
Amazon Fire TV - ndrake
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CX5P8FC/ref=tsm_1_tw_s_kin_n3er02
======
programminggeek
This is pretty much what Google TV should have been all along, but Google
cares too much about web search and not enough about what people actually want
to do on a TV - watch shows and play games.

The gaming aspect of this will make it a winner. OUYA's big problem is that it
didn't do streaming and was a bit clunky. Amazon has a big game library and
just needs controller support.

As a parent, a $100 streaming box and game console that has cheap/free games
is very appealing.

As a developer, the economics of game development for such a console is not so
great, but maybe IAP would make it worthwhile.

~~~
bitcrusher
It's interesting how different perspectives work:

> The gaming aspect of this will make it a winner. OUYA's big problem is that
> it didn't do streaming and was a bit clunky. Amazon has a big game library
> and just needs controller support.

I think the gaming aspects are the worst part and are entirely useless. Who
wants to casual game with an underpowered box on a giant TV screen? Goofy
games are fun on a 4-7" screen because expectations are low. On my TV I expect
a crazy immersive experience, not "Candy Crush".

Perhaps they would have been better served by spending their time getting HBO-
Go, Starz/Encore and Spotify all hooked into their little box. If they want to
be the central hub for all things "media" and want to compel people to move
off of their existing platform ( Roku and ATV ) it seems like they need to
offer a more complete package.

~~~
Pxtl
> Who wants to casual game with an underpowered box on a giant TV screen?

Over 100 million Nintendo Wii consoles were sold. Now, we can bicker about how
many of those buyers were into casual games or not, but regardless:

The market exists.

~~~
clarky07
comparing Wii games to phone games is a bit of a stretch. They might be more
casual than xbox and ps4, but they are far bigger and better than than phone
games. Mario, zelda, candy crush, which one of these is not like the others.

~~~
Pxtl
Wii didn't just sell Mario games though, it also sold a plethora of carnival
games and the like. I mean, the bundled title was Wii Sports, and they made
huge splashes with Wii Fit and Wii Music.

And meanwhile, there are phone games that _are_ comparable to the big headline
titles of the Wii etc - Bard's Tale, Oil Rush, GTA, etc.

If Amazon pushes the gamepad hard for the Fire TV, we could definitely see it
in that space.

------
WoodenChair
I'm really not that impressed. This is just Apple TV for the Amazon eco-system
with gaming lopped on. The majority of people don't care about the specs of
their set-top box since that really doesn't affect the performance of
streaming an HD video in this day and age. So the two differentiating features
are:

\- Voice Search

\- Gaming

Are those enough of a value proposition? Probably not to make converts. I
suspect the main buyers will be those who simply have bought into Amazon
Instant Video as opposed to iTunes in the past. Let's see what Apple's next
revision of Apple TV offers.

~~~
lukifer
> This is just Apple TV for the Amazon eco-system with gaming lopped on.

I hate the word "just". The iPad is "just" a big iPod Touch. The new feature
the client wants is "just" a simple checkbox. Etc.

Not only does that single word abstract away hundreds of person-years of work;
it ignores the fact that products often gain market traction despite being
"just" $existingThing + $minorChange, whether by reaching a tipping point of
quality and experience, or through other intangibles like ecosystem, name
recognition and marketing.

I love my AppleTV (mostly), but I'm keeping an eye on this thing (hopefully
its software is higher quality than the Fire tablets).

~~~
nickonline
I understand your gripe you just made with the word "just" and I'm not the OP.

I had a friend excitedly text me about this today so I looked it up. On the
device's page [1] there is a 'compare to xyz' box they literally place 3 other
devices that have existed for a while now and looking through this, it appears
to me to be "just" amazon's attempt to get into this space without providing a
lot of additional value.

Looking at the list they provide there each of the devices provide all the
functionality I personally would ever want in a streaming hardware solution.
They have "just" provided Apple TV for Amazon, they have not extended the
paradigm as far as I can see.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-CL1130-Fire-
TV/dp/B00CX5P8FC](http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-CL1130-Fire-TV/dp/B00CX5P8FC)

------
eclipxe
Fire TV supports standards like DIAL[1], so app developers can enable multi-
screen experiences based on open technologies.[2]

[1] [http://www.dial-multiscreen.org/](http://www.dial-multiscreen.org/)

[2] [http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-
ne...](http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-
newsArticle&ID=1915168&highlight=)

------
swanson
The side-by-side comparison with Roku/AppleTV actually looks pretty bad for
Amazon Fire TV...

Same price, the only differences are that the Fire TV has voice search (don't
care), a bunch of technical specs that the layperson doesn't care about, and a
bunch of games (don't care). It's missing the checkbox for HBO GO (deal
breaker for me personally).

I was expecting something like a monthly subscription for all-you-can-watch
access to any TV show on Amazon Instant (not just the free Prime episodes).
Kinda bummed because I really like Amazon as a content provider, but I'll be
sticking with Roku for now.

~~~
scottm01
Agreed, I own a roku and a chromecast, there is literally nothing here that
makes me regret either, and nothing that would make me choose the Fire TV over
AppleTV if I did want to be tied closer to one ecosystem.

I guess I'm bummed that it means it's unlikely the prime video interface will
get any better on Roku, but Prime Instant video quality is already so much
worse for me then any other source it's not that big a loss.

~~~
Touche
> and nothing that would make me choose the Fire TV over AppleTV if I did want
> to be tied closer to one ecosystem.

Well, Amazon is at least available on a variety of platforms whereas iTunes is
only on Apple devices -- and will always only be available on Apple devices.

~~~
parasubvert
Um what? These restrictions are everywhere, just a little different across
platforms.

For example

\- All iTunes content is available on Mac, Windows & iOS devices, and all
downloaded music is playable on all devices that support AAC. Apple doesn't
offer a pure streaming service (AppleTV masquerades as one) so you're stuck
with iOS, Windows, and Mac for purchased video content.

\- Google Play content can be streamed to any device with an app or modern
browser (Linux requires Flash hacks), but can only be downloaded to Android
devices. You can't download a movie to play offline on your PC, Mac or iOS
device.

\- Amazon Instant Video is streamable to any device (Linux requires flash
hacks) EXCEPT 3rd party Androids -- Amazon requires you to buy THEIR Android
Kindle devices. Downloadable/offline content is only available on Windows.

\- Netflix is streamable to any device with an app (Linux requires silverlight
hacks). There is no downloadable content.

~~~
Touche
You seem to be saying these restrictions are equivalent, but we're talking
about video here, and iTunes is only available on Apple devices and Windows
desktop (who wants to watch movies on a desktop computer anyways), whereas
Amazon Instant is available on dozens of blu-ray players, smart TVs, set-top
boxes, video game consoles that they do not control.

Let's be clear here, iTunes is never coming to any non-Apple device unless the
company takes a radical departure from what it has been doing the past 10
years.

~~~
parasubvert
Apple is in the business of selling devices and having the most content
available to encourage adoption (and doing a pretty good job of it). I don't
give a toss that iTunes isn't available on a bunch of Smart TVs or BluRay
players, I'm rarely going to buy another BluRay player or Smart TV, nor are
most people, they're happy with the one they've currently got.

Amazon is in the content distribution business and playing catchup on having
the devices to support it (because, for some reason, having their app on a
smart TV and set top box doesn't seem to be enough).

This is a pretty good offering, but it's clear that, HuluPlus and Netflix
aside, the big players [Google|Amazon|Apple] wants to have their own device
ecosystem, and are fighting to differentiate theirs. For $99, these streaming
devices are a disposable income purchase that gives you benefits in a
particular ecosystem. Amazon has no particular advantage in this race yet,
they're still coming from behind.

~~~
Touche
No, they do have the advantage of being available on a large number of
platforms. This means I can buy a movie from Amazon and feel confident that in
2 years if I decide to buy a different TV, a different set-top box, a
different video game console, a different tablet, I _probably_ (but of course
not guaranteed) can still watch that movie on it.

That's like, a real advantage.

------
mashmac2
Amazon FreeTime (coming next month, according to this page) is the most
interesting piece for me - customized child safety settings for each child,
with monthly subscriptions at $2.99 for children's TV shows.

It seems like Amazon recognized the popularity of streaming services for
parents of young kids and is setting this up just for them...

~~~
j_s
Kindle FreeTime Unlimited is available now.
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?&docId=1000863021](http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?&docId=1000863021)

~~~
mkempe
That is incredible. Makes me consider buying a Kindle Fire for my daughter
(age 5) instead of letting her use a legacy iPad when my wife upgrades her
iPad 2.

------
mmcclure
I know this is a nitpick...I really do, but for some reason things like this
in marketing copy really annoy me:

"Remote with no line of sight required" \- not checked for Chromecast. While
kind of true since Chromecast doesn't have a dedicated remote, but the devices
used to control it absolutely don't require line of site.

~~~
dusing
I agree, you could say the same thing for voice search since you can use voice
search on your iphone/android to queue up videos to airplay/cast.

~~~
spinchange
Agree with both of you and also wanted to add, who cares about how much memory
the Chromecast has vs. the other devices?

------
declan
This is a reasonable answer to Apple TV.

If you have videos on or subscriptions to iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon Prime
(as I do), there's no box I'm aware of that will let you watch all three. So
you end up using your Apple TV and then Roku or another box -- the Playstation
3 in my living room takes a long time to boot, and a long time to load the
Netflix app, draws quite a bit of power, and is overkill for merely watching
streaming video. The Amazon Fire TV, assuming it's fast enough, will add
another device to my living room cabinet but make it a lot faster to switch to
watching Amazon Prime videos.

Ideally Apple would allow Amazon to add Prime Streaming to the Apple TV box,
or Roku would get the iTunes library. Then I could have an all-in-one box. But
we all know that's not going to happen...

~~~
alexeisadeski3
Apple TV lets you watch all three (iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon Prime).

Airplay is a thing.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
So, the solution to the shortcomings of Apple devices is yet more Apple
devices? Oh, ok.

~~~
alexeisadeski3
Suspect many already have at least one Airplay capable device.

~~~
rednukleus
I suspect a majority of people don't.

~~~
72deluxe
I think only people with Apple devices buy Apple TVs. If they don't, I can see
it being far less useful.

------
mkempe
They're studying the mistakes of others, and paying attention to user reviews
of competing products, so they can solve real pain points:

> During its presentation, Amazon said that it has been paying close attention
> to the complaints of customers who have been using the other companies'
> devices through Amazon—namely that search is difficult, performance is
> laggy, and the ecosystems are closed—in order to build its own streaming
> device." [1]

For instance, what they're doing with the child-oriented mode is what I wish
Apple had done with the iPad and iPhone, a long time ago.

[1] [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/04/amazon-reveals-
video-...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/04/amazon-reveals-video-
streaming-box-fire-tv/)

~~~
dublinben
That's pretty funny, as a long-time Roku user. The search couldn't be easier,
whether you're inside a specific app, or using the cross platform search
feature. Performance is snappier than these services on a desktop browser, and
the ecosystem is as open as anyone could want.

~~~
fixedd
As a long-time Roku user I curse ours almost every day. Performance is slower
than every other device we own (except the Chromecast). They constantly
"reset" themselves while trying to navigate through the Netflix and Amazon
listings. Videos will just sporadically stop playing or run into constant
buffering issues. There are no parental controls. They didn't support DLNA
until a few months ago.

~~~
officemonkey
"long-time Roku user."

How old is your box? I'm still happy with mine, despite it being a couple of
years old. I was thinking of getting a new one, but if the new ones are of
poorer quality...

~~~
fixedd
We own a Roku 2 XD and a Roku LT, both about 2.5 years old. Both worked great
for ~ 6 months and then... something changed and they haven't worked well
since.

I used to have one of the originals, it was great.

~~~
officemonkey
I did notice that the UI gets slower and less responsive, but I blame myself
for being a cheapo and expecting a $70 box to last years.

I'm waiting a bit to see if the next RokuBox or AmazonBox ends up supporting
iTunes videos (which is a nice to have, but not a must have.)

------
stevenp
For me, AirPlay is the killer Apple TV feature. Any time a new app comes out
for iOS that supports streaming video, I know I'm going to be able to play it
on my television. The local content provider apps on the device don't really
matter that much to me. I can even stream Amazon Prime video to my Apple TV,
so I'm having a hard time seeing why I would want this instead of waiting for
the next generation Apple TV.

~~~
eclipxe
FireTV supports Miracast according to the PR: Miracast according to Press
Release:

You can also wirelessly mirror your tablet display to your Fire TV with Kindle
Fire, as well as other Miracast-enabled phones or tablets starting later this
year. Fire TV supports standards like DIAL, so app developers can enable
multi-screen experiences based on open technologies.

[http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-
ne...](http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-
newsArticle&ID=1915168&highlight=)

~~~
stevenp
Ah, this is one of the problems with isolated ecosystems, I guess. Until Apple
opens up AirPlay (never), I'm stuck with whatever they give me. :/

~~~
Touche
The only way to get yourself out of the lock in is to stop buying their
devices.

------
tehwebguy
I think this will be huge.

It will only take one great game for this thing to pop. With a system that
enough users will have in the living room someone is going to put together a
fun free-to-play FPS and that will be enough for it to be the clear winner
over AppleTV / Chromecast.

Voice search is a big deal if it works the way I think it does. TV is easy,
everyone knows how to use one and how to find what they want to watch.
Navigating between Netflix, Hulu, Instant, iTunes, Cruncyroll, NBC ... is a
pain. Even on my AppleTV navigating Netflix alone is the worst.

------
landhar
What I find most exciting is that this finally opens the doors for indie game
developers to write games for the big screen.

It is true that Steam was already doing that, but I think the audience of
people with a PC plugged to a TV screen in the living room or that owns a
Steam box is not as big as what the Fire TV owners might end up being

~~~
itafroma
> this finally opens the doors for indie game developers to write games for
> the big screen

Sony has had extensive and widely-used support for indie game development for
the PlayStation platforms for quite some time.[1]

Microsoft has has had so-so support for indie developers (choice between them
essentially acting as your publisher or fending for yourself in the Xbox Live
Indie Games wasteland), but they're trying to fix that with ID@Xbox.[2]

Then, of course, there's Ouya, if you're in to that sort of thing.[3] It's an
Android platform too.

[1]: [http://us.playstation.com/develop/](http://us.playstation.com/develop/)

[2]: [http://www.xbox.com/en-us/Developers/id](http://www.xbox.com/en-
us/Developers/id)

[3]: [https://www.ouya.tv](https://www.ouya.tv)

~~~
landhar
Everything you say is absolutely right.

What I meant to say however (and I apologize for the way I phrased it) is that
this is makes it even easier for indie developers to reach a wide audience.

Not only do I expect that it will be fairly easy to port Android Tablet games
to the Fire TV, I also think that the strategy of offering a TV box that has a
Games marketplace as a bonus feature is a strategy that will allow Fire TVs to
sell a lot more than Ouyas.

------
ChuckMcM
I am kind of surprised the Roku manages to stay independent in all the 'tv'
efforts. They have a really nice player and now a nice 'stick' player. Also a
pretty easy to use SDK. So why re-build all or much of that for a proprietary
box? Any thoughts on that strategy?

~~~
Zelphyr
Roku, as I understand it, derives their revenue from hardware sales. So they
have such an incentive to get you to upgrade hardware that they will actually
take away content[1] in an effort to force you to do so.

My guess is Amazon is doing the opposite. They're probably practically giving
away the hardware in hopes they'll realize more profits on the content you
buy. And a device like this is just a small piece of a larger puzzle for
Amazon and with their previous hardware experience its not a giant leap for
them to produce a proprietary box.

For Roku, their device line _is_ the puzzle. So sure, they have an easy to use
SDK[2] it is also proprietary. I'm guessing Amazon built the Fire TV on
Android so new apps are really just Android apps.

[1]: They did this last year and as a result I will never buy another Roku
product again.

[2]: I'm still dumbfounded that they based it on Visual Basic. Carl Sassenrath
is an employee now. In my opinion they'd do well to scrap their existing VB-
style SDK and base the next generation on Rebol.

~~~
baggachipz
Tut tut, _brightscript_ ;)

I looked into writing for Roku, cracked open some docs, and that was the end
of that.

------
duked
I was an early Ouya backer and was really really disappointed I sold it (like
1 month after I received it. This Amazon Fire TV may be what the Ouya was
supposed to be, I mean I know it's more seen as a Roku/Apple TV competitor but
for me if it runs Android then I can use it as a decent Emulation machine
(RetroArch etc... )

I will buy one for sure

~~~
72deluxe
Why did you sell it?

------
bernardom
So that answers my question of whether my Apple TV would ever get Amazon
streaming.

~~~
ambirex
Not necessarily, Roku, PS 3 & 4, Xbox 360 & One all have amazon streaming.

It probably has more to do with Apple than Amazon.

~~~
lvs
But other Android devices, weirdly, do not.

~~~
guyzero
Slightly more weirdly, Google TV does have an Amazon Instant Video app. But
non-TV Android does not. Well, Kindle. But non-TV Google-standard Android does
not.

------
pazimzadeh
What I'm taking away from this is that Fire TV is the same as Roku and Apple
TV.

As for the gaming capabilities, it'll be interesting to see if they can
compete with Steam Machine.

~~~
luckyno13
I don't think this device and a Steam Machine (just a PC with a badge on it)
will be in the same realm of competition. This would most likely compete with
the Ouya, where the Steam Machine would compete with the 5th gen consoles.

------
Dwolb
Does Amazon see the future?

Content delivery platform for commercials/suggestions + shipping
infrastructure to deliver products + drone delivery for last mile =
Commercials with immediate product purchase ability.

Amazon can even broadcast a commercial in a geographic area, know the
percentage of users who will immediately want the commercial's product, and
pre-emptively unleash drones to a geographic location to drop off the product
within seconds.

------
suyash
Android Developers who want to jump into this opportunity:
[https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/asb.html](https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/asb.html)
&
[https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/blog/author/Mi...](https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/blog/author/Mike+Hines)

~~~
suyash
It would be interesting to know if the Fire TV is running on X86 or ARM
processor. Anyone know?

~~~
whoisnatelam
Check out the post about the additional details and comments for specs:
[http://bit.ly/1pLH83y](http://bit.ly/1pLH83y) Interesting to see what they
are doing.

------
drawkbox
Impressive, they beat Apple TV and Google to the app/game punch. This could be
big. Disappointed in Apple doing nothing with TV apps/games, all the while
having years of lead time.

------
jggonz
I like the voice search idea, but I'm still hooked on the Chromecast / HDMI on
a stick form factor. I just don't see the point in cables anymore.

The UI looks neat and I'm really impressed with Amazon's search results on my
Roku, so this will probably improve on that.

If it wasn't so 'big' and 'expensive', I'd buy one.

------
mikeryan
More information about the SDK has also been released here:

[https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/Tx1K5ORNN...](https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/Tx1K5ORNNPOMUXA/Put-
your-Apps-and-Games-on-more-screens-with-Amazon-Fire-TV)

------
abdophoto
I keep thinking to myself "The second Apple puts out an SDK for the Apple TV,
it's over"

If you're going to spend $99, you're probably going to wait for Apple or
Google. If you want to spend less, you'll just get a Chromecast.

~~~
goatforce5
I keep thinking "There will be an Apple TV SDK any second now."

I'm surprised it's taken them this long to release it.

------
hswolff
Does this support playing local media? It seems like no, but I couldn't find
any explicit answer.

~~~
eclipxe
I saw an icon for Plex, so maybe?

~~~
hox
More than likely plex streaming, like roku has.

------
timdierks
I have difficulty envisioning exactly how this market is going to develop.
None of the products (AppleTV, Roku, Google, Amazon) are differentiated enough
to imagine someone who's pretty happy with their box switching, particularly
given various ways you'd get locked into particular features or media (e.g.,
if the average AppleTV user has bought a bunch of movies from iTunes, they're
unlikely to switch to Amazon even if they like the games).

At the price point, you can imagine people owning more than one device to get
access to different feature silos, but the huge duplication of features (e.g.
every device having Netflix) makes this feel wasteful. Furthermore, I think
people quickly run into a limitation on how many HDMI ports their TV has. If
you're going to have a cable box and DVD/BluRay player connected, you need to
have 3 ports to be able to connect one of these devices at all, and you can't
plausibly have more than two. (I don't know how many HDMI ports TVs have in
the market, but 2, 3, and 4 seems to cover the consumer space in a very small
sampling of Amazon availability.)

If I were building one of these devices, I would include an HDMI switch with
pass-through so I don't consume an HDMI port. In the absence of that, it's not
clear at all to me what the shape of market adoption looks like.

~~~
wmeredith
For less than a $100 bucks I make pick this up to put alongside my Apple TV
just so I can watch Amazon video without airplay.

------
theseanstewart
This looks really cool but I'll have to wait and see how it compares to the
other devices that accomplish the same objectives. I would have liked to see
it include gigabit ethernet instead of just 10/100\. Interesting that they
have a game controller available.

I've been looking for something to replace my Popcorn Hour, but I haven't been
able to find anything in this price range that will play MKV files and allow
playing movies over USB. Maybe this will be the answer?

~~~
oskee80
Western Digital's WDTV Live can play any file you throw at it.
[http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330](http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330)

It supports many online services as well, but unfortunately no Prime Instant
Video. I have yet to see a box that offers everything I want: Local and
network media playback, Netflix, Prime.

However, I wish the WDTV had better specs and UI - it can be a little clunky.

~~~
matt_heimer
Roku is close once you use Plex. You get local network playback + Netflix,
Prime, Crackle, Hulu, Pandora which is what I want. The video quality,
performance, bugs, and gaming support of the Roku suck though. I keep swapping
my Roku for a Chromecast and back again.

I'd like a box that supports Prime, local network playback, and casual
gaming/emulation. If Amazon would have released a Prime Video app I'd switch
to some of those cheap Android PCs on an HDMI stick by now but they've been
holding out probably to use as a carrot to get people locked into their app
store.

I hate having to side-load apps but if I can on the FireTV and get local
network playback working I very well might buy one.

Edit: Looks like it will have Plex and Miracast support.

~~~
travem
I used to use Plex for network playback with my earlier roku's but with my
Roku 3 I can play videos, mp3s, photos etc. natively directly from my NAS.

------
jstalin
I love it, but I don't see that there is an app for non-kindle devices for
managing or playing video for the Fire TV. The thing I like about chromecast
is the ability to browse and play video from my ipad. But of course chromecast
doesn't have amazon prime, so I have to switch to my roku to watch Walking
Dead.

If Fire TV has an app to manage it for ipad or android, then it's pretty much
the perfect device.

~~~
snsr
Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but this is referenced elsewhere in
the thread -

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-instant-
video/id54551...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-instant-
video/id545519333?mt=8)

------
aashaykumar92
The competitive advantage seems to be in the Voice Search and in the gaming.
If the gaming takes off, it'll be hard for anyone to compete. Everyone so far
is talking about the Roku and Apple TV as competition, which they are, but
what about the Xbox and PS4? Those offer gaming and other streaming services
like Netflix too. And it seems as though Amazon is trying to be at the center
of all of them.

~~~
notatoad
The problem is that gaming is hard. Look at the ouya disaster. If you want to
build a successful gaming product, you need a big developer relations team and
a bunch of good first party titles to kick things off. If amazon was really
trying to build a gaming console here, they needed to announce with some
compelling games. as it is, nobody is going to spend the extra 40 for the
controller without any games and nobody is going to write games for a platform
with no users.

~~~
angryasian
ouya only supported selected games. If this box supports all games along with
emulators and top tier games, it may be a different outcome.

~~~
notatoad
Ouya only supported selected games because games designed for a touchscreen
interface are hard to play on a TV and with a gamepad. Amazon can support all
games if they want to, but they're going to run into the same problem where
most of them suck.

~~~
angryasian
I said in another comment , but you're thinking candy crush I'm thinking
emulators and titles like GTA, Modern Combat, Minecraft, and many other rpg
and fps titles.

Most of the games on the play store have controller support. With a ps or xbox
controller and apps for mapping if necessary.

------
johne20
This device plus antenna input for over-the-air local HD channels combined
with simple dvr functionality would be the ultimate cord-cutting device.

~~~
chrisgd
Exactly. Especially one without a monthly fee for service. It seems with the
storage costs and the processing power here, Amazon could integrate that
easily.

Edit: the really interesting part is that when searching for "DVR" in
electronics, the first result is this device.

[http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-
alias%3Del...](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-
alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=dvr)

------
matthewaustin
Prominently showing Game of Thrones content in the images, even though the
Fire doesn't support HBO Go? Way to be deceptive, Amazon.

~~~
eclipxe
Amazon Instant Video has GoT [http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Is-
Coming/dp/B007BVOEPI/ref=sr_...](http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Is-
Coming/dp/B007BVOEPI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1396455947&sr=8-3&keywords=game+of+thrones)

------
aresant
I think this represents the first device to support Amazon streaming in 1080p
- as far as I know Roku etc are still limited to 720p?

~~~
benlm
It's not actually clear whether Amazon Instant Video will stream at 1080p for
any/all HD material, or if the device just supports 1080p for other services
like Netflix. Does anyone know?

~~~
72deluxe
I have Amazon Instant Video on a Sony Bluray and it is 1080p.

Out of interest, it's not really instant. The application could be swifter to
respond.

------
shirro
I love chromecast (have two imported) and for my use the lack of features such
as remote/ui are a huge bonus over the slow dysfunctional bloatware crap in
"smart" televisions. I want my screen to be just another display device I can
send stuff too rather than the focus. That would probably change if I wanted
my tv dongle to double as a games console but at current price/performance I
don't see acceptable big screen gaming happening in a sub $100 device for
awhile yet.

I think people are going to go with price rather than features for tv and
Chromecast/Roku and a mountain of clones will take most of the sales. People
who want to play games aren't going to do it on a $100 box from Amazon. They
will stick to Xbox One/PS4 or a Steam box.

I imagine Amazon are thinking they can rely on content to sell these but I
don't know that they are that strong an offering. However this turns out the
real winners are going to be Netflix.

------
ycaspirant
Why is this priced on par with Apple TV? That's like pricing a Kindle on par
with an iPad. I always thought that unlike Apple, Amazon's strategy was to
sell really cheap hardware so that you can consume more content.

------
impostervt
And I just bought the new Roku Streaming stick...I'll be curious to see how
they stack up. Amazon offers a comparison of FireTV to the Roku3, but not the
Roku Streaming Stick. And the Stick is just $49.

------
eclipxe
Congrats to the FireTV team!

------
tejbirwason
Glad to finally see Amazon announce this. Also I can finally share with family
and friends about what I worked on during my internship at Broadcom. It took
longer than expected for Amazon to finally release it which makes me think
they went through multiple chip design iterations after I finished my
internship at Broadcom last year. So long in fact that I thought it would
never see the light of day. Excited to see how customers respond, this is
definitely going to shake things up. Glad I had a small role in bringing this
to life.

~~~
Flenser
The main chips are listed as

    
    
       SOC Platform   Qualcomm Snapdragon 8064
       Processor      Qualcomm Krait 300, quad-core to 1.7 Ghz
       GPU            Qualcomm Adreno 320
    

what Broadcom tech does it use?

------
acgourley
I'll be curious how good the screen mirroring is. Does anyone know if it's
using a direct connection (like miracast) or an indirect over your normal wifi
rounter (like apple tv mirroring)?

~~~
eclipxe
Miracast according to Press Release:

You can also wirelessly mirror your tablet display to your Fire TV with Kindle
Fire, as well as other Miracast-enabled phones or tablets starting later this
year. Fire TV supports standards like DIAL, so app developers can enable
multi-screen experiences based on open technologies.

[http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-
ne...](http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-
newsArticle&ID=1915168&highlight=)

------
barlescabbage
Not enough differentiation, give us some other channels, live news, or
broadcast TV and we'll buy it in a heartbeat. Otherwise your features are
surprisingly irrelevant.

This is mostly bad news for Roku, before this, the paradigm was, Apple TV for
iTunes, Roku for Amazon. During the holidays there were so many roku photos on
amazon, I thought they owned them. I think Amazon will slowly strangle Roku.
Amazon probably tried to buy Roku, they declined, so they said, "fine we'll
make our on device and crush you" Typical Amazon.

~~~
declan
> other channels, live news, or broadcast TV and we'll buy it in a heartbeat.

Agreed! Does anyone know of any device that offers live streaming news from
CNN, Fox, etc.? The Roku store doesn't list CNN; it does list Fox News but
only "video clips" and not a full 24/7 live stream of the television channel:
[http://www.roku.com/channels/#search/cnn/by-
popular](http://www.roku.com/channels/#search/cnn/by-popular)

------
robogrowth
$35 and chromecast work for me.. don't see a need for this. Not only that I
can just start playing any video and browse to 127.0.0.1:8888 and stream
whatever I want via chromecast.

------
revelation
_Alpha House_

And there it is, as a dropdown appears with only one entry you still have to
select, and then continue to travel three menus deep to get to a point where
video appears.

What are they thinking?

------
totallymike
Interestingly enough, the 'What is Fire TV' video heavily features HBO content
(Game of Thrones, Veep, etc), but doesn't support HBO Go?

------
brandonbica
To me it looks like the biggest comparison is Apple TV (and Roku which I'm
less familiar with). It's just an incremental version of the Apple TV for the
Amazon ecosystem and to me that's the biggest disappointment. I would have
much preferred that they go in the direction of incremental improvement over
the Chromecast which would make this industry much more exciting in my
opinion.

------
superqd
So is everyone making these now? The only thing Amazon seems to have brought
to this is voice command, assuming it has actually been brought.

------
eshvk
So I just bought a new TV that has Amazon Prime, Netflix, Voice search
integrated into it. I don't play games. Is there any point in me getting this
vs getting an Apple TV or a Chromecast? The only thing I would use an Apple TV
(all computers in my house are macs) for is to screenshare wirelessly. I
believe Chromecast lets me do that for specific apps.

~~~
clauretano
Chromecast lets you "cast" a tab from chrome, but the performance will be
subpar. Very subpar. Don't try to watch a video with that or anything. If your
macs are all modern enough (sandy bridge or newer) AirPlay display
mirroring/extending works pretty well. The latency is noticeable but not the
end of the world if you're using it to consume content. You won't want to full
screen a 1080p video in VLC though, the framerate will be good but not
perfect. There's an app Beamer that can be used for things like that. For most
video files it won't need to transcode the whole thing, rather it'll just
demux and maybe transcode the audio to AAC (appletv can natively play common
video formats).

~~~
eshvk
So if I ever want to full screen a 1080p video which is pretty all I would
ever do on a Mac and a TV, I should just hook it up using HDMI?

------
badman_ting
I have a WD Live TV box that I've enjoyed so far. It has all these streaming
services except Amazon Prime, and it will play all my AVI/MP4/MKV files,
streaming over DLNA.

This has some sweet features though, the voice search sounds good and the
horsepower should allow for an overall nicer experience (speed of booting,
menus, graphical effects in apps, etc).

------
periferral
The one thing about the Roku I like a lot is the headset on the remote. I love
that! I can be in a room with my headset and not disturb my wife sleeping and
enjoy the show.

The lack on the headset jack on the remote on this for me would be a non-
starter. Other than that, nothing to write home about. I can't see anything
here that would make me switch from the Roku.

------
karangoeluw
This seems like a really good offering by Amazon. Now we'll just have to see
if the competition lowers its prices or no.

~~~
notatoad
Why would they drop prices? At 99 this is just following the status quo.

------
dcc1
Anyone know if this will work for nonUSAsians

------
chrisgd
What is everyone using for a DVR? Why doesn't this include some time of
recording, storage and pausing capabilities? The DVR provided by the cable
companies are laggy and the Tivo one charges a monthly fee for what equates to
updating program guides, but not accounting for shows actually running over.

------
mrfusion
Is it missing YouTube? Also, if it easy to buy newly released movies like you
can with iTunes on the Apple TV?

------
Pxtl
How hackable will the android on this thing be? Will you be able to connect
bluetooth-based gamepads to it?

------
rch
> enjoy best-selling titles from Mojang, EA, Disney...

Now that's an interesting order of emphasis.

------
walkon
Do these convex/rounded remotes that this and the Roku have bother anyone
else? They seem to slide off the couch easier and if I set it down on a flat
surface, it rocks back and forth for several seconds.

------
whoisnatelam
Looks like we can develop for this. If you're an Android developer you should
check out all the specs and docs here:
[http://bit.ly/1pLH83y](http://bit.ly/1pLH83y)

~~~
allenwu9326
This is pretty cool. Makes sense to port over my apps. Seems pretty straight
forward. We basically just need to change UI and game controller functions...

------
mkempe
I've thought for a while that a voice-interface was one of the features Steve
Jobs saw as key to "cracking" TV.

Now Amazon has done it. I'm curious about what Apple may announce later this
month.

------
yblu
I had a Roku and returned it. Amzn Fire TV doesn't seem much better. I'm
sticking with PS3 for now, the only thing that can stream Youtube, Netflix,
Amazon Instance Video and what not.

------
thewordis
Fire TV lacks iTunes and Google Play. Apple TV lacks Google Play and Amazon
Prime Instant Video. Chromecast lacks iTunes and Amazon Prime Instant Video.

And now we have a million and one ways to watch Netflix.

------
chocks
curious if it'll support YouTube, didn't see on the list.

~~~
philsnow
It's in the matrix farther down on the page as a checkbox, "sorted" below
Crackle and Hulu Plus.

The YouTube logo is not in the big image describing "What's on Amazon FireTV?"
[0], apparently it is one of the "plus many more".

[0] [https://images-na.ssl-images-
amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/d...](https://images-na.ssl-images-
amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/dp/2014/B/feature-whatson2.jpg)

------
cavilling_elite
No rechargeable remote? Should of had a simple dock on top to charge the
remote and another dock purchased with the game pad. No need for batteries.

------
Osiris
I ordered one with 1-day shipping.

I'm heading to Sunnyvale for a week and I'm tempted to take it with me to see
how it works over the hotel WiFi.

------
limejuice
I have a Sony BluRay player I bought for $70 which plays Blu Rays, Amazon
video, Netflix, etc. Why would I want to pay $99 for this box.

~~~
alttab
Apps, games, better user experience. I have the same BluRay player and I would
choose this over that. That said, I already have the BluRay player so there
will need to be a game worth $140 for me to get this.

------
SlashmanX
Any indication on whether or not it will run XBMC?

~~~
Osiris
I'm curious myself if this will be capable of running XBMC or another app for
streaming content over a LAN. FireTV runs an Android variant, so it seems like
it's plausible, but it depends on if you need to root it or if it will be an
installable app.

------
sureshv
Does it have a headphone jack on the remote ala the Roku 3? It's probably one
of the more useful features on the new Roku box.

------
_superposition_
Cant wait to jailbreak this and run xbmc on it.

------
Splendor
I don't want another box and remote. I would rather have an Amazon Video app
with Chromecast functionality for Android.

------
dataminded
How many remotes will this support? If I can hook up 2-4 controllers to it
then it will be in my house soon.

~~~
sib
It supports a total of seven controllers and remotes:

"Amazon Fire TV allows up to 7 remotes and game controllers to be connected at
one time. Each game controller can be associated with a player ID, opening up
multi-player gaming in the living room. Games can even use different
combinations of input types (remotes and game controllers) to make multi-
player gaming easy for everyone."

[https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-t...](https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-
tv)

------
dusty64
There is a trick to enter diagnostic/device mode and enter CLI debug. Email
dusty64@hushmail.com

------
bluthru
The lady in the photo looks like she's confusing the remote for a candy bar.

------
shurcooL
For gaming, this would be an ideal place to have an OnLive client.

------
blueash
Any idea how many controllers the system will support?

------
mistermcgruff
Not seeing HBO Go. That means no GoT on demand :-(

~~~
timfrietas
It's apparently coming, but not part of launch:
[http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/02/hbo-go-sho-anytime-
amazon...](http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/02/hbo-go-sho-anytime-amazon-fire-
tv/)

------
mindslight
Or simply stick with a Raspberry Pi, which is free of arbitrary manufacturer-
imposted restrictions and comfortably off of the locked-down-software induced
upgrade treadmill.

~~~
Osiris
RPI is a single-core @700mhz with 512MB RAM compared to quad-core, 2GB of RAM,
so it's a significant bump up in hardware specs for not that much money.

I'm curious how long it will take people to root it.

~~~
mindslight
Sure, the hardware is faster, but for what purpose and at what cost? We're
well into the a time where the capabilities of a device have much more to do
with its software than its raw hardware specs.

When you root a proprietary environment, the best you can do is gain a leg-up
within the ecosystem of the initial manufacturer. You're always swimming
against an overall current of what the manufacturer implements, and paying a
usability tax every time you use the device and things that should be easy are
either a little harder, or have to be coped with on other devices.

------
dgrant
Anyone know if this supports DLNA?

~~~
chadgeidel
They list "Plex" (DLNA server) in their "streaming services" list. It would be
nice to know if there are other servers supported.

------
abjorn
Or you could just buy a Roku?

------
Edmond
well if this works as advertised it seems the end of cable could very near.

------
theorique
Pretty cool: [http://firetv.com](http://firetv.com)

~~~
OlivierLi
Warning: the link above is highly NSFW.

~~~
theorique
Sorry, should have mentioned that bit. AMZN has just bid the value of that
domain through the roof though.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Maybe a few years ago when the search engines used exact match domains as a
key relevancy indicator. SE now are highly likely to put amazon.tld above
firetv.com for all "fire tv" searches [Google does for me now anyway]. Who
types in domain names anyway?

Amazon's brand strength means those not going to a SE are going to go to
Amazon.tld to find it, certainly that was what I did without thinking about
it. [Sadly though there's nothing there that's relevant except the option to
buy a Chromecast, seems very poor marketing to me. They could probably take
pre-orders even without a localised list of content providers being ready].

------
vladgur
oh my, it looks like it supports mkv containers.

------
benhebert
Ouch no HBO Go.

------
fjabre
this is a me too product

~~~
dusty64
That it is.

------
NextUserName
Tech specs here: [https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/asb/device-
specs.html](https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/asb/device-specs.html)

------
jpatel3
Just another Roku, Google TV, Apple TV

------
UncleChis
Do they try not to mention Youtube? Only in the comparison chart!

------
keehun
This is not good enough. What's the improvement that is worth $100?

