Amazon's $15 Bait

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The latest version of Amazon.com's (Nasdaq: AMZN) Unbox software offers several enhancements, including quicker download times, faster loading, and Vista compatibility. It also signals the arrival of the recently announced deal to pipe Amazon's digital rentals and purchases into broadband-enabled TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) boxes.

It's the perfect alliance. Other digital delivery services tie you to your computer or require hardware purchases like special cables, set-top boxes, or Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) upcoming Apple TV appliance to watch downloads on your television. Amazon's service cuts out the overhead and the learning curve.

The service should sell itself to TiVo's 1.5 million broadband-tethered subscribers, but why take a chance on that? Through the end of next month, Amazon is providing a special link to give folks a $15 Unbox credit for registering their TiVo boxes with the video-downloading service. DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) TiVo subscribers are not eligible for the freebie.

The selection may seem thin. There are just 1,384 downloads available for TiVo users at the moment. Thankfully, we're talking about most of the good ones. Missed an episode of 24 or Prison Break? Never got around to checking out Oscar-winning The Departed or best picture nominees Little Miss Sunshine or Babel? It's there, waiting for you to make it happen.

The service's simplicity and attractive price points may dent the fast-growing mail-order delivery services of Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI). More importantly, it may be an even bigger selling point to choose a TiVo over lower-priced generic digital video recorders.

Today is an important day -- the debut of TiVo-beaming flexibility in digital delivery. Make sure you hit the pause button so you can savor it a little longer.

Work your way into the Unbox box:

• The Unbox service was introduced in September.
• The Amazon-TiVo alliance was announced last month.

Amazon.com, TiVo, and Netflix have been recommended to Stock Advisor subscribers. We can't set you up with a $15 Unbox video credit, but a free 30-day trial subscription is yours for the viewing.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares in both TiVo and Netflix, and is also an early adopter of both services. He is part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.