Get Better Gear!
- Madden NFL 10: The Grizzled Veteran from Electronic Arts, US$9.99
- NFL 2010: Rookie of the Year from Gameloft, US$2.99
- UNIEA Intrecciato, U-Pouch and U-Hip Pop iPhone Cases from UNIEA, $34.95, $22.95, $29.95
- Kensington Windshield/Vent Car Mount with Sound Amplified Cradle for iPhone from Kensington, $39.99
- SigFx Energy iPhone Case Contains Smart Battery from SigFx Energy, US$69.95
Top 5 Free Apps
iTunes New Music Releases
Top 5 Paid Apps
Discover New Music
- David Bowie
- It must be a lonely place to be considered David Bowie's worst album by just about everyone, including the artist himself. As the last album before Bowie "rebooted" and formed the band Tin Machine, "N
- Aretha Franklin
While she didn't always have the best taste in song selection, Aretha Franklin is a must-study for anyone with interest in the human voice. She has the kind of powerful, recklessly passionate deliv
An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torm�
- Mel Torm� & George Shearing
- Of the three men who taught me how to sing, the last was Mel Torme. Apparently, Mel Torme is a joke to anyone more than a decade older than me, a living parody of a Vegas crooner. But I stumbled on th
- Nine Inch Nails
- For years I wanted to make music that sounded like something between Love and Rockets and Ministry. In 1989, Trent Reznor beat me to it with this genre-defining album, and it smacked me upside the hea
- Harvey Danger
The sophomore effort from Harvey Danger, I was really looking forward to this followup to "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" Unfortunately, "King James Version" failed to deliver any of the bri
Reader Specials
Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!
News
Amazon Launches Unbox Video Service
Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 3:00 PM - by Jeff Gamet
Amazon launched its own video download service on Thursday called Unbox. The service features DVD-quality movies and TV shows from over 30 studio and network partners. Downloaded videos also include a second file optimized for playback on handheld multimedia devices.
Unbox uses a progressive download system that lets viewers begin watching shows while they are downloading, instead of making them wait until the entire file has been saved to their hard drive. This means that customers with a typical DLS or cable modem connection can start watching a show within about five minutes or purchase.
![]() Amazon Unbox |
|---|
TV shows are priced at US$1.99 each, and most movies are priced between $7.99 and $14.99. Movie rentals are also available for $3.99. A rental is valid for 30 days, and automatically disables itself 24 hours after you watch it.
The service also includes Amazon Your Media Library, a Web-based service that tracks your Amazon media purchases. From here, users can track their Unbox purchases and download them to an additional computer.
For all of its features, Unbox does have limitations: All of the videos are encoded with Microsoft's digital rights management technology, which prohibits playback on the Mac or iPod. The Unbox video player software requires Windows XP, and you can't burn DVD player-compatible discs.
Amazon's Unbox beats Apple to the punch by almost a week. Analysts expect Apple is announcing its own movie download service on Tuesday, September 12 at its "Showtime" media event.
Reports currently indicate that Apple is launching its service only with Disney and its affiliate studios, which are missing from Amazon's Unbox. Lionsgate, however, indicated during an investors conference call that it has signed on with Apple as well.
Recent Headlines
- EA Publishes Original Monopoly for iPhone
- New iPhone Games: Secret of the Lost Cavern Ep 1, New DJ Nights, More
- Musée du Louvre, Art Lite, SketchBook Mobile X and More.
- GelaSkins Intros Tim Burton, Bettie Page, WETA iPhone Skins
- iPhone Gets the Green Light in South Korea
- Qualcomm Hopes to Get In On the iPhone Action
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Lands at App Store


















Post Your Comments