AVS › AVS Forum › Gaming & Content Streaming › Home Theater Gaming › PlayStation Area › Amazon streaming now on PS3
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Amazon streaming now on PS3

post #1 of 97
4/3/12 at 10:09am
Thread Starter 
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/3/292...-instant-video

Quote:


Sony's mystery addition to the PlayStation 3's streaming video service lineup is a mystery no more: it's Amazon Instant Video, the online retailer's collection of an estimated 100,000 movies and shows, as well as Prime Instant Video, the roughly 17,000 streaming items included along with a $79 Amazon Prime subscription. That includes recent infusions of content from Discovery, Viacom, ABC-Disney, and Fox. Both services are now accessible from a native PS3 app, downloadable from your console's XMB menu, and run similarly to Netflix or Hulu Plus in that regard. You won't be able to purchase content from Amazon using your PlayStation Store digital wallet, though: you'll need to pair your console to Amazon's service via the web.

The announcement may not be as exciting as a live TV service, but it's a major video service that the Xbox 360 doesn't have... unless you count the grueling process of downloading shows in advance on a Windows computer and streaming to your Xbox using Windows Media Center.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 97
4/3/12 at 10:14am
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/3/292...-instant-video
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 97
4/3/12 at 10:27am
Downloaded, installed, registered, and running. All the HD video content looks and sounds good so far, comparable to Netflix streaming at any rate if not slightly better. I am one happy camper.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 97
4/3/12 at 10:37am
I've been a Prime member for a while to cover shipping more than anything else. Now that I don't have to hold my laptop or sit in my office I will partake in the streaming service, at least for TV shows. Might just have to tell Comcast to cut me down to internet only.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 97
4/3/12 at 10:38am
BAM! That's the final straw for me, if I see it working well for a month, bye-bye Netflix. Now I just need it on my iPad and in Windows Media Center...
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 97
4/3/12 at 10:43am
Awesome news!
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 97
4/3/12 at 10:52am
Now get those apps out of my next TV and drop the price 20% ;-)
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 97
4/3/12 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TornadoTJ View Post

BAM! That's the final straw for me, if I see it working well for a month, bye-bye Netflix. Now I just need it on my iPad and in Windows Media Center...

From what I've seen they don't have as much streaming content as Netflix. Maybe soon though.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 97
4/3/12 at 11:13am
Well, in some cases they have more. For example, my daughter is to the age she wants to catch up on all the Monty Python and the Flying Circus episodes. Netflix dropped it. She can still watch on her Kindle Fire with my Prime account. I'm more in to documentaries or old movies, and don't really care about new release movies or TV shows. I was surprised to see some pretty good movies in the free list, though! I haven't seen MI-III (not even sure I want to), didn't expect to see it free.

I work from home, so I just checked it out. To me, the picture and sound are superior to Netflix. I can't guarantee 5.1 because I'm in the middle of setting up my new movie room, and haven't hooked up my rear speakers yet. In fact I had to hook up my fronts to demo Anyway, receiver reads PCM (Amazon isn't bitstreaming) and the sound is fantastic. Center speaker sounds right, can only assume 5.1 is 5.1. Con - the app doesn't seem to work right with my Logitech Harmony One, and I'm assuming it won't with the official BD remote - I'll test the BD remote later.

I know $80 per year isn't a lot of money for Netflix, but it angered me when they dropped the DVD in the mail as part of the subscription, and I am betting I don't need Netflix and Amazon Prime at the same time now that I have an easy way to watch on my home theater system.

I have PlayOn on my media server, betting it'll work on my iPad, so I may have a full solution to rid myself of an $80 per year bill.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 97
4/3/12 at 12:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TornadoTJ View Post

Well, in some cases they have more. For example, my daughter is to the age she wants to catch up on all the Monty Python and the Flying Circus episodes. Netflix dropped it. She can still watch on her Kindle Fire with my Prime account. I'm more in to documentaries or old movies, and don't really care about new release movies or TV shows. I was surprised to see some pretty good movies in the free list, though! I haven't seen MI-III (not even sure I want to), didn't expect to see it free.

I work from home, so I just checked it out. To me, the picture and sound are superior to Netflix. I can't guarantee 5.1 because I'm in the middle of setting up my new movie room, and haven't hooked up my rear speakers yet. In fact I had to hook up my fronts to demo Anyway, receiver reads PCM (Amazon isn't bitstreaming) and the sound is fantastic. Center speaker sounds right, can only assume 5.1 is 5.1. Con - the app doesn't seem to work right with my Logitech Harmony One, and I'm assuming it won't with the official BD remote - I'll test the BD remote later.

I know $80 per year isn't a lot of money for Netflix, but it angered me when they dropped the DVD in the mail as part of the subscription, and I am betting I don't need Netflix and Amazon Prime at the same time now that I have an easy way to watch on my home theater system.

I have PlayOn on my media server, betting it'll work on my iPad, so I may have a full solution to rid myself of an $80 per year bill.

I was getting 5.1 on the two TV shows I checked out (Battlestar Galactica and The Event). But I wasn't able to use my official BD remote, though if I remember correctly from my one-month trial with Hulu Plus last summer, you need to launch the app with the controller you plan to use with it. This morning I had launched the Amazon app with my DS controller.

For me and Netflix, I currently get one disc at a time (no streaming), but I may now be able to drop it and just get the few movies I really want to watch on Amazon VOD. Each weekend, Amazon has at least four newer movies for $1.99 (SD) and $2.99 (HD) and it usually takes 4-6 weeks after a new movie is released for it to be one of the ones for sale... sometimes I wait that long just for a new release to become available on NF.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 97
4/3/12 at 1:02pm
I have a question, is all of the streaming stuff free with a prime account? I have been thinking about getting one, and if every show and movie are free with it, it might be worth it.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 97
4/3/12 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by americangunner View Post

I have a question, is all of the streaming stuff free with a prime account? I have been thinking about getting one, and if every show and movie are free with it, it might be worth it.

No. The newer movies and TV shows are offered on a Pay-per-View basis. Here is a link where you can browse the free Prime content (mostly older shows and movies): http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sa_menu_...ode=2676882011
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 97
4/3/12 at 1:31pm
Well that sucks. Why pay for Prime if I still have to pay full price for new shows. It makes more sense to just stick with Hulu.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 97
4/3/12 at 1:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by americangunner View Post

Well that sucks. Why pay for Prime if I still have to pay full price for new shows. It makes more sense to just stick with Hulu.

There are a lot of other benefits to Prime if you shop on Amazon a lot, the main one being free 2-day shipping (though I personally get most items I order in two days without Prime using the Free Shipping method). The free video content is more like icing on the cake for many, though there's nothing offered I'm interested in either.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 97
4/3/12 at 1:47pm
It probably isn't worth it to get prime just for the free video streaming. The number of titles is considerably less than what Netflix is currently offering. But if you already have Prime its a nice added benefit. I've been watching the free Prime videos on my Bluray player for a while and the quality is good. Its not going to replace Netflix for me...at least not yet. They keep adding titles though and its getting a better library all the time.
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 97
4/3/12 at 1:55pm
Also from what I am reading the prime streaming is in 720p but Netflix is at 1080.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 97
4/3/12 at 2:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zookster View Post

No. The newer movies and TV shows are offered on a Pay-per-View basis. Here is a link where you can browse the free Prime content (mostly older shows and movies): http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sa_menu_...ode=2676882011

Correct .. however, the PS3 app is worthwhile in that Amazon does offer some pretty cheap rentals of new releases at times .. usually a buck ..
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 97
4/3/12 at 2:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamieva View Post

Also from what I am reading the prime streaming is in 720p but Netflix is at 1080.

Some NF is 1080 / we think .. most is not ..
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 97
4/3/12 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mgkdragn View Post

Correct .. however, the PS3 app is worthwhile in that Amazon does offer some pretty cheap rentals of new releases at times .. usually a buck ..

And they tend to offer more and better titles for sale around holiday weekends, so be sure to keep an eye out for the new sale offerings beginning this Friday in time for Easter weekend.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 97
4/3/12 at 2:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamieva View Post

Also from what I am reading the prime streaming is in 720p but Netflix is at 1080.

All that fidelity is lost in the compression. The real question is, what is the bandwidth used and compression type for each at max.
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 97
4/3/12 at 2:42pm
Great news!
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 97
4/3/12 at 2:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tgable View Post

All that fidelity is lost in the compression. The real question is, what is the bandwidth used and compression type for each at max.

x2. I'm telling you from my eyes on a properly calibrated TV, I see better video quality on Amazon than Netflix.

Think about it this way, encode a BD into a 720p file on your hard drive and compare the quality of that to a 1080p feed off Netflix. Your rip is going to win every time. Resolution alone does not quality make.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 97
4/3/12 at 2:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zookster View Post

you need to launch the app with the controller you plan to use with it. This morning I had launched the Amazon app with my DS controller.

I launched from my Logitech One. I hope that problem gets fixed! If others do not have this problem, please chime in. We started construction of our new movie room last night, stopped after midnight, and I threw enough together to get it working to test the new Amazon app. It could be I have some sort of problem with either my Logitech BD device, the remote, the reception between the Logitech BD receiver, etc.
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 97
4/3/12 at 3:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TornadoTJ View Post

I launched from my Logitech One. I hope that problem gets fixed! If others do not have this problem, please chime in. We started construction of our new movie room last night, stopped after midnight, and I threw enough together to get it working to test the new Amazon app. It could be I have some sort of problem with either my Logitech BD device, the remote, the reception between the Logitech BD receiver, etc.

I just tested it and the official PS3 blu-tooth remote definitely works with the Amazon app, though I did have to launch the app with the remote (I never turned on a DS controller this time.)
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 97
4/3/12 at 3:06pm
Damnit. I will test later. If it's tied to the Logitech One, I'm going to be disappointed.

We have had NUMEROUS tornadoes in my area, so I've not been in there playing on my stuff. In fact I just got back power about 1 1/2 hours ago after being out for a long time.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 97
4/3/12 at 3:52pm
Quote:


unless you count the grueling process of downloading shows in advance on a Windows computer and streaming to your Xbox using Windows Media Center.

whoever wrote this is either an idiot or a ps3 fanboy. downloading and streaming files is cake and takes less than five minutes of actual human work time.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 97
4/3/12 at 3:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by brakel View Post

From what I've seen they don't have as much streaming content as Netflix. Maybe soon though.

netflix has a lot of content. however, most of it is garbage.

EDIT:

after skimming through amazon's app, i have to say that it looks like netflix lite. it's all the same stuff. i don't see any point in getting this if you already have netflix. what a letdown.

EDIT 2:

after further review, this service is terrible. they want you to pay extra to stream a movie from the 80s. not happening. when i search for an actor, almost every movie i'd actually want to watch is a pay per view rental. glad i skimmed through because now i'm not even wasting my time with the 30 day trial.
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 97
4/3/12 at 4:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by blklightning View Post

after skimming through amazon's app, i have to say that it looks like netflix lite. it's all the same stuff. i don't see any point in getting this if you already have netflix. what a letdown.

A. Amazon has been adding stuff quickly, while Netflix is losing stuff.

B. Lots of us pay for Prime for the shipping, so it is a bonus. Netflix does nothing expect streaming.

C. Amazon has a great on demand library and good prices.

I will use both, since I pay for both. I just like the competition, let them duke it out by trying to get more and more content to out do each other.
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 97
4/3/12 at 4:25pm
^^^ well they're gonna have to add quite a bit for me to drop 80 bucks in one go for an (to me) unproven streaming service. i don't buy hardly anything from amazon, so that's no bonus really.
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 97
4/3/12 at 4:39pm
Since I have Amazon Prime already, I tried to test out the new service. Unfortunately, after the connection speed test it gives me an error message saying that it doesn't know my speed and suggests I call customer support.

I called Amazon and they couldn't figure it out and said I should try again tomorrow. For the record, Amazon Prime streaming still works fine on my PC. Hopefully it gets sorted out soon.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: PlayStation Area

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Gaming & Content Streaming › Home Theater Gaming › PlayStation Area › Amazon streaming now on PS3