At long last, Amazon has brought their digital video service to the iPad. And, presumably, iPhone access isn’t far behind.
Amazon Instant actually consists of two distinct tiers, and both are available via the new iPad app. Perhaps the most familiar these days is Prime Instant Streaming, which is similar to Netflix or Hulu Plus in that it provides unlimited streaming of a wide range of television and movie content. However, instead of levying a monthly fee, video is provided “free” to Amazon Prime subscribers ($79/year) – originally pitched as a shipping service but, given new benefits, is more akin to a loyalty club these days. Beyond that, Amazon Instant also offers video rentals and sales. But, of course, to bypass Apple’s hefty 30% commission, it’s not actually handled in-app and requires a trip to Amazon.com.
It just so happens that I purchased the first episode of Breaking Bad, Season 5 for viewing on our TiVo Premiere but fired it up on the iPad. Non-Prime video can be streamed or downloaded, which makes for a mighty flexible solution. However, Amazon streams by default and the only way I could trigger local copy playback was by disabling WiFi. It’s also safe to assume the HD video quality pales in comparison to what the TiVo download provides. Yet many of us will periodically made the trade in quality for convenience… and I’m looking forward to catching up on Fringe with my iPad from the gym treadmill.
(via 9to5 Mac)