Posted Mon Jan 31, 2011 at 03:40 PM PST by Dick Ward
If Amazon jumps into the ring, Netflix will finally have a real competitor.
There are plenty of digital video rental services out there, but there's only one that really stands out as wildly successful. Netflix is sitting pretty right now as the only streaming service to offer unlimited streaming with a low monthly fee, but that isn't going to last forever.
According to the folks over at Engadget, we may be seeing Amazon jump into the ring very soon. A source of theirs revealed some screenshots that he took of Amazon's new service and it could be a contender.
The tipster said that the option appeared under a new menu option - "Unlimited Instant Videos." The screenshots indicate that only Prime members are able to use the service, but that the service is free for Prime members. That means the Amazon streaming service would run around $6.50 a month and have added benefits to boot.
The option has already disappeared from Amazon's page, and we're left with a great deal of questions. Early screenshots revealed 480p streaming only, but could HD be on the way? Will this new service offer access to all of the video content on Amazon including television? Even more importantly, will we be able to access this service on our Blu-ray players, game consoles and connected TVs?
Source: Engadget
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