Akimbo Launches Web Video-On-Demand

October 25, 2004
Akimbo is taking the iTunes idea one step further -- offering video-on-demand service over the Internet. The privately-held company named Amazon.com its official retailer.

Amazon will market the Akimbo Player, a set-top box that delivers hundreds of videos to television sets through Internet downloads. The device is available beginning today for $229 in Amazon's electronics department. It is expected to begin shipping next week.

Akimbo operates much like Apple Computer's iTunes and iPod, except that it delivers video instead of music. For a monthly subscription of $10, consumers can browse thousands of programs that can be downloaded and played at will. The set-top box will store up to 400 programs.

Akimbo said the available features will include 50 categories of content, including mainstream, classic and independent films, foreign language, news, health and fitness, sports, children's programs and education and more.

The catalog also includes independent films from several sources as well as mainstream programming including news specials and features from CNN, movies from Turner Classic Movies and episodes from the Cartoon Network.

Through Akimbo, consumers "can experience the feeling of being in control of what they see with Akimbo's 'queue and view' TV experience -- watching only what they choose, whenever they want it," Akimbo founder Steve Shannon said in a statement.

Akimbo is just the latest sign that the video-on-demand field is heating up. Verizon said last week it will spend $2.8 billion to install fiber-optic cable to one million subscribers' homes, enabling it to provide video-on-demand and other broadband services.

Other companies are also racing to introduce their products. Dave TV is another emerging video-on-demand player and service. Disney's Moviebeam is planning wider distribution. TiVo and Netflix are also reported to be developing new services to debut next year.

Amazon was earlier reported to be preparing an online DVD rental service, similar to Netflix.

Akimbo is backed by venture capitalists Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

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