Amazon is taking steps toward releasing a video-streaming device, just in time for the holiday selling season. The set-top box, which would pit the online retailer against a host of established rivals, is a small device that will resemble a Roku player and can run apps and content from different sources. It would also serve as a delivery vehicle for Amazon's existing streaming video service, available to Prime members.
The set-top box would increase Amazon's reach into the living room, where today it is dependent on other hardware makers to reach consumers watching video on TV sets. Providing its own device is crucial to Amazon's goal of expanding beyond its core online marketplace business. Currently, Amazon users can access streaming content through specially equipped televisions, set-top boxes like those sold by Roku, or videogame systems such as Microsoft’s Xbox. Amazon, with its own set-top box, would gain additional data about its customers as well attract exclusive apps.
Amazon’s set-top box will be entering a crowded market. Millions of televisions and gaming consoles already enable streaming video from Amazon; Roku has sold at least 5 million devices in the U.S., Samsung recently bought Boxee, a streaming television service, and Intel is currently working on its own video service and accompanying device.
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