Chicago (IL) – On Tuesday, Roku announced it would add over 40,000 movies and television programs to its online video service via Amazon Video on Demand. In May, the company launched its $99 digital video player with Netflix as its initial streaming partner. The deal between Amazon and Roku now allows for the delivery of a larger content library, in addition to new titles.
Customers are offered a different method of purchase as well. Rather than paying a subscription fee, users can rent movies on demand from $2.99 to $3.99 each movie.
If you are already a Roku customer, you will receive an automatic update for free, which allows you to access the Video on Demand service.
How does the service work?
The Roku player is directly connected to your television set, and runs off of a broadband or Wi-Fi Internet connection to deliver streaming DVD-quality content to the television.
Users can then browse through Amazon’s Video on Demand menu directly from their television, or they can opt to view television shows or movies that have been previously downloaded from the service to their computers.
Roku says this partnership is just the beginning of many in an effort to deliver streaming content to individuals.
Editor’s opinion
While such a service is a step forward for people who view video content on their at-home TVs, the reality is any service that does not provide full remote access over the Internet will be unlikely to be successful in the long-term because pay-for-service viewers are ultimately going to want their TV and movie watching abilities to follow them wherever they go, and that includes streaming to mobile devices and not just at-home TVs or computers.
