Amazon announces Fire TV
 

http://sourcefed.com/amazon-announces-fire-tv/

Amazon has dove in head first into video hardware, announcing it’s new set-top device: Amazon Fire TV.

Clearly a competitor for Apple TV and Roku, the $99 device is an internet-connected set-top box which uses voice commands that you speak into its remote control. It will also serve as a gaming console, and consumers have the option to purchase a separate $39 controller that is paired with the box.

Amazon has claimed the device is 3 times more powerful than Apple TV and is based on Android and HTML 5, which means it should be easy for companies to bring their apps over to the platform. It supports Hulu Plus, Netflix, Pandora, Youtube, Crackle, iHeartRadio and Vevo. Sadly, HBO Go and Vudu are not supported.

Fire TV also has a predictive engine called “ASAP,” which pre-loads content it thinks you are going to watch, so it can start without any buffering or load time. This feature learns over time and gets better at suggesting content you like.

In a prior announcement made this weekend, Amazon said it will be turning six shows from its Amazon Originals program into a full series. The shows, which were selected after viewer feedback from the pilot episodes, include ’The After’, ‘Bosch, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street’, ‘Mozart in the Jungle’, ‘Transparent’ and ’Wishenpoof’. Amazon also renewed ’Alpha House’ — starring John Goodman — for a second season.

As far as gaming is concerned, the console will offer titles such as “Minecraft” and “The Walking Dead”. Many of the titles will be free or cost a little as $1.85 to play.

Now they just need to allow you to control the video quality output.

LMAO... You have to realize you're one of the only people on earth who wants lower quality options.

When I first got my Roku I thought how cool it was to have the media options and all those cool games.

They didn't have any cool games. They had a great idea with the remote and gaming options and it just never went anywhere. A real shame.

Perhaps this will pull in people who don't have a Roku/AppleTV but I see no reason to upgrade from what I've got. Other than the gaming problems mentioned above I love my almost invisible, reliable, and versatile Roku...

You might be surprised. Its one of the things I really appreciate about Netflix. The ability to choose when I watch in HD.

OK.... this thing is really gaining momentum already. It's already been rooted(giggle). It's now got XBMC support, and it can be easily installed without even needing a computer. That's HUGE. It's already being hailed by some XBMC developers as the new best XBMC device. And this is just the very tip of the iceberg.

• Size 4.5" x 4.5" x 0.7" (115 mm x 115 mm x 17.5 mm)
• Weight 9.9 oz (281 grams)
• SOC Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 8064
• Processor Qualcomm Krait 300, quad-core to 1.7 Ghz
• GPU Qualcomm Adreno 320
• Storage 8 GB internal
• Memory 2 GB LPDDR2 @ 533 MHZ
• Wi-Fi Connectivity Dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi (MIMO) for faster streaming and fewer dropped connections than standard Wi-Fi. 802.11a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 with support for the following profiles: HID, HFP 1.6, SPP
• Cloud Storage Free cloud storage for all Amazon content
• Ports 5.5 mm DC Jack, Type A HDMI 1.4b output, w/HDCP, Optical Audio (TOSLINK), 10/100 Ethernet, USB 2.0 Type A
• Audio Support for Dolby Digital Plus, 5.1 surround sound, 2ch Stereo and HDMI audio pass through up to 7.1
• Content Formats Supported Video: H.263, H.264, MPEG4-SP, VC1
• Audio AAC, AC-3, E-AC-3, HE-A, PCM, MP3
• Photo JPG, PNG
• Output Resolution Supported 720p and 1080p up to 60fps

I might make a purchase soon......

Holy crap that was fast. XBMC support makes this a no brainer.

If I got Amazon video and my Google Fiber Box didn't play back MKV files as well as it does I'd be all over it.

Should be interesting to see how (if) Apple counters at WWDC. I'm guessing they will.

Amazon just up and offers the source code to its FireTV online available to the public.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...deId=201452680

How. ****ing. Awesome......

XBMC might be its saving grace.

It's not getting the best reviews so far...

Another plus... it uses Amazon's Voice navigation/search features. Which also happens to be perfectly compatible with XBMC too.

"Play latest Game of Thrones!"

:D

Even I rolled my eyes at that one. You sir, are a dork among dorks. :D

Think I'm going to give this a try after some research.

Yeah... we'll see who comes begging for help from this dork when someone else buys one and bricks it..... :evil:

Remember this thing is only a week old. It's going to get much much much better still. There's a $40 game controller available. They've hacked a Ouya controller to work with it, and will likely have a PS3 controller working on it before long. And it has the juice to play some decent games.

Putting the source code out there for any nerd developer to play with? This has the potential to explode, and overtake AppleTV/Roku/Ouya in a landslide. It's already taken huge leaps in it's first week of release.

Success ought to come down to content. Right now everything plays Netflix, Hulu. Apple's got it's library and ecosystem going for it, Amazon has people who will stream by virtue of liking cheap shipping and Google has three (arguably) competing products in Google TV, Google Fiber and Android TV. You've also got the Steam box laying around as a possible competitor.

Developers big and small seem to have adopted iOS and the Apple Ecosystem in a big way. If suddenly EA can push Madden out through an Apple TV or Android TV, cutting out Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony things could get really interesting.

I'll be sitting back and waiting to buy anything in this space until the holidays at the earliest.

Not gonna happen anytime in the near future.