Although there have been rumors swirling for months that it was going to happen, TiVo has officially confirmed that Amazon Unbox will be going HD.
“Unbox, the content-downloading service TiVo started with Internet retail leader Amazon.com last year, can’t process HD content, though the companies will announce HD capabilities “in the not too distant future,” Mr. Denney of TiVo said.
Amazon explains the process of using Unbox on TiVo on its official site. “After a simple registration process, you will be able to shop for Unbox videos to your TiVo DVR from two places - the Amazon Unbox website and directly from your TiVo DVR.
If you’re shopping on the Amazon Unbox Website, just look for the TiVo logo to find TiVo-enabled videos. You’ll be able to select your TiVo DVR as a RemoteLoad download destination each time you purchase or rent a video at amazon.com/unbox.
To shop for Unbox videos from your TiVo DVR, select “Find Programs” > “Download TV & Movies” > “Amazon Unbox”. You’ll find a great selection of movies and TV shows to watch right on your TiVo.”
TiVo executives also added however that a few kinks will need to be “ironed out”, mostly bandwidth constraints.
Price is not known for HD movie rentals as of yet but if previous customer surveys are a judge then the cost will be $4.99 USD, the same as iTunes’ current model.
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TiVo has announced that it will be making Disney movies available for download on-demand later this year through a new deal with online content distributor CinemaNow.
The deal, which was struck with both Disney-ABC and CinemaNow, will allow Series2 and Series3 subscribers to download the Disney movies as 24 hour rentals. There was no word on price, or a launch date for the on-demand downloads but we will keep you updated.
The new deal will add to TiVo’s already extensive 30,000 title catalog from Amazon Unbox, Music Choice, and Jaman.
TiVo currently has to compete against set top boxes from powerhouses such as Netflix, Apple, and Vudu and there has been word that Blockbuster and DirecTV are both looking into set-top boxes for consumers to stream movies directly to their TVs.
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During his speech at the “D6: All Things Digital conference”, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been quoted as saying that his company has been working on a pay-per-view streaming service and that the new option should be launching within the next few weeks.
The service is “meant for a subset of people willing to pay to view sans ads.” It is also clear that the service will be in addition to the to the digital downloads offered by Amazon Unbox.
Bezos also added that his company is not trying take down the market leader iTunes but that “sensible owners want alternatives” and with that statement he is very correct.
It should be interesting to see how well this service works and we will keep you updated.
