Sep 25
If you thought Jeff Bezos’ foray into the world of media past would distract him from moving forward with his more modern, web-based ventures, think again. Amazon has just announced that its new line of Kindle Fire HDX
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Jul 10
Amazon Prime just added hundreds of Miramax titles in its instant video library, including award win
Posted in: Today's ChiliAmazon Prime just added hundreds of Miramax titles in its instant video library, including award winners like Good Will Hunting and The English Patient, as well as cult favorites like Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Trainspotting and Reservoir Dogs. It’s a good get for the streaming service, especially after having lost so many of its greatest hits
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Apr 24
Amazon has been investing a lot of its resources into the TV business. Just a few days ago, it launched 14 new original series, with their pilot episodes being available for free for any user. Now it looks like Amazon will be diving even deeper into the TV business by releasing a TV set-top box in the future. According to Business Week’s sources, Amazon will be introducing its very own set-top box come this fall.
The set-top box will be deeply integrated with Amazon’s video selection, including its Instant Video service, and its collection of other video on-demand products. It will do wonders in getting Amazon more business for its Instant Video service as well as getting more viewers for its original series. It would also help it compete against other video-streaming services, like Netflix.
According to Business Week, the set-top box project is being led by Cisco’s former VP of Emerging Video Products, Malachy Moynihan, and the product is being built at Amazon’s Lab126 division. Lab126 has several engineers that are experienced in developing TV-related products, including Andy Goodman, who was a top engineer at TiVo and Vudu, and Chris Coley, who used to be a hardware architect at ReplayTV.
The name for the set-top box is still going under consideration, but sources say that it could be dubbed “Kindle TV”. There’s also a good chance that Amazon will include other streaming services onto the set-top box, including Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu, giving customers more options to view their favorite shows, and also giving customers more incentive on purchasing its product. And knowing Amazon, this product will be priced competitively against the other set-top boxes currently on the market.
[via Bloomberg Businessweek]
Amazon TV set-top box rumored to be in the works is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 21
Last month we heard that Amazon Studios was moving in to the production of original content, which would bring it at par with its rivals such as Netflix and Hulu. They have now started streaming all new 14 original series pilots. The way this works is that only those shows will become series whose pilots get enough votes by Amazon Prime members. The pilots are available now and are streaming for free, it is now up to Amazon Prime members to decide which shows the studio will keep on producing. The company has previously said that they believe adding original content will make Prime more enticing for its users, as well as those who’re thinking of being Amazon Prime members.
There are a total of 14 pilots, six for children and eight for adults. Alpha House, Betas, Browsers Dark Minions, Onion News Empire, Supanatural, Those Who Can’t and Zombieland are for adults. For children Annebots, Creative Galaxy, Positively Ozitively, Sara Sovles It, Teeny Tiny Dogs and Tumbleaf are available. As they say, voting is a huge responsibility. Do vote wisely Amazon Prime members!
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Elastic Touchscreen Could Be The Future, Russian Cosmonaut Is Oldest Spacewalker At 59, 
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Mar 28
Streaming video services are working hard to differentiate themselves from each other in the mind of the consumer. One way some of the major streaming video services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video are looking to set themselves apart are with original TV shows that can’t be seen anywhere else. Amazon has announced that it is working on a new original comedy pilot that will be exclusive to Prime Instant Video.
The comedy pilot is called Betas and the show will follow four computer geeks from Silicon Valley who are working to “crack the ultimate code.” The new pilot has been added to the lineup of other pilots currently in production for Amazon’s video service. Betas is the eight comedy pilot added to the pilot lineup that will be made available to subscribers, giving subscribers the opportunity to choose which of the shows goes into production.
Betas is written by Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard. The pilot features Ed Begley Jr., Jon Daly, Joe Dinicol, Margo Harshman, Charlie Saxton and Karan Soni. The pilot is being directed by Michael Lehmann, who is well-known for his work with True Blood, Dexter, and American Horror Story.
Amazon has previously announced seven other comedy pilots that viewers will be able to vote on. Those other pilots include Alpha House, Browsers, Dark Minions, Onion News Empire, Supanatural , Those Who Can’t, and Zombieland.
[via Amazon]
Amazon Prime Instant Video to get new original comedy pilot called Betas is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Mar 27
Amazon intros X-Ray for TV, helps you remember those ‘Game of Thrones’ actors
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Amazon’s continuing the steady X-Ray takeover of media today by extending the feature to its TV selection. The latest implementation of the concept, which has already made its way to the company’s e-book offerings, offers up similar functionality to its movie counterpart, harnessing IMDB data to offer up contextual information on actors. The feature’s available as of today for “most popular TV shows” on the company’s Instant Video offering (some of which are also a part of its Prime video selection). And it’s a solid list, too, including: Justified, Downton Abbey, The West Wing, Sons of Anarchy, Falling Skies, American Horror Story, Grey’s Anatomy, Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, Lost, Glee, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. More info on the feature can be found below.
Filed under: Amazon
Mar 25
Zombieland the movie was released back in 2009. It is safe to say that the movie was a hit. Its fans will no doubt be happy to hear that a Zombieland TV series may come to life on Amazon Prime, provided that enough viewers like the pilot to warrant the production of an entire TV series. The service is moving in to production of original content, much like its rivals Hulu and Netflix. Amazon Studios will be producing 13 pilots, seven comedy and six for children, and it will ultimately be up to Amazon Prime viewers to decide which of these pilots will bite the dust.
Amazon has not given a release date for these pilots, only adds that they will be coming soon. Along with Zombieland, the six comedy pilots include Alpha House, Browsers, Dark Minions, Onion News Empire, Supanatural and Those Who Can’t. The six pilots aimed for children are The Untitled J.J. Johnson Project, Creative Galaxy, Teeny Tiny Dogs, Oz Adventures, Tumbleaf and Sara Solves It. Amazon believes that adding original content will make Prime more enticing for users, can’t say I don’t agree with them on that.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Hulu Could Have Possible Buyers, Wi-Fi Poster Provides Mobile Hotspot Capability, 
Mar 13
Which is the shipping service of choice for Optimus Prime? Surely having racked up more than 10 million members, Amazon Prime would be the right answer. All right, that was a pretty lame joke, but you have got to excuse me since I am trying to get through the mid-week syndrome here. Amazon Prime will set you back by $79 annually if you wish to subscribe to its service, but at least as a Prime member, you will be on the receiving end of two-day shipping for free, in addition to having access to thousands of streaming TV shows and movies.
Frequent online shoppers are the natural target market for Amazon Prime, and they have proven to be quite the huge success considering how Amazon Prime already has over 10 million members, and counting. This has been estimated to contribute approximately 33% of Amazon’s operating income, at least this is what Business Insider reported. It is said that Amazon profited around $78 on average for each Prime member last year after taking into account licensing and shipping fees. Neat!
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Reader Shutdown Announcement Prompts Petition, Native Twitter App for Windows 8,
Feb 11
Hulu Plus. Amazon Prime. Netflix. Redbox. In an ideal world, any one of these would someday become an all-encompassing streaming service. One subscription, one price, one ticket out of the cable’s iron grasp. That’s never been the case, of course. But as exclusive content deals keep piling up, it’s increasingly clear that it never will be. More »
Feb 01
Great news for those who can’t get enough of the Crawley family—Amazon cut a deal with PBS that will bring the British period drama to Prime Instant Video exclusively. So later this year, Netflix will lose Downton. Which is exactly what Lord Grantham has grappled with in the series. More »
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