As reported in February, it appears TiVo and Amazon got all sneaky on us and officially launched their Amazon Unbox on TiVo initiative in the wee hours of the morning.
Users simply link their networked Series2 or Series3 TiVos to their Amazon account, select the movie or television show they wish to download at the Amazon Unbox store, and select their TiVo PVR as the download destination. Shortly thereafter, they'll find the title in the Now Playing list on TiVo Central.
Searching and downloading items directly from TiVo isn't something you can currently do, however, it's not too big a stretch to think this feature will become available in the near future.
In addition, a lot of the movies and shows can be rented or owned and are priced accordingly based on the option you choose. I find this to be a nice change from the rent only method of some other services.
Some of the "hot television shows" available as shown on the site include: 24, Survivor, Prison Break, Bones, My Name is Earl, and a couple of the CSIs.
As an added bonus, users who sign up for this service by April 30th will receive $15 dollars in movies and TV shows for free.
Thanks to MegaZone for the tip.
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-07-2007 @ 10:57AM
Harv said...
I was just at a friend's house a couple of weeks ago and he has the HD-Tivo and was using this service. Seemed pretty straightforward. You order the movie/show on Amazon and it appears in the Tivo. Quality level wasn't the best (480i widscreen for the movie he got) on a big screen, but certainly not bad.
Overall I'm spoiled by being able to download HD caps of shows via Torrent. And he even though my friend got a deal on the HD-Tivo it was still $500 (normally around $800) and it seems to have some bugs as there was stuttering at various times during normal tv viewing unrelated to his cable system.
Reply
3-07-2007 @ 11:38AM
Kerri said...
This seems really cool to me. Someone tell me if I am missing the catch! I am thinking of ditching Netflix for this...we don't watch enough of our movies anymore anyway, for some reason.
Reply
3-07-2007 @ 11:47AM
kerry said...
The only catch I can find is that not every movie is available as a rental. This would be the best replacement for the mile walk to my local video store I can think of, but some of the movies I'd want to rent are only available to buy -- not worth $15, IMHO. The idea of renting movies direct to the TiVo is awesome, in general, and makes me feel even better about not wasting money on cable.
Reply
3-07-2007 @ 4:56PM
Livi said...
Very Cool though. Thanks for letting us know.
Reply
3-13-2007 @ 5:36PM
Ryan said...
Although the DRM limitations are a real drag (no TiVo-To-Go, no Multi-Room Viewing, expiration dates, etc.), overall this worked a lot better than I thought it would. And it doesn't even require a computer in the mix, just a networked TiVo. That's especially helpful, because as a Mac user, TiVo's client support has been lacking.
Here's my first take of Amazon Unbox on Tivo:
http://www.lightfantastic.org/imr/extras/weblog/archives/004620.html
Reply