Amazon Video On Demand released to Roku's STB

Amazon's on-demand video streaming service on the Roku set top box began beta tests in early February, and today has officially been released to the public.

Roku announced today that software updates for its $99 set top box will be rolled out over the course of the week, giving customers access to a library of 40,000 movies on demand that cost between 99¢ and $3.99 per rental.

The service, which offers both rentals and downloads on the PC, Sony Bravia Internet Video Link, and TiVo, grew out of Amazon's Unbox service. Titles are streamed in H.264 and will play back at 300, 600, 900, or 1200 kbps. To begin renting movies, Amazon customers need to set up a "Compatible Device Purchase PIN" in their Amazon 1-Click Payment account.

Roku's set top box has an estimated 70,000 titles available for consumption with the combination of Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand.