The Amazon Unbox: a Review of Features, Benefits, and Issues

On September 7^th, 2006, Amazon.com launched the Unbox service in it's bid to enter into the digital video product arena. With prices starting at $0.99, it's service is definitely competitive within the digital rights marketplace. That being said, let's take a look at some of the features of the Amazon Unbox service.

First off it it's availability. The Amazon Unbox service is available in the 48 contiguous US states, plus Alaska, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia. It's proprietary viewer compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista. The videos may also be viewed with Windows Media Player and the Tivo DVR. So how does it work? There is one price available for a single use download, and another price available if you wish to purchase the movie as a multi-use download. The single use download can be viewed anytime within 30 days of the purchase, with one caveat: once you press "play" and start the movie, you must watch it within 24 hours. According to Amazon.com's details about the program, the video is DVD quality. In addition, Amazon Unbox offers the unique ability to remotely download videos to a pre-registered computer. With one-click purchase, you could send a video to your home PC from work, and it would be ready and waiting for your evening entertainment when you got home!