Amazon.com launches video streaming service

Amazon.com has completely rocked the online video world by launching a brand new video streaming service. Dubbed "Amazon Instant Video," the service is free for paying Amazon Prime members and goes toe to toe with Netflix in both price and availability of content.

For $79 per year, one gets access to over 5000 commercial free titles including TV shows and movies. Subscribers also get free two day shipping and $3.99 per item overnight shipping on items ordered through Amazon.com since they are also amazon Prime members. In a letter to subscribers, CEO Jeff Bezos has indicated that existing Prime members will also get access to Amazon Instant Video at no additional charge. Amazon already offers support for a wide variety of devices including TiVo and Google TV and includes support for HD and 5.1 surround sound. Not all of these devices support Amazon instant video currently but expect that to change as the service catches on. You can check it out here.