1. kbz1960's Avatar
    I don't suppose ping times and packet loss would be a problem when streaming. I wonder if it could be a hardware issue cropping up with my PB. Laptop stats are fine, and the PB streamed fine until last weekend. Though to be fair, today is the first time I've run pingtest on the PB. PB could have gotten 300ms results from Pingtest all along.

    I'm inclined to disregard the Pingtest results, except they would explain quite nicely why Amazon won't stream. The Amazon player does its own test on startup and concludes I have an HD capable connection.

    PlayBook on Wi-Fi
    Click to view quoted image
    Click to view quoted image


    versus

    Laptop on Wi-Fi
    Click to view quoted image
    Click to view quoted image
    I just ran that ping test, am also on comcast and 50 miles. 312 on ping and 25 on jitter.
    01-22-12 02:42 PM
  2. kbz1960's Avatar
    @BB9700CA Yesterday I resorted to the security wipe. The ping and bandwidth results above are post-wipe. I get similar bandwidth results from Comcast's speed test on my PB:
    Click to view quoted image
    Worse than you again.

    http://results.speedtest.comcast.net.../112318212.png
    01-22-12 02:51 PM
  3. Blkacesvf41's Avatar
    Gotta tell you guys this issue must be on Amazon's end. I tried to watch that Sons of Anarchy show and it wouldn't work. Then tried something else and played with no problem.
    01-22-12 04:34 PM
  4. hubermania's Avatar
    Gotta tell you guys this issue must be on Amazon's end. I tried to watch that <series*> show and it wouldn't work. Then tried something else and played with no problem.
    Yah I think you maybe right. I've tried repeatedly to stream <favorite series*> without success. However, last night I streamed 4 hours of <spinoff series*> in both SD and HD. My pingtest and speedtest numbers have not changed, so it's gotta be Amazon. I did however do a security wipe (my second) earlier yesterday.

    * Names withheld to pevent thread hijacking.
    01-22-12 05:17 PM
  5. Blkacesvf41's Avatar
    Yah I think you maybe right. I've tried repeatedly to stream <favorite series*> without success. However, last night I streamed 4 hours of <spinoff series*> in both SD and HD. My pingtest and speedtest numbers have not changed, so it's gotta be Amazon. I did however do a security wipe (my second) earlier yesterday.

    * Names withheld to pevent thread hijacking.
    Huber
    Am curious, after those wipes are you able to recover your pics and videos?
    hangnthere likes this.
    01-22-12 05:30 PM
  6. hubermania's Avatar
    I haven't tried restoring my PB from backup, and I probably won't. The only media of interest is my music collection, which I will re-synch from my PC tonight -- thanks for reminding me!
    01-22-12 05:37 PM
  7. hubermania's Avatar
    So to sum up this thread, there appear to be PlayBook streaming issues on the Amazon side. The video may not play at all, or it may halt moments into the video showing a flash upgrade popup.

    Here are my findings and workarounds:
    1. If the video doesn't start streaming or if the player sits at the 0 second mark with a blank screen, reload the web page to start the stream again.
    2. If the video streams to the 2 second mark and freezes, use the skip back (<) button on the player to restart the stream from the beginning. It often plays fine; however, see #3.
    3. If the video streams to the 27 second mark and freezes, that recording is unlikely to ever stream any further. I've found this to be the case with an entire season, including episodes I had successfully streamed to my PB in the past.
    01-22-12 10:26 PM
  8. kenorian's Avatar
    Just spoke to customer service. They said they don't support any tablet except Kindle Fire. Was working for me for several weeks. Just cancelled my Amazon Prime trial. Clearly, they are trying to promote one particular mobile device. They really are fakakta.
    02-08-12 10:40 PM
  9. kenorian's Avatar
    i've also noticed this recently...some amazon movies/shows play and some don't. when i switched to my laptop to play one of the videos that wouldn't play on my playbook, i noticed my browser downloaded and installed something right before it played so i'm wondering if there is a new flash plugin or something for the more recent additions to amazons library that we don't have yet on the playbook.
    I saw the same thing on my desktop, and had a similar thought about the Playbook.
    02-09-12 07:28 AM
  10. kenorian's Avatar
    I wrote this:

    COMMENTS: Since Christmas I have been using my Blackberry PlayBook to stream video to my TV using its HDMI connection. I was so happy I signed up for Amazon Prime. A couple of days ago, it stopped working, only on the PlayBook. I was told by the Amazon rep that PlayBook is not supported. It worked, and clearly a change has been made recently as others on the Blackberry forums have noticed the same thing. If people are willing to rent/buy/pay for an annual subscription, why wouldn't Amazon want to be able to sell their products as widely as possible? Is there a chance that there will be a fix to this issue coming soon?


    And got this response:

    Hello,

    I apologize for any inconvenience caused in this regard.

    On checking the details, I found that the Blackberry PlayBook is not listed in our list of supported devices.

    Since our Technical teams keep improving our Amazon Instant Video store with new updates there might be chances that you might have been able to stream videos on devices that are not mentioned on our list of compatible devices. We're able to provide troubleshooting only for the devices that are mentioned on our help pages as compatible for Amazon Instant Video content.

    You can visit the link below to see a list of all currently supported devices for Amazon Video on Demand:

    Amazon Instant Video: Watch on Your TV

    I've taken your concern as a feedback and forwarded to our Amazon Appstore team so they continue to improve the experience of watching digital videos as per the convenience of our customers and try to make it available in the near future.

    In addition to our large selection, one of the benefits we try very hard to offer our customers is convenience.

    Thank you for your understanding. We hope to see you again soon.


    Best regards,

    Mamatha A
    Amazon.com
    02-09-12 02:12 PM
  11. dadymon's Avatar
    That sucks! There was talk about RIM including a video store service with OS 2. Lets hope so! The HDMI experience would be a waste not having the ability to stream movies without a hassell!
    02-09-12 03:29 PM
  12. mwyattea's Avatar
    I'm an Amazon Prime member and have also purchased movies so have a video library on Amazon. I can still stream "Prime Instant Video" on my Playbook; however, when I try and watch one of my purchased movies, pops up with message that the Flash Player is not supported. When you click on the link to see if update to Flash Player, get message that the Flash is up to date.

    Do remember seeing that Adobe is not updating the Flash Player plugin. Believe that this is the issue: the Prime instant videos aren't impacted by the DRM in the plugin, but purchased videos are. Appears that the problem lies in Adobe not updating the Flash plugin.

    Think this is the issue:

    http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/9/25...ook/in/2313237
    Last edited by mwyattea; 02-10-12 at 10:28 AM.
    02-10-12 09:07 AM
  13. kenorian's Avatar
    I'm an Amazon Prime member and have also purchased movies so have a video library on Amazon. I can still stream "Prime Instant Video" on my Playbook; however, when I try and watch one of my purchased movies, pops up with message that the Flash Player is not supported. When you click on the link to see if update to Flash Player, get message that the Flash is up to date.

    Do remember seeing that Adobe is not updating the Flash Player plugin. Believe that this is the issue: the Prime instant videos aren't impacted by the DRM in the plugin, but purchased videos are. Appears that the problem lies in Adobe not updating the Flash plugin.

    Think this is the issue:

    Adobe to cease developing mobile Flash plugin for Android and PlayBook, says ZDNet | The Verge
    That makes sense.... my purchased videos don't work either, rented ones do. Free TV shows included with the Amazon Prime membership don't work.

    So, either the update of the Flash plugin is the issue and/or Amazon is trying to push the Kindle.
    02-10-12 10:32 AM
  14. angelvel's Avatar
    So it seems that HTML5 is the way to go, but will Amazon move to that, and will Adobe stop developing Flash all together and use Adobe Air and HTML5 and will they be supported on PB and other mobile devices.
    I also have a kindle and can still watch my Prime there, but I like the PB Screen and sound better. So I wonder since the Kindle is android based if there is a video player that can be adapted to PB. I would be interesting if someone has an Android tablet as well a PB if they can stream Amazon Prime? If they have the same Flash error, then it would good to Push Amazon to make a player that could be used on multiple platforms Android, PB and iOS. If they can stream why is not possible on the PB?
    02-19-12 07:24 AM
  15. kbz1960's Avatar
    I would say if it is flash then android isn't getting updates either. Didn't adobe say they are no longer supporting flash on mobile devices? So that would be up to google to update it just like it's to RIM to update it for the pb.
    02-19-12 07:40 AM
  16. kb5zht's Avatar
    I just hate that one of the biggest pluses I had for the Playbook has been removed. Between that and features not having been brought to bear yet, its getting a little frustrating.

    Ah, that OS 2 carrot is still being dangled....
    02-19-12 07:59 AM
  17. llllBULLSEYE's Avatar
    oh I was about to dump Netflix and go with Amazon Prime which I though
    worked on the Playbook.
    guess Im sticking to Netflix on the PB for now, but I hope they somehow get it to
    work on the playbook cause the Amazon service seems better to me and I'm
    so bored with Netflix now.
    02-19-12 08:01 AM
  18. RunSilent23's Avatar
    I just hate that one of the biggest pluses I had for the Playbook has been removed. Between that and features not having been brought to bear yet, its getting a little frustrating.

    Ah, that OS 2 carrot is still being dangled....
    I am an Amazon Prime member and I can still watch movies and TV series. I just purchased an entire season yesterday from Amazon and watched 3 episodes with no problem. I started a few movies on Prime with no issues as well. So it doesn't appear everyone is having problems with Amazon streaming.

    I bought an HDMI cable from Amazon for less than $4 for my Playbook. The HD content looks awesome on both the PB screen and my HDTV. We also own a couple of Kindle Fires. They are great little tablets but the screen quality can't hold a candle to the Playbook's.
    02-19-12 08:27 AM
  19. Blkacesvf41's Avatar
    oh I was about to dump Netflix and go with Amazon Prime which I though
    worked on the Playbook.
    guess Im sticking to Netflix on the PB for now, but I hope they somehow get it to
    work on the playbook cause the Amazon service seems better to me and I'm
    so bored with Netflix now.
    How are you getting Netflix on your playbook? You running 2.0?
    der Geist likes this.
    02-19-12 08:28 AM
  20. kb5zht's Avatar
    How are you getting Netflix on your playbook? You running 2.0?
    Has even that been garaunteed?
    02-19-12 08:43 AM
  21. llllBULLSEYE's Avatar
    I'm on OS1. I use a service on the PB Playon.tv cost me $20 a year not bad
    I consider it more like $1.66 a month which is cheap and
    allows me to watch Netflix and Hulu on the go.
    The only thing I don't like is my Home computer always has to be on for it to work
    on the road.
    02-19-12 08:49 AM
  22. Sterling147's Avatar
    I wrote this:

    COMMENTS: Since Christmas I have been using my Blackberry PlayBook to stream video to my TV using its HDMI connection. I was so happy I signed up for Amazon Prime. A couple of days ago, it stopped working, only on the PlayBook. I was told by the Amazon rep that PlayBook is not supported. It worked, and clearly a change has been made recently as others on the Blackberry forums have noticed the same thing. If people are willing to rent/buy/pay for an annual subscription, why wouldn't Amazon want to be able to sell their products as widely as possible? Is there a chance that there will be a fix to this issue coming soon?


    And got this response:

    Hello,

    I apologize for any inconvenience caused in this regard.

    On checking the details, I found that the Blackberry PlayBook is not listed in our list of supported devices.

    Since our Technical teams keep improving our Amazon Instant Video store with new updates there might be chances that you might have been able to stream videos on devices that are not mentioned on our list of compatible devices. We're able to provide troubleshooting only for the devices that are mentioned on our help pages as compatible for Amazon Instant Video content.

    You can visit the link below to see a list of all currently supported devices for Amazon Video on Demand:

    Amazon Instant Video: Watch on Your TV

    I've taken your concern as a feedback and forwarded to our Amazon Appstore team so they continue to improve the experience of watching digital videos as per the convenience of our customers and try to make it available in the near future.

    In addition to our large selection, one of the benefits we try very hard to offer our customers is convenience.

    Thank you for your understanding. We hope to see you again soon.


    Best regards,

    Mamatha A
    Amazon.com
    I also called Amazon about PB's compability with Amazon Prime and received the same response, almost word for word. I guess I will put off subscribing to Amazon Prime until they do support PB and hope that Netflix comes with os 2.0. I will also explore the Playon.tv option that BULLSEYE mentioned on page 4.

    Thanks for your posting.
    02-19-12 10:47 AM
  23. jafobabe's Avatar
    I can still use Amazon for watching movies and have noticed if I click the popout it will show in full width for the PB. Yes, I still have problems with watching HD and BluRay, but then I will watch those movies with my BluRay DVD's on my TV.

    I still will keep Amazon Prime, as I use it for the discounts on other merchandise and for the free 2 day shipping.
    Harryl6134 likes this.
    02-19-12 12:02 PM
  24. Blkacesvf41's Avatar
    Has anyone tried any of these shows that are not working on the PB with an Android tablet? I'm interested in the results. I only have an iPad (my wife's) so that's a no go. I tried a lotta different shows this morning, so my theory of only the newer shows not working is out the window. Like I said, it is hit or miss. For instance NYPD Blue season 1 worked but then season 2 didn't.
    02-19-12 12:06 PM
  25. angelvel's Avatar
    You all may want to read this link from CIO.com
    Amazon Blocks Instant Video on BlackBerry PlayBook, Blames Apple | CIO Blogs
    There is complaint link included.
    02-19-12 04:48 PM
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