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Filed under: Internet, Video

Download NBC fall TV pilots for free from Amazon

Amazon Unboxes NBC
Remember the big knock down drag out fight between Apple and NBC? You know, the one that ended with NBC deciding to sell downloads of all its shows through Amazon Unbox instead of iTunes?

Yeah, well the upshot of that fight was that NBC and Amazon have struck a deal to let you download the pilot episodes of 4 of their new shows for free. Starting today. A couple of weeks before they premiere on TV.

Here's the list of shows you can get for free:
You'll need to install the Amazon Unbox player to watch these videos. And they'll be in Windows Media Video format. But did we mention they're free? Obviously this is a promotional stunt where NBC is trying to drum up interest in their new shows, and Amazon is trying to get attention for its download service. But after suffering through the wasteland that is summer TV, we don't really care.

Filed under: Internet, Video, News, Web services

Wal-mart planning to sell video downloads

Wal-VideoThat's right, we haven't even got the whole digital music thing down yet, there are still plenty of questions, but here comes the video tidal wave anyway. With Amazon and Apple offering their respective services or Netflix and now Wal-Mart getting ready for prime time, we will soon (as consumers) have video out the wazoo, whether we like it or not. I fear we will have the whole DRM/fair use debate and issues all over again, but the heat of these issues will intensify. Questions bombard the mind like a science-lab particle out of control. Who will reign supreme? Who has the most downloads? Who has the best flexibility and security on downloads? Should downloads be ad supported or paid for? Will the MPAA have the same issues and be involved in lawsuits on a grand scale? Will studios co-operate? Does Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD even matter if the trend is moving to digital downloads and hard drive or flash based players? Will traditional media CDs, DVDs be a thing of the past? This is just the beginning. Here we go again.

Filed under: Video, News, Web services

Amazon's Unbox movie downloads begin!

Amazon UnboxAmazon ends speculation and buzz by announcing their Unbox movie (and TV too) download service today! TV shows will be $1.99 (gee, that sounds familiar), movies will be $7.99 to $14.99 and $3.99 to rent them. Who knows at this point, but I'll bet if the service is the cat's meow it could give Blockbuster and even Netflix a run for their money. I see Amazon's service as taking the waiting out of getting your movies and TV shows, much like Apple, except it seems that Amazon has a bit more of a selection at this point. Hopefully Amazon's use restrictions will be bearable and I will be able to burn movies to play on my set-top player as well as my PC. They are even offering one free TV show to hook you.

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Filed under: Video, Web services

Screenshots of Unbox, Amazon's new digital video service

Amazon Unbox Video
It's long been rumored that Amazon is building a digital video store, and now we can finally see it in action. It isn't launched yet, but former Amazon employee Alan Taylor managed to dig up a few links to parts of the not-yet-public service, which is called Unbox Video, and take a few screenshots, which he posted on his blog. Of the links he posted, only two of them work right now, and the only one really worth looking at is the sci-fi page (the other is this one, which Taylor labeled as the 20th Century Fox page, but is apparently no longer). The service will apparently have an iTunes-like stand-alone player for Windows. The screenshots reveal a lot about the service and are pretty interesting if you've been following the rumors.

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