I haven’t used amazons digital downloads yet. Will that 99 cent video be transferable to my iPhone?  iPad? iPod?

And how will I play that 99 cent video on my HDTV?  Through another box?...

There are several ways. Find out here.

If you have a Mac Mini, for example, you could hook it up to your HDTV and watch full screen streams on that.

Amazon is taking the approach to video that they have with the Kindle. Support as many devices and modes of operation as possible. Let the people choose how they want to use the content.

Bosco,

Your message seems to be an advertising for the Amazon service, because it didn’t answer YodaMac’s question.

So, can he watch Amazon videos on iPhone, iPad or iPod? Can he? That’s all he cares about. It really doesn’t matter to him how many devices from different manufacturers can play Amazon videos; he wants to watch them on the iPod, iPad and/or iPhone. The page you linked shows none of these devices. So, what good is this Amazon video rental model, if the most popular handheld devices cannot show it?

Maybe you missed his second question?

I was obviously talking about his FIRST question.

Right, and I didn’t read either of his questions as wanting to start a pissing match. I read the second one as wanting information, which I could provide, along with a suggestion that a Mac Mini would work for that, as it has for me for more than 4 years. Did somebody kick your cat this morning?

And to answer the first question, without getting into anything else, it appears that the answer is no, you can’t watch it on an iPhone etc.

Bosco,

I wouldn’t have answered the way I did if this was your first time on these forums. Knowing your attitude towards visitors of this forum, it was a bit annoying; the point of the message was clearly not to suggest a solution, but to point out how any non-Apple choice “lets the people choose how they want to use the content” (while Apple presumably tells you how you’re supposed to do it, right?). That’s the part that was a bit annoying to me; the attempt to take another swipe at people who come to this forum as Apple users and enthusiasts.

As for the Mac Mini solution, it is perfectly fine, but way too expensive (if you already have another Mac). Another problem with the Mac Mini as your media box is, it is simply NOT a media box. It is a desktop computer. Its OS is designed for desktop use (keyboard/mouse navigation, from close distance). You do have Front Row, but it is just an application running on top of the desktop system. In other words, you can comfortably use the Front Row from your sofa (with the Apple Remote), but to do anything other than watching (i.e. to buy those Amazon videos), you have to use keyboard and mouse and do it in a desktop mode, which is not comfortable to do from a sofa. In other words, not quite optimal.

Well, if the Mini doesn’t hack it for you because it’s beyond your modest means and/or doesn’t have the right software, I have two other suggestions for you.

1. NewEgg has some new kick ass Atom 550N net-tops priced in the $250 range without an OS (Linux should work fine for streaming). Or, for the low $300s, add Windows 7 to it and you have a box you can play games or browse the web on too.

2. Dell Inspiron Zino, sub $400 with Windows 7. Actually designed for this kind of deployment.

Oh, and there are hundreds of inexpensive wireless keyboards/mice/trackpads that work great with media center PCs, even if they’re Macs. I know Steve Jobs hasn’t told you about them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. $120 (i.e. what you probably spend on your HDMI cable) will get you some nice living room kit.

I’m not sure either of your solutions would be acceptable for the OP. If he already has an iMac (or a MacBook/Pro), buying another $600 Mac, just so that he can watch shows on Amazon makes little sense. Just like buying any computer (netbook or a PC box). If he would need to buy additional hardware in order to watch Amazon videos, by far the cheapest solution would probably be the Roku device ($70), which seems somewhat similar to the new AppleTV.

As for wireless mice and keyboards, where would I put either of the two when I’m sitting on the sofa? Even if I get one of the third-party ones that combine the keyboard and trackpad into one, it is still much larger than a remote, and as such pretty much a non-starter for the living room.

...“I know Steve Jobs hasn’t told you about them”...

Do you really HAVE to be so derisive?

And, as the article points out, you can use the Roku box, which has HD output on the $70 model. And you can use it even if your HDTV has component and not HDMI.

The AppleTV is cool, but it doesn’t have anything to make it the obvious choice - yet.

Logitech diNovo Mini.

25-foot HDMI cable. You might need a little magic to plug this into your desktop Mac.

I’ve seen this Logitech device before. Nice. I’m sure it works great for this purpose for many people. In my opinion, though, it is still too big for comfortable living room use, and it is just too expensive for the purpose (almost two Roku boxes for the price of one Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad combo).

I don’t know if I’m like anyone else, but my iMac is NOT in my living room, so the 25-ft HDMI cable wouldn’t do much.

In general, hooking up a computer to a HDTV is marginally popular (and even that only in households where the principal computer user is an advanced one). The reason is precisely because it requires technical thinking, which is just too much hassle for pretty much every other average person. This is why set-top boxes have a greater chance than media centre computers.

It’s not much bigger than an xbox controller. If that’s too big, maybe your smartphone platform of choice has a remote control app. I like gmote for my N1 which works great as a presentation remote for any of my Macs or PCs.

Are you serious that people can’t figure out how to plug in an HDMI cable? Bear in mind that the average IQ (by definition) is 100, not 80. Maybe on the Mac since most still need an adaptor, but it’s far easier to connect an HTPC these days than your run of the mill cable box.

Plugging a cable into two devices is not the problem. It is just the hassle of using them. Even if we disregard, for the moment, the fact that most people don’t really have their Mac (or PC) in their living room (it is usually in the library/den/study, or a bedroom), using a desktop computer as a media box is just plain too much effort for most users. THIS is the reason why media centre PCs (and the concept of connecting a computer to a HDTV) are generally marginally popular.

If you subscribe to cable service (as millions of households around the globe do today), you have no choice but connect that cable box to your TV, and in most cases, your cable operator’s technician will do the hook up for you, if you’re too busy (or lazy, or dumb) to do it yourself. Keep in mind, half of the people who own HDTV in the US are watching SD signal on those TVs without knowing it, fully convinced that they’re watching HD in its glorious high resolution image. For most, large, wide, flat screen = HD.

“I haven’t used amazons digital downloads yet. Will that 99 cent video be transferable to my iPhone?  iPad? iPod?”

To answer the original question: No you can’t run them on the Apple devices you listed. Apple does not have a licensing agreement to interface with Amazon’s purchase/streaming/downloading service. Nor does Amazon have a deal to encode them in Apple’s Fairplay DRM. I doubt the situation will change so if you want to try it you’ll need to use a mac to decode it at the minimum through the browser.

I have a v1 appleTV and a series 2 Tivo with Amazon and I have been very happy with the Amazon Service. appleTV is good when I want to buy a hd movie/tv show. If I’m good with SD I use the Tivo (don’t have the series 3 or premiere tivos that do HD yet.)

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