Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says that the company will launch a pay-per-view movie service shortly.

According to reports out of D6–Barron’s Eric Savitz has the most complete account along with Silicon Alley Insider–Bezos said he’s serious about music and video downloads. He should be considering the distribution costs.

Dan Farber, our man on the scene, relays the following quote:

“We are working on a new version of video on demand, a for pay streaming service we will release in the next couple of weeks. The streaming service will start instantly and it’s a la carte, for pay.”

Aside from that little move rental nugget there wasn’t a whole lot of news from Bezos (at right, credit Dan Farber), who declined to give any hard numbers of Kindle sales. Of course that doesn’t stop analysts from making guesstimates.

What’s unclear about this streaming video thing is how it fits in with Amazon’s Unbox. Amazon’s effort is likely to be a movie rental service similar to what you find on Netflix and Apple’s iTunes.

The takeaway: Amazon is preparing for a time when digital distribution is dominant and it has to have its paws in multiple markets.

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

Credit: ZDNet