14 DAY TRIAL // TiVo announced yesterday that the new Unbox on TiVo service had become available, after being announced only a month prior the launch. The service enables customers to watch Amazon movies directly on their Series 2 or Series 3 TiVo. Like Apple TV, this will bring downloaded content to the living-room.
This service is different from that offered by Apple. It does not require a stable link with a computer (for streaming). The customers buy the content from Amazon and can have it downloaded directly to their TiVo. Amazon's store remembers the purchase and allows multiple downloads of the same video, should it be at some point deleted.
Yesterday was also announced the addition of two new studios to the service, MGM Studios and Sony Pictures. Amazon promotionally gives new subscribers $15 in free downloads, if they sign up before May.
Unbox allows customers of Amazon's online video store download purchased copies of movies and TV shows directly to a Series 2 or Series 3 TiVo at no extra fee, and to remotely queue movies through the Web.
The Cupertino-based company hopes the iTunes and Apple TV duo will be a success. Peter Oppenheimer spoke at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference about the Apple TV, among other topics, and compared the potential growth of Apple TV to that of iTunes. The store now holds a 400 movie catalog and over 4 million songs.
iTunes online store sells music, movies, videos, TV shows and home entertainment productions. The content downloaded from iTunes can be brought to the living-room through streaming on Apple TV to an HD television set.
The Apple TV was supposed to become available at the end of February, but Apple delayed it through the second half of March. New displays are said to hit retail stores, along with the Apple TV. The device will be sold for $299.