VOTW: Amazon’s Cloud Services Outage
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, April 25, 2011 · 
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And last but not least, our video of the week (VOTW). Keith Shaw of IDG Enterprise chats with Network World’s Jon Brodkin about the Amazon EC2 cloud service outage that brought down some high-profile websites last Thursday. This is a black eye for Amazon and for the cloud services industry as a whole, leading some analysts to question if companies will think twice about relying on the cloud in the future. For more, see this PC World post.
Could Netflix Lose Subscribers?
Posted by Steve Fravel on Monday, February 28, 2011 · ·
A poll conducted by The Diffusion Group indicates that if the Amazon Prime movie streaming product is comparable, roughly 32% of the Netflix subscriber base would choose Amazon.
Amazon has indicated that it will make approximately 5,000 titles available for streaming and would include them with no additional fee in the Amazon Prime program. Amazon Prime requires a $79 annual fee.
Two thousand Internet households were included in the survey which consisted of two questions concerning Netflix and Amazon. Of the Netflix subscribers who also have Amazon Prim memberships, 36.2% indicated they would drop Netflix while 32.6% indicated a willingness to use both services.
While most of the attraction to the Amazon product may be the perception that it is going to be less expensive, Netflix could be looking at a substantial loss in its subscriber count.
Amazon Officially Launches Unlimited, Streaming Video Service
Posted by Jesse Ward on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 · ·
Amazon officially launched its much anticipated over-the-top (OTT) video service this morning. The service is free for Amazon Prime members and includes access to unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of more than 5,000 movies and TV shows.
Amazon Prime is a membership program that offers customers unlimited free two-day shipping with no minimum purchase requirement for $79 a year. Movies and TV shows included with an Amazon Prime membership can be watched instantly on Macs, PCs and nearly 200 models of Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes. Read more
Amazon Testing Unlimited Streaming Video Service
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, January 31, 2011 · ·
Over the weekend, Engadget broke the story that Amazon is testing a new unlimited streaming video subscription service which will complement its existing video on demand (VoD) offering. The tech blog posted multiple screenshots of an Amazon webpage with the wording “Your Amazon Prime membership now includes unlimited, commercial-free instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows at no additional cost.”
Amazon Prime currently costs $79 per year and offers subscribers two-day shipping on Amazon.com purchases. In comparison, Netflix’s Watch Instantly unlimited streaming package costs $95.88 per year ($7.99/month). Read more
OTT Wars: Apple, Amazon and Google
Posted by Jesse Ward on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 · ·
Apple's new video device and service
The video device market is heating up as new entrants battle it out for the consumer’s attention and a share of the $180 billion global TV advertising market.
Last week Apple unveiled a new generation of Apple TV, an Internet-connected set-top box which will stream content from Apple’s iTunes store, eliminating the need for storage or syncing. The new Apple TV is a small black box that features an HDMI port capable of 720p output, OpticalAudio and Ethernet.
Apple will offer first-run HD movie rentals for $4.99 and HD library titles for $3.99. Apple also offers standard definition movies for $3.99 for new releases and $2.99 for library titles. Rentals be watched within 30 days; once you begin watching a movie, you need to finish it within 24 hours.
Perhaps most importantly, Apple has negotiated for streaming TV rentals from News Corp.’s Fox, The Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, ABC Family and Disney Channel, and BBC America. HDTV rentals will cost 99 cents per show and be available for 48 hours after purchase. Read more
Amazon: eBooks Outsold Physical Books on Christmas Day
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, January 4, 2010 · ·
Amazon announced that its Kindle eBook Reader hit two large milestones this past holiday season. It became the most gifted item in the retailer’s history. Also of note, on Christmas Day for the first time Kindle books outsold physical books.
But what’s missing from the party is any substantive, qualitative sales data on the number of units sold. Despite media requests for the info, Amazon is holding back on the stats. Read more