Author Topic: Amazon Unbox discontinued as of March 29, 2015 - Now what?  (Read 1731 times)

Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Amazon Unbox discontinued as of March 29, 2015 - Now what?
« on: February 25, 2015, 06:35:09 PM »
As Amazon was gradually degrading its Unbox video-download services they are now taking a step which is seemingly spelling the end of it. Following is an email I received today:

********************************************************
Hello,

As someone who has used Amazon Unbox, we want to let you know about important upcoming changes to the application.

Amazon Unbox will no longer be available after March 29, 2015. This means you won’t be able to use Unbox to view or download videos after this date. You can however continue to watch the movies and TV episodes you’ve purchased and previously downloaded on your PC after this date by following the steps below.

Important: The following two-step process will give you access to your purchased and downloaded videos through Windows Media Player, a standard media player included with most PCs. If you need to download or re-install Windows Media Player please go to Microsoft Support (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/download-windows-media-player).

1. Update the Amazon Unbox application to the latest version. This version includes a one-time license conversion that will make your videos available within Windows Media Player. Open the Unbox application and there will be an "Upgrade" notification you can use to do this. You can also click the "Settings" option in the Unbox menu and select "Check for Amazon Unbox Upgrades."

2. Use Unbox to download all purchased videos you wish to view offline on your PC by March 29, 2015.

Once you’ve completed these two steps, your downloaded videos will be available through Windows Media Player on your PC, and you can uninstall Amazon Unbox without losing access to them. If you don’t download your purchased videos onto your PC and install the latest version of Unbox by this date, you won’t be able to watch your purchased videos offline on your PC.

As always, you can also stream your purchased movies and TV episodes on your PC through your web browser as well as on hundreds of compatible devices, including Smart TV’s, game consoles, iOS, Android, and Fire OS devices.

For more information about ways to watch, go to:

https://www.amazon.com/watchnow

Sincerely,

Customer Service
Amazon.com
********************************************************

Is this good or bad...? Will windows media player give us the services we need...? Time will tell...

Offline Len_A

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Re: Amazon Unbox discontinued as of March 29, 2015 - Now what?
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2015, 09:13:05 PM »
Now we get screwed. I download, for offline viewing, to my TiVo, and I always had a license to download to one of two computes I have. That way, I can watch movies & TV episodes on a flight. Now Amazon wants us to stream only? Not cool.

Now, either I have to get Apple TV, to download seasons of programs from networks I don't subscribe to, which freaking means upgrading my TV, or I have to pay twice, once from Amazon, for the TV, and once from iTunes, for portability.

This is ridiculous.  I've emailed Jim Freeman, Vice President, Technology, Product, and Design - Amazon Instant Video, to complain. I'm waiting to hear back.