The downloading of the latest movie challenge has been won, not by the expected champion – Apple Computers, Inc. – but by Amazon. The tortoise has stolen a march on the hare, just when it looked like Apple would be pulling off another worldwide first.
Amazon calls their download service “Amazon Unboxed“. The service allows any shopper to download from the Amazon Video Collection. With titles from over 30 movie and TV production companies, that is a lot to choose from and we aren’t talking about old films that no one can remember either.
Downloading is pretty easy if time consuming. PC world reports it took about 3 hours and 40 minutes to download 1 film. Still, if you are willing to take the time, it is a faster and more convenient way to get the newest blockbusters.
Unfortunately, Amazon Unboxed only works with windows. Sorry, Mac users, you’ll need to wait for Apple’s service. Also, you need to make sure that you have windows XP since apparently Unboxed videos don’t work with older versions of windows.
You will need to download Amazon Unbox’s Video Player. You can only get it if you register with Amazon’s service which means they’ll be getting your credit card details immediately. You do not get charged for registering though.
One piece of good news Amazon has shared is that you can download the video on more than 1 PC or handheld device. They actually anticipated the consumers need to copy the video onto a handheld device or maybe another PC with better display capabilities. Currently you can use
the following handheld devices with the service:
* Creative Zen Vision: M
* Creative Zen Vision
* Toshiba Gigabeat S
* Archos AV 500
* Archos AV 700
* iRiver PMC (Portable Media Center)
Enjoy the selection of Amazon which includes Failure to Launch, the CSI season finales and all 79 Star Trek episodes from the original series.