Amazon have penned a major movie streaming deal with Fox studios ahead of its Android Honeycomb tablet’s premier tomorrow in NYC.
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The deal with Rupert Murdoch’s 20th Century Fox movie house will more than double the number of movies to 11,000 that Amazon ‘Prime’ members of its $79 instant videos service can access.
Since the launch of Prime, Amazon has secured film licensing deals from “partners” such as CBS, FOX, NBC, Universal, Sony, Warner Bros.
FOX titles now available include Speed. Mrs. Doubtfire, Doctor Dolittle, Last of the Mohicans, 24, The X-Files, NYPD Blue, Arrested Development, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The deal comes at a crucial time for the Seattle based e-tailer who are looking to bulk up its content menu ahead of 7″ AU$260 touch Android Kindle tablet debut, to battle it out with Apple’s iPad on both content and price fronts.
A 10″ model is also though to be part of the new tab line up, said to look like BlackBerry Playbook, which many believe is a serious threat to the iPad reign.
Read Amazon Tipped To Launch Sub $260 Android Tablet In OZ Here
The expanded titles will also be available to Instant Video, Amazon’s streaming video service that offers more than 100,000 new release movies and TV shows the day after they air.
Customers can instantly watch movies and TV shows “on a Mac, PC or directly on a TV with any of the 300 compatible devices,” a clear whack in Apple’s iTunes direction, just months after Amazon first launch the Android App Store.
And it is also a clear sign Hollywood is now willing to jump into bed with online streamers, as a legitimate method of content distribution.
This is in spite the ongoing legal battle taking place on Aussie shores with movie houses including 20th Century Fox, Warners Bros and Sony all targeting Perth ISP iiNet over user illegal downloads.
Read How Hollywood Targeted iiNet Over Telstra In Copyright Battle Here
US streamer Netflix also announced a “multi-year licensing agreement “kicking off from in 2013 that will make the web streamer the “exclusive subscription television service” for first-run feature films and TV shows specials from DreamWorks Animation, maker of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and to How To Train Your Dragon.
The movie streamer, which has 25 million users globally and tipped to hit Aussie shores in 2012, will allow members to view content instantly on television, tablet, computer and mobile phones.
