Amazon Working On Competitor To Apple’s TV Set-Top Box

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that Amazon is working on a set-top box to stream video content over the Internet via its Instant Video and Amazon Prime services.

The box will compete with similar products like the Roku and the Apple TV, as well with a more versatile devices such as Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox that have moved into the streaming video field in recent years. The report notes:

 “The set-top box is being developed by Amazon’s Lab126 division, based in Cupertino (Calif.), which has toyed with building TV-connected devices for several years, the people familiar with the effort say. The project is being run by Malachy Moynihan, a former vice president of emerging video products at Cisco who worked on the networking company’s various consumer video initiatives. Moynihan also spent nine years at Apple during the 1980s and 1990s”.

Recently, Amazon has stepped up its efforts in the streaming video arena. The company has produced 14 television pilots and now it is monitoring customer feedback to decide which of them to produce as a full shows.

Currently Amazon's Instant Video service is available in the U.S. on iPads and iPhones, the Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii, the Sony Playstation 3, smart televisions from Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Vizio and LG, TiVo, the Roku box, as well as a number of Blu-ray players.