Can’t hardly wait? Try Disc+ On Demand
Want to own a Blu-ray but don’t have the patience to see it show up on the doorstep? Amazon understands.
The online retail giant decided to link online video and packaged media with its new Disc+ On Demand service.
It works like this: You buy a DVD or Blu-ray that’s listed as a Disc+ On Demand 
From there, the movie can be streamed or downloaded. The catch? The online version must be watched within a month — and once the digital copy’s been seen, it goes up in smoke “Mission: Impossible”-like. (Read the Disc+ On Demand FAQ
The online bonus version streams and downloads in standard definition, even if you buy the HD. If the disc is returned to Amazon, the Video on Demand fee applies retroactively.
Among the newer titles hooked up with D+D are “State of Play,” “Drag Me to Hell,” “Away We Go” and Coraline.” There are 300-some titles, many of them the usual catalog suspects.
Most of us buying a DVD or BR probably won’t have much use for this — why preview the movie on a home computer before watching the disc on the big screen?
One answer may be gift giving. Wrap the Blu-ray, see the movie yourself. A harmless bit of rebate greed. And of course young kids are all into repetition and immediate gratification, so that’s a fit. (Disney Studios Home Entertainment thinks along the same multiplatform lines these days.)
In any case, give Amazon credit for linking the online and physical worlds in a new way that sort of makes sense. They’re trying, folks.
Watery disclosure: I own Amazon stock and root for it daily.
Amazon VOD streams through Roku
The 40,000 films and TV episodes on the menu at Amazon Video on Demand now can be ordered via the digital video player Roku.
The $99 black box already streams Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” offerings of primarily catalog films and shows. The Amazon VOD is a solid upgrade, since the service often goes day-and-date with Hollywood’s DVD releases.
Amazon, of course, now sells the Roku Digital Video Player
The software updates for existing Roku owners are expected this week, the companies said in a press releases about the online video deal.
Beta testers have praised the quality of images but criticized the search functions. Roku users seem to be a happy bunch, except for the lack of Hulu compatibility.
Disclosure, in case you care: This blog carries affiliate ads and links for both Amazon and Netflix.
It’s upstream for Amazon online movies
Amazon’s stream of movies and TV shows has begun to flow. Mac users are welcome to the party, finally.
Amazon Video on Demand (aka Amazon Unbox Streaming Service) has just opened to beta users and goes wide later in the summer. Amazon is giving beta users a $5 Unbox credit to try out the service.
“For the first time, this is drop dead simple (to use),” Bill Carr, Amazon’s vice president for digital media, told the New York Times in a story today.
As expected, the content streams to viewers’ computers and TVs — meaning it can be viewed right away — and is stored in “Your Video Library,” so space isn’t required on local computers. The library allows purchasers to access the content as they please — from multiple places and with multiple devices.
Amazon’s pitch goes like so:
“Don’t want to wait for your video to download? Want to avoid downloading additional software? Want to watch Unbox videos on a Mac? Amazon Video On Demand is the solution to these common customer requests.”
Amazon chieftain Jeff Bezos, pictured, started teasing the streaming video service in late May.
The content can be viewed on a computer or ported directly to television sets via the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link (and presumably similar devices).
The usual studios are involved and pricing arrangements are as before. Viewers who liked the Unbox downloading scheme apparently still have access to that.
Amazon plans deals with other hardware manufacturers who link their home entertainment systems to the Internet.
‘Kiss of Spider Woman’ planted in Unbox
“Kiss of the Spider Woman” has been underground since 1985, the year in which it seduced the Oscars.
The indie film locked up unlikely nominations for best picture, best director and best actor (for William Hurt, who won).
True to form, the movie has made a dramatic but hardly sudden reappearance, debuting as an exclusive Amazon Unbox download.
The Hector Babenco film — about a storytelling cross-dresser (Hurt) and his straight cell mate (Raul Julia) — goes for $2.99 as a movie download rental 
Amazon also has the exclusive on the DVD and Blu-ray
“Kiss of the Spider Woman” was based on the 1976 novel “El Beso de la Mujer Arana” by Manuel Puig.
The Unbox exclusive looks like it points in a good direction for Amazon’s underperforming download movie service to follow. Of course there are only so many MIA videos out there that anyone cares about. But Amazon’s Unbox just found a good one.
Amazon Unbox sticks toe in stream
The Amazon Unbox appears to be a couple of weeks away from opening up pay-per streaming video.
Amazon chieftain Jeff Bezos told the D: All Things Digital conference (in golfy Carlsbad, Calif.) that he was “very serious” about music and video downloads as a business.
This comes in the same week that Netflix’s Reed Hastings predicted the DVD end of his business was headed for a fall in five to 10 years.
Amazon’s streaming option would differ from the existing Unbox video downloads in that the movie would start right away and not hog space on your hard drive. And, we hope, will work on Macs, unlike the Unbox. This being 2008 and all. …
Update: Bezos told Silicon Alley Insider that the new streams would deliver rentals and purchases and pricing will be the same as the Unbox downloads. So the big deal, he says, is the movie starts right away. The lack of a price drop doesn’t make much sense. If I own it, why would I “store it” at Amazon?
Apple’s iTunes store rents movies at a lower rate, but they’re downloaded onto your computer and self-destruct after 24 hours. If you wait a minute, you can start those movies while they download. </update>
Meanwhile, Netflix’s Hastings told investors that the transition to streaming wouldn’t come cheap:
“Our key challenge is growing earnings per share and subscribers while funding streaming, which should give us years of subscriber and earnings expansion.” He said these investments would be “fairly inefficient” short-term.
Hastings added, “Once we’re in streaming … we can attract well beyond 20 million subscribers worldwide.” That’s about 2 1/2 times Netflix’s current subs base.
In another strategic move this week, the Starz premium cable outfit said it was walking away from the Vongo online video platform, in which it pioneered on-demand Internet movies.
Replacing Vongo is Starz Play, which will charge $5.99 a month for access to more than 1,000 movies.
Verizon, which continues to push into broadband entertainment, will be the first to carry the Play product. Its broadband customers can download the movies or watch the Eastern feed of Starz on their computers.
(Disclosure: I own stock in Amazon and Netflix. They don’t make money.)
