Trend from 2008: Amazon Had "Best Ever" Sales

While everyone else has been struggling, Amazon.com has reported their "best ever" holiday shopping season. Compared to the doom and gloom from companies such as Tweeter and Circuit City, Amazon's report is a shining light of good news.

Last year, 5.4 million products were ordered on its peak day. This year, that number grew to 6.3 million products, ordered on December 15.  During the holiday shopping season, retailers typically make between 30-50% of their annual revenue. Amazon is lucky -- few retailers saw those numbers this year.

What were some of the bestsellers?

Amazon's TiVo/Samsung Sale

Did Santa bring you everything you wanted? Need to fill in a few blank spots on your wish list? Just in time, Amazon is playing an elf.  From now until December 29th, get $150 off the price of a TiVo HD DVR when you purchase one of seven select Samsung HDTVs.

Models from Samsung range from a 40-inch up to a 52-inch, all LCD, all 1080p. The TiVo is model TCD652160 records up to 180 hours of standard def, or up to 20 hours of HD content.

Need even more persuasion? Get two free movie from Amazon Video on Demand.

See which Samsung models are on the list.

Amazon.com's Blu-ray Sale

Go - NOW!  Amazon.com is having a Blu-ray sale! From now until midnight (pst) December 17th, get three Blu-ray discs for the price of two. Not every Blu-ray in stock, but almost every disc. (They have a total of 201 Blu-ray movies for sale, but only 172 are in this special.) 

This sale includes boxed sets too. So, you can get The BBC's Planet Earth/Wild China/Galapagos/Ganges and Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector's Edition, and they'll throw in Nip/Tuck - The Complete Fourth Season for free. Or whatever floats your boat.

They also have interesting "Best of Blu-ray" packages. Seems like a neat way to build your library without breaking the bank, especially with the buy-3-for-2 pricing. The "Action" edition bundles Troy, Blood Diamond, Wyatt Earp and Alexander Revisited The Final Cut. "The Best of Blu-ray Disc, Volume One" bundles Lethal Weapon, The Road Warrior, Swordfish, and Training Day. Not bad.

Keep reading for the fine print of the sale.

TiVo/Amazon HD? Oops, Our Bad

A few observant users over at EngadgetHD spotted something interesting on their TiVo screens. When they looked at the Video On Demand screen for Amazon's streaming service, they noticed an interesting option. Suddenly, there was an option for "Available in High Definition." Cool, right?

Not so fast. This was just a test. According to TiVo's PR firm...

Amazon.com's Big Mistake

Last Saturday, an Amazon retailer was listing quite a few TVs at prices that were unreal. Turns out that, in fact, they were unreal.

The online retailer, My Office Source normally sells, as you might guess, office equipment. But on Saturday, they had a Sharp Aquos LCD that normally retails for $2,299.99 on sale for... $38.45. Insane! A Panasonic 32-inch set for $65.95. Crazy!

What's even crazier is that some adventurous readers at Gizmodo were able to order these bargains. Did they get their unbelieveable deals?

Amazon VOD Now Available on Mac and PC

Amazon has boxed up Unbox and just announced that starting immediately, Mac and PC customers can instantly watch movies on either a Mac or PC with Amazon Video On Demand. Using the old Unbox app, material had to be downloaded first, to either a PC or TiVo.  The Unbox can still be used to watch downloaded content, but instant access is always a good thing.

And, now officially announced, movies and TV shoes can be rented or purchase using Amazon Video On Demand through Sony's BRAVIA Internet Video Link.

Not sure if you want to buy or rent something? Check it out — the first two minutes of every movie or TV show will start playing automatically when you go to the detailed product page.  Pick a show - there are even some freebies!  I love free stuff.

Keep reading for the complete press release.

Amazon VOD for Sony's BRAVIA Link

A reader of engadgetHD noticed that Amazon.com is running a beta version of their video-on-demand services for Sony's BRAVIA Internet Video Link. The Link is an add-on module for Sony's BRAVIA TVs that connects to the Internet.

According to the report, a low-key system message appeared and the user rebooted, the Amazon Video on Demand logo was among his streaming options alongside of YouTube and the other options on his BRAVIA set.

What else do we know about this?

Amazon.com on TiVo -- More Than Just Downloads

Couch potatoes rejoice! Seems like just days ago we reported that Amazon.com was going to let you purchase movies downloaded through your TV system. Not a stretch, but opening a whole new world of opportunities, Amazon and TiVo just made an exciting announcement that's taking this to the next level.

If you can purchase movies from Amazon on your TV, why can't you make other purchases from Amazon.com?

Amazon On-Demand Now in Beta

Who needs Netflix and Blockbuster when Amazon.com is around? Seeming to ditch their Unbox, Amazon.com is launching a new store that will stream movies and television shows directly to your PC and soon, to Sony's Bravia Video Link TVs. Yup. We said stream. Unlike the original service from Amazon that required you to download the file, this is a streaming video service, more like cable's video-on-demand.

Who's signed up?

TiVo HD gets Unbox'ed with Amazon

While it's not big news that Amazon's Unbox has partnered with TiVo, it is news that HD content will also be available. Unbox is the service that lets you buy and download movies and TV shows directly from Amazon to your PC or broadband-connected TiVo DVR. A spokesman from TiVo is reported to say that the companies will launch HD service “in the not too distant future.” While HD content availability is limited for subscribers by bandwidth constraints, the provider companies are working frantically to try to broaden their capabilities. The rep from TiVo said that the service will be limited by bandwidth. That's pretty understandable.