Amazon Video goes high-def

Amazon.com said today it will make 500 streaming TV shows and movies available in high-definition. The long-anticipated move puts Amazon's Video on Demand business on a more even footing with Apple's iTunes, which started offering HD movies for rent or purchase in March. But some critics weren't impressed with Amazon's offering.

Amazon said the 500 HD titles include new movie releases "Frost/Nixon" and "Twilight," and the TV hit "Gossip Girl." The HD videos can be downloaded and viewed on a computer or on a television with compatible devices including the Roku set-top box, TiVo Series3, and Panasonic HDTVs. People can rent the Amazon HD streaming movies for $3.99 to $4.99, and purchase HD TV shows for $2.99.

Rumors of Amazon's HD offerings started leaking out in March, shortly after iTunes' announcement. Now that it's official, one early review said Amazon failed to "make a splash." TechCrunch writes that Amazon's HD streaming video pricing and content is similar to iTunes, and notes that, "Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any real differentiating factor from the other services."

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