen iPod give the movie downloads a mobile and transferrable solution in addition to burning one for your DVD player. Amazon knows they are gonna get smashed, so slapping it out the door on a late Thursday evening is their only moment for glory. Sure, a small percentage of the sheep will respond, but wait until Tuesday. And when they hit the wall, then everybody will be saying…Amazon…did’nt that used to be the online book seller? Stick with what you do best, Amazon.
Clinicaltechmaster:
I tried to follow your instructions to send an email to amazon and none of your instructions worked, man! Where is the systems requirements link? It’s no where to be seen. Do a search, it won’t even show up! Where is the contact us link? No where. Couldn’t find it after 10 minutes in customer service and help pages. The whole site is a nightmare.
Somebody please just post the email address here so we can write amazon!
“Unbox” is a stupid name.
I give it 3 months before somebody finds a way to put them on the iPod
I blame *both* Microsoft and Apple. Both stick stubbonly to proprietary rights management schemes that inevitably mean content will only play on one or other platform. We should be shouting for a true DRM standard, not supporting one proprietary brand over another.
There is no mention of whether you get the second DVD of deleted scenes, bloopers and games – I assume not.
Now what happens with macrovision protection? If I run Unbox through my home cinema will the screen go hazy as it tries to stop me recording it on my video player?
Also I’m not sure what percentage of people in the US have the PC near the TV, plus the technical ability to connect a PC to a TV, plus the necessary CPU & graphics power, plus Win XP, plus the broadband speed (with no monthly limit, unless you want to exceed it in a half dozen movies) plus an inclination beyond the curiosity factor.
What if I want to play a normal DVD or slideshow or music video or music CD – do I need to rewire the whole thing? Does Unbox have a Front Row-like interface that combines all my entertainment into one? To succeed the solution must be really simple.
Personally, unless an Apple set-top box comes on the 12th, I’m putting a Mac Mini in my hifi cabinet with an EyeTV Hybrid, sound through my stereo and DVI-video adapter to the TV. Simpler, if not simple.
I LOVE competition!!!!
I look eager to all the posters here complaining about the high prices and long download times do the same complaining when Apple announces their movie service next week.
The only difference will be with Apple´s movie service is that with AirPort you can beam the movie over to different Apple computers within your network – hence one would need a macmini hooked up to your TV….to be announced next week….
Well I decided to put my toe in the water and here is what I came up with:
• Using Parallels on a McBook Pro I downloaded the UnBox player (10 min. install)
• Went to amazon and paid 1.99 one-click for one episode of Star Trek TOS “Mirror Morror” (This episode still holds up remakably well given world events of today)
•Began watching the stream version within 5 minutes. Video on anything but the 2 inch by 2 inch was chppy as irratic
• 1 hour later had the full download. Fullscreen version marginally better than the streaming
•Can’t really do anything with thevideo after that.
•Thought: One might use something like SnapZ to capture and move to ipod, however very time consuming.
Conclusion: Think I’ll continue to use net flix to rent the shows I want and use MTR to “backup” any DVD for future use. Hope Steve has something better up his sleeve. So far downloadable video is kind of disappointing…
Once again MDN gets it right:
It’s not good when the press release is better organized than the website.
This hideous thing from Amazon is DOA.
I just posted this to Amazon customer service:
“I am extremely disappointed to see that your new Amazon Unbox service is not supported on Apple Macintosh computers, yet the top selling desktop computer, laptop and mp3 players on your site are all from Apple. It’s interesting that so many companies choose to ignore Mac users when those very users are shown to have more disposable income than Windows-users. Apple may not have licensed you their DRM, but Microsoft can certainly make theirs Mac compatible (as Apple does). Too bad you’ve chosen the same path that so many others choose to take — make something Windows-only compatible since it has overwhelming marketshare, despite being flawed on so many levels. I’ll be voting with my wallet. like many other Mac-users!”