Amazon.com appears to be readying a service that would make 5,000 movies and TV shows available to watch instantly -- for no extra charge -- to members of the online retailer's $79-per-year Prime free-shipping membership program.
The service would provide "unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows" with content similar to what is available through Netflix's streaming component, according to a report by consumer technology blog site Engadget. Amazon's service, though, would be limited to standard-definition video.
Amazon Prime is a membership program that provides free two-day shipping as well as one-day shipping for $3.99 per item on certain purchases.
Currently Amazon offers a selection of more than 75,000 movie and TV show rentals or purchases through PCs, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and connected-TV devices, including those from TiVo, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Vizio and Roku.
The instant-streaming service from Amazon would add to the growing amount of premium video content available online under a subscription plan.
