Amazon Targets Netflix with New Streaming Video Service

Amazon on Tuesday rolled out a new streaming video service aimed squarely at market leader Netflix. Marketed as part of the preexisting Amazon Instant Video, the service is free to Amazon's best customers, those who enroll in the company's Amazon Prime service.

Amazon Prime provides customers with free two-day shipping at a cost of $79 per year. And while that's already an enticing offer for heavy Amazon buyers—Amazon claims "millions" of subscribers—Instant Video access is an interesting addition. Netflix's cheapest offering, for $7.99 per month, provides streaming-only access but works out to be about $20 more per year than Amazon Prime.

If you just want the video access it as if the $79 per year cost is just a $6.58 a month charge. Tying it in with Amazon delivery means for heavy Amazon buyers it's a freebie!!

According to Amazon, Instant Video currently has more than 5,000 movies and TV shows available, but one issue compared with Netflix is accessibility. Whereas the Netflix streaming service is nearly ubiquitous and available from dozens of different devices, including HDTVs and devices that connect to HDTVs, Amazon Instant Video is currently available on Windows PCs and Macs as well as a growing collection of set-top boxes and other devices. But it's not as widespread as Netflix—at least not yet.

Not as rich a selection as netflix, but still ...

Netflix shares fell almost 6% following the announcement

Federal Appeals Court Green-lights Remote Digital Video Recorder(DVR)

The next-generation technology lets any cable subscriber with a digital cable box store TV shows on computer servers owned by a cable provider rather than having to have a separate DVR device in their home.

Cablevision's system was challenged by a group of Hollywood studios that claimed the remote-storage DVR service would have amounted to an unauthorized re-broadcast of their programs.

The Motion Picture Association of America, whose members include major movie and television companies, said in a statement it was reviewing the decision and "considering all legal options."

Cablevision, in arguing that control of the recording and playback was in the hands of the consumer, had relied on a landmark 1984 Supreme Court case which found Sony Corp. did not break copyright laws by letting viewers use videotape recorders to record shows for personal use.

Craig Moffett, a senior cable analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said the ruling "sent shock waves to every corner of the media landscape" by taking the availability of DVR-like function from 25 percent of U.S. homes to nearly 50 percent.

That means many more viewers would be taping shows and watching them when they choose, likely fast-forwarding past commercials. The ad-zapping ability of DVR devices has broadcasters and advertisers worried that fewer people will watch commercials.

The case has been closely watched in the industry as cable companies increasingly offer digital video recording services to their customers, and Moffett said it was likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

In its ruling, the appeals court said it did not see much difference between the user of a VCR and the user of a DVR.

Fitting Three Shows Where There Were Two

Digital compression, in it's many flavors is exciting stuff. A provider like Comcast can get more on their system, without much expenditure expect computer cycles. The problem is most compressors are lossy, the quality degrades the higher the compression factor. The reason digital zooms are useless on cameras, just take the camera pixel capability shot and zoom it on the computer.

I have noticed this when I had DTV and now on Comcast, the DVD when played on an up scaling DVD player looked so much better than the one broadcast by the service. But lacking the equipment to measure, I just assumed it was all there was ... But I knew there was more. The pictures on the screens at the video store looked so much better than my high cost service provided. Over at Gizmodo they have some measurement data and some screen captures.

Comcast has begun compressing HDTV shows in order to deliver more HD channels to you while using the same amount of bandwidth. They didn't use to do this before, but now, when compared to Verizon FiOS, the channels are grainy and blocky and full of artifacts—a result of shoving three channels into a space where only two previously occupied. A guy at AVSForum measured how the new bitrate stacks up against Verizon.

If you look at the picture on the site, you see the bitrate is badly mismatched to the channel capacity. Hence the distorted picture, better get used to it, it's not going to go away. You do have multiple cable companies to choose from, don't you -- hah!

The temptation is too great to just compress it down -- Afterall, it's channel choice people want, not quality, right? I have cancelled all my subscriptions for TV and now use only DVDs. TV is slowly becoming a wasteland of the uninspired.