Amazon rumored to launch online movie streaming service this month

Consumers can already buy and rent individual titles from Amazon, but this new program would be reminiscent of Netflix and even Hulu Plus with a monthly subscription fee for unlimited streaming.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Amazon has "held talks with the Hollywood studios and several independent companies about acquiring library content for a subscription movie streaming service similar to Netflix."

Despite rumors that that the online retail giant wants to launch this new service this month, Amazon has been sidelined by both technical glitches and the fact that none of the big studios have signed off any rights yet.

Furthermore, the LAT reports that Amazon is looking at the rights to older titles first. Sure, Netflix subscribers have to wait 28 days for the majority of new releases following DVD and Blu-ray launches, but it's still only a month to wait.

Nevertheless, Netflix was far from perfect when it started, and Watch Instantly didn't become a significant feature until the last two years - especially thanks to set-top boxes and gaming consoles. Let's give Amazon some time and a chance.