Brace yourself, network admins, Amazon Video just hit 200 nations

Amazon's flicked the switch on the global rollout of its Prime Video service, making it available in 200 nations around the world.. The streaming service will cost nothing if you live in a nation where Amazon Prime is available and you have already signed up for that service. Elsewhere in the world it will cost either US$5.99 …

[Anonymous Coward]

Amazon App also on Xbox360 etc so placed for big screen viewing

[Tom Samplonius]

Capacity is not going to be a problem...

"...it means network administrators at telcos, internet service providers and businesses have one more source of streaming video for which to figure out peering arrangements..."

Not likely. Amazon already hosts a great deal of the Internet content via AWS, so their peering relationships are top notch. And providers are already oriented to support vast amouts of traffic off these peering locations. Amazon looks to have in excess of 1Tbps of peering. And that is just public peering capacity.

[Anonymous Coward]

Peering? Isn't it a "Sharing" economy now

Given there are a growing number of these services and they are realising that being on the internet means anyone can be their customer, we are bring a little overwhelmed with tv offerings.

Many require a subscription leading to a choice between shows or sports or whatever.

Maybe, having a subscription to one service should allow you time on other services.

I know, its a crazy social, sharing nonsense idea that makes no money....

[Doctor_Wibble]

Re: Peering? Isn't it a "Sharing" economy now

> Maybe, having a subscription to one service should allow you time on other services.

Or some multi-franchise re-licence reselling contract with the main providers where you offer a custom package to your sub-subscribers, and then realise that your own overheads are making you a massive loss and you realise the enthusiasm of the main providers was simply to ensure you set a bad enough example that nobody would try to offer a decent combination/package deal ever again...

[Roland6]

Re: Peering? Isn't it a "Sharing" economy now

The market is currently in it's grow phase and hence everyone is simply trying to carve out a niche for themeselves. Consolidation comes later...

[Anonymous Coward]

Whilst ever

i am being fleeced £ wise for the "privilege" of being in europe, i'll stick with my fully loaded kodi box, torrent and usenet and choose to not be fleeced.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Whilst ever

So you're a freeloader?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Whilst ever @Lost All Faith

No, not at all.

Software, games for my consoles (all bar one, are "cracked") films etc i will happily buy as long as they are fit for purpose and of reasonable quality.

Let me put it this way. I dont buy crap, especially where there are specific exclusions that limit my power as a consumer.

Digital downloads for example, if they work but are crap like most of the stuff holywood (sic.) pumps out then i cant be refunded. Didnt like it? Shouldn't have bought it. Ok, then im not fucking paying for it in the first place. If i buy a coat and i dont like it, nearly ALL places would accept that and at least give me a credit note. In fact if i buy it online I legally have 14 days after recieving it to return it! Not so with downloads. Nor am i paying for stuff that exceeds curreny conversion by a factor of almost 100% because i live in a different demographic.

So, call me a pirate, freetard or whatever. I look on myself as someone who has bought the 8 track, vinyl album, c60/90 cassette, then cd, then vhs, then dvd (stopped at loo ray) and i'll be buggered if i'm paying for the same thing again. Furthermore what about stuff i can't legally obtain. Old tv series, music, software etc but can obtain illegally!!!

No, i've contributed quite enough in my last almost 50 years thanks and that earns me the right to be choosy...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Whilst ever

It's not a "Kodi box" - it's a Firestick, Android stick or whatever with Kodi loaded onto it together with third party add-ons.

Don't get me wrong, I use Kodi on several devices together with various ways of obtaining content for them, but the XBMC Foundation is trying hard to make sure that Kodi != "Kodi box"

[Complicated Disaster]

Rubbish

Prime Video is appalling. Anytime I've ever searched for something I want to watch I've found I have top pay extra for it. I'll just stick with the free delivery thanks.

[VinceH]

Re: Rubbish

I suppose it depends what you want to watch - IMO there are some pretty good shows and films available without additional cost on Prime, but my tastes undoubtedly differ from yours.

However, when I do look at paid for content, I sometimes scream inside.

[IsJustabloke]

Re: Rubbish

I agree.. I had a prime trial and it seemed that a lot of stuff simply wasn't included and required an extra shot of cash to be available. If it was included then it wasn't clear enough IMO.

I like the simplicity of Netflix... give them 8 quid, watch whatever's in the list.

[Doogie Howser MD]

TGT

I've attempted to watch the first couple of episodes of The Grand Tour, and while it looks amazing in 4K, it's painful to watch. Three old men behaving badly and studio audiences laughing like hyenas at their every word.

Frankly you should be paid to watch Amazon Prime Video if this is the best they can do.

[Roland6]

Re: TGT

it's painful to watch. Three old men behaving badly

Yes TGT shows us that the BBC limitations (budget and content editing) did much to rein in some of the worst excesses of the Top Gear team. I've found it interesting to note the speed with which my 12 year old son has gone from wanting to watch it (*1) as soon as he got home from school on Friday to watching it whenever; preferring to watch the reruns of old Top Gear episodes on Dave instead.

(*1) - Just love unrated video. Amazon's app on XboxOne uses the content settings and deems unrated content to be worse than 18. Hence by enabling him to watch TG without me being present, I have also given him permissions to watch 18 rated content. Demonstrating the real worth of much of the parental controls some go on about... As yet the best parental control I've found is pulling the plug on the router as then it shows a red light and he is happy "the Internet is down" - not sure what I'll do when he discovers I merely disconnected the cable...

[IHateWearingATie]

Prime Video - a nice add on, but hardly worth a separate subscription

I've found that the addition of Prime Video makes a nice addition to free delivery, but the content it has hardly makes it worth the price on its own.

My prime subscription is up again in January - if I weigh the free delivery, video and Prime Music it's probably worth the £79 for the year. Just about.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Prime Video - a nice add on, but hardly worth a separate subscription

I'm entirely in agreement with you. I have prime for the fast deliveries, the video is just an extra. There are a few shows on there which I've enjoyed (e.g. Mr Robot, The man in the high castle), but not quite enough to be worth it on it's own. That belligerent wanker Clarkson and his two pals aren't an attraction for me though.

The one thing that drives me nuts about amazon prime video is the app support. They closed down support for the built in app on my TV some time ago, so that's not doable. They don't support android TV, so that's a no go for the moment. It still just about works on the built in app on the blu ray box, but it's as shonky as hell. Amazon clearly want me to buy one of their own devices to view it through, but I just don't want their crippled version of Android.

[Roland6]

Re: Prime Video - a nice add on, but hardly worth a separate subscription

re: App support.

Prime is probably no different to other services. Certainly remember having similar issues with old app support with the BBC iPlayer on the Wii and Sony TV. Whilst the Prime App on the Xbox One works well, the Xbox suffers from not being a 'primary platform' and hence isn't supported by many services - I suspect the situation with the PS/4 is similar. I think what is needed is for the box vendors to either standardize on Android, iOS or whatever so that the pre-installed app isn't bespoke or simply standardise on a connector into which I can plug a processor of my choosing.

They don't support android TV, so that's a no go for the moment.

But Prime is available on Android:

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/136244-how-to-watch-amazon-video-on-your-android-phone-or-tablet

So I assume Android TV is also a cutdown Android...

[Lamont Cranston]

Re: app support

I was pleased to find that both Amazon and Netflix (and YouTube) are still working on the Wii, which came in handy after the Netflix app on my TV packed up. The Amazon app (still branded as LoveFilm!) on the Wii is quite a bit more reliable than the version found on my Sony Bluray player, too (Netflix/iPlayer/YouTube are all long gone from that device).

A pity the BBC killed off the iPlayer for the Wii (I notice the WiiU version is on the way out, too), as that would have made the Wii quite a viable candidate for resident "smart" device for the TV.

[pinkmouse]

Poor content, and the rights management refused to let me play any HD content on my home built media PC as well as my main, (also home built) workstation.

[Tim Ryan]

Hey where's the ChromeCast support

They launched in Canada on Wednesday, I thought it had to be better than the defunct SHOMI service, but no ChromeCast support, Just a rambling bullshit description on how to use a browser to cast.

They have some work to do....

[Old Lady]

Pity they don't get their parcel delivery sorted out.