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Monday, April 16, 2012

PS3 Gets Amazon Instant Video Streaming App

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Sony PlayStation 3 users can now access movies and TV shows from Amazon's Instant Video service on the console.

Amazon and Sony on Tuesday officially launched the Amazon Instant Video app for the PS3. It lets PS3 users buy or rent from Amazon's collection of more than 120,000 TV shows and movies, including new releases such as The Descendants, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and War Horse and TV shows like Mad Men, Vampire Diaries, and Justified.

This makes the PS3 the first and only video game console system to offer access to Amazon Instant Video content. The PS3's suite of streaming-video services also includes Netflix, Hulu Plus, CinemaNow, Vudu, NHL, MLB.TV, NFL Sunday Ticket, SEC college sports, XOS college sports, and Sony Video Unlimited.

With the new app, Amazon Prime members can also stream thousands of videos and TV shows to their PS3 at no additional cost. A Prime subscription will set you back $79 a year and gives you unlimited access to more than 17,000 TV shows and movies, such as Glee, Downton Abbey, Sons of Anarchy and movies such as Office Space, The Graduate and Brokeback Mountain.

Users can install the app directly from the TV/Video Services category on the XrossMediaBar. It is also available from the PlayStation Store, under the Media & Apps category. Coinciding with the launch of app, Amazon is offering the first episode of more than 100 TV shows for free instant streaming to Prime and non-Prime customers.

"PlayStation 3 is a powerful home entertainment system and is incredibly popular with our customers," Bill Carr, vice president of video and music at Amazon, said in a statement. "Since the launch of Prime Instant Videos one of the top customer requests has been to provide customers with an app for PlayStation 3."

For more from Angela, follow her on Twitter @amoscaritolo.

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