Good news for those of you with the well-liked Roku player. As we heard was going to happen, and then we heard was in testing, the little thing can now access the many videos on Amazon’s VOD service.
Not too much else to say — I don’t have one, so I can’t test it out. Anybody care to let us know how it works? It should be live as of this posting.
Here’s the full press release, for the curious:
ROKU NOW OFFERS ACCESS TO AMAZON VIDEO ON DEMAND
Digital Video Player Instantly Connects Consumers To Over 40,000 New Titles
SARATOGA, CA, March 3, 2009 – Roku, Inc., maker of the popular Roku digital video player, today announced that customers can now watch movies and TV shows from Amazon Video On Demand. With Amazon Video On Demand, Roku customers can for the first time purchase or rent new release movies the same day they are released on DVD and watch commercial-free TV shows the day after they air– all from Amazon’s extensive selection of more than 40,000 movie and TV titles.
”We are excited to give our customers access to Amazon’s massive catalogue of top movies and TV shows – including many new releases”, said Anthony Wood, Roku CEO and Founder. “The launch of Amazon Video On Demand on Roku demonstrates our commitment to creating an open platform that instantly delivers the entertainment consumers want directly to their TVs.”
The compact Roku player connects directly to any TV and uses a broadband Internet connection to deliver DVD-quality video instantly. Roku customers can now choose from Amazon’s enormous selection without paying subscription fees, waiting for downloads, or running out to the video store.
“The $99 Roku player provides our customers with tremendous value and a compelling entertainment experience,” said Roy Price, director of Amazon Video On Demand. “Consumers are looking for inexpensive and hassle-free ways to watch their favorite movies and TV shows, and the Roku player meets that need head-on.”
How It Works:
- Connect the Roku player to your TV and your broadband Internet connection (Wi-Fi is built in for ease of set-up)
- Browse Amazon Video On Demand’s extensive selection right on your TV
- Rent or purchase and instantly watch any of more than 40,000 choices, including top new releases and the latest TV showsOver the course of the next week, current Roku customers will receive a free and automatic software update giving them access to the Amazon Video on Demand service. All Roku player customers will continue to have access to Netflix Instant Watching with unlimited access to more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes for a low monthly fee.
The Roku digital video player is available for purchase exclusively at Roku.com and Amazon.com.
About Roku
Roku is a market leader in innovative applications for digital media. Through its work in both software and hardware, the company develops and sells consumer products and business solutions to bring rich media to the end user. Its products include: The Roku Digital Video Player and the SoundBridge Internet radio line. Roku is privately held and based in Saratoga, Calif. For more information on the company and its products, visit: http://www.roku.com.
Sweet! Can’t wait to get home and try this out. Now, all they need is to add support for Hulu!
you should check out PlayOn from themediamall… you can stream Hulu, CBS and Netflix among others without the $114 box… and rumor has it Amazon VOD may be coming soon.
I was in the Roku Beta pool and can vouch for the image and sound quality … a hell of a difference with Netflix.
That Roku is so easy to use for streaming movies, it does nothing else but does it well… I’m really using my TiVo less and less.
Not quite $99 since they want $14.99 to ship and you can’t buy it in stores.
It’s the $113.99 Netflix player from Roku. Marketing probably didn’t like the sound of that.
No, it’s $99 plus shipping. Do you expect them to eat the shipping cost? First time buying online?
If they paid for store placements and all those logistics it would probably be more than 113.99 anyways.
i expect free shipping. thank amazon and the hundreds of other etailers who do it right.
and don’t add insult to injury by marking up shipping greedy piggys.
I have been sckeptical for these devices, when I could play the same on my laptop. However, recently I got to use the Roku based Soundbox, which streams music from online radio’s. I thought that was pretty sweet. Hoping the same from this Video device.
Seems like a popular box.
Roku w/Netflix service is great. Only complaint is that they only have a small percentage of the full Netflix selection (although it’s improving). This integration with Amazon should be a good way to fill those holes, even if it means spending a couple of extra bucks.
Yeah that’s the dilemma – you don’t need AOD if Netflix had a better offering.
Given I’ve not see huge movement on Netflix on demand service, my guess is that they’re having a really hard time persuading the publishers to release much else than back catalog stuff.
My guess is publishers are convinced they get more through regular DVD and Pay per view online than through netflix and will hold out.
Anyone got the inside scoop on this?
I am really tempted to buy one of these… I want it..
$15 to ship this thing is an absolute ripoff.
2 day Fedex shipping, it’s not bad at all. From Cali to where I am, that’s a pretty good rate.
and for those who don’t find waiting, there should be an alternative. marking up shipping charges is pretty gross and speaks to the company’s character IMO
Just be up front and charge an extra couple bucks for the device instead of hiding fees under “shipping”.
Good Lord people, they send the damn thing 2 day fedex, which costs $15, the box is the best $100 you can spend on entertainment, and you STILL find something to bitch about. If you want to save $8 because you need to have it sent UPS, then read a damn paper for entertainment.
I’ll be reviewing this on my blog shortly. I’ve been “user testing” the Roku since it came out.
I was a beta tester too, if you like horrible organization and constant scrolling through an unorganized mess of movies with no other way to find what you are looking for it is great. The video streaming works, finding something you want to watch easily? Not so much.
Roku has a great product. Too many times, the movies I receive from Netflix just don’t fit my current movie watching appetite. It’s great to have other options, even if the movies tend NOT to be the same caliber as most of the movies available via DVD.
Now, with the addition of Amazon’s Video on Demand, I think the Roku Box is even cooler!
Yes, Hulu needs to be added too and then I can kill my cable, because I really dislike Comcast.
Couldn’t get my Roku to work this morning. Anyone know if this might be the cause?
I’ve had similar problems in the past. Try resetting your modem, seemed to do the trick for me.
Just connect your PC to your TV – then you won’t be held hostage to Netflix or Amazon. PCTVCables.com
That seems like a totally impartial comment! “held hostage”. You are a scream.
I was a beta tester for the Roku Amazon VOD and I can say it’s a nice addition for the occasional new movie rental. The Amazon pricing is similar to iTunes and so is the selection.
The video and sound quality of both Netflix and Amazon VOD is excellent IMHO (I use a 32″ 720p LCD).
The Roku is well worth the $99 + shipping :-)
I don’t see amazon.com on my Roku yet. I only have Netflix. I tried updating the software, but it said it was up to date. Any ideas?
Roku has said the Amazon update will roll out over the next few days, so you may not have it yet, but will shortly. I had mine as of this morning and it works flawlessly. Great selection of movies, and free things to watch as well. Very impressive. So incredibly worth the ~$115 it cost. It now seems like a seriously realistic option to cancel my ever-increasing-in-cost cable service.
I have the Roku for Netflix and just signed up with my Amazon account about 40 minutes ago.
I updated the Roku, but it still didn’t list Amazon (on demand) on the main menu
I finally reset to factory settings, reentered my wireless info/password, then updated Roku and it listed Amazon, right next to Netflix.
Once I entered the code into Amazon (and a pin for purchasing via Roku) I was good to go.
Exploring it now – pretty cool and a bunhc of movies for under $2 too.
Ive used this box for netflix for awhile noe and it works great. So when i heard of Amazon coming on it i was very pleased. Anyways, i received the update yesterday and ordered my forst movie “Body of Lies”
Movie quality great, yet the sound was terrible. It litteraly was so garbled, out of a can type of sound it was completely unwatchable.
I wrote Amazon on it, and they said they dont do refund, but in this case they will make an exception. “In this case” to me sounds like they are aware of something on there end, perhaps roku’s side..But either way until I hear more people having good luck with sound, ill hold off for a bit.