Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Amazon Launches 'Fire TV' Media Streaming Box with Voice Search, Game Support, and More

Titanium81 said:
It's not ONLY about the specs of a device, that makes it perform well. Software has a huge factor. Just look how iOS handles graphics better than any other mobile operating system out right now. Yet the devices that iOS run on have bare minimum amounts of ram and slower clock speed than the competitors.
Click to expand...

that would be high market share leading to developers to actually optimize code, instead of writing sloppy code and hoping the horsepower of the device hides the shoddy code.

for years the 7mhz Amiga outperformed 200mhz Pentium PCs, mostly because of incredibly optimised code.
 
Elbon said:
Amazon totally beat Apple to the punch on this one. This is exactly what I have been waiting for the Apple TV to become.

If I wasn't so thoroughly invested in the Apple ecosystem, I'd definitely choose this over the current-gen ATV. Apple really needs to step up, fast.
Click to expand...

What exactly is this that AppleTV and Roku arent? I can't imagine you'll be able to do any serious gaming on a little box like that.
 
Perhaps Apple will make the giant leap to offer 4k or SuperHD on their next AppleTV. Basically saying it is "retina" ready for your TV now or in the future.

Though that means another HD option for buying. Unless they can keep ALL HD content the same price and just have SD/HD...be it 720/1080/4k
 
Yet another loss leader for Amazon?
Amazon is slowly becoming a jack of all trades and master of none.
 
Since Apple doesn't have an Amazon App on it's device....
and Amazon doesn't have an iTunes App on it's device...

this will be the new console wars in the TV space.

When Apple updates it's Apple TV to offer games, then the Google Chrome and Roku will have a hard time catching up.

Apple TV - iOS games and iTunes
Fire TV - Android games (only 'approved ones') and Amazon Prime
Google - just streaming
Roku - just streaming
 
The gaming part is extremely intriguing.....starting to get a little sick of waiting until the Fall for any type of Apple release....
 
bbeagle said:
No it's not. It's a good device just like the Apple TV. The Fire TV can do games right now and has voice on it's remote right now. Apple TV will have it soon too. They're both very similar.

They're also both closed ecosystems in their own way. Just like choosing Sony Playstation vs Microsoft XBox, Amazon wants the choice to be them vs. Apple TV/Roku/Google.

As long as Amazon prices it at $99 - they'll be in the game. Price this at $199 and it will be DOA.

Looks like the way they're going with pricing it will be something like $99 if you have an Amazon Prime Account and $199 without. We'll see....
Click to expand...

How closed is it really if they have netflix, hulu, vudu, mgo, etc - all companies that provide content outside of Amon's ecosystem?

I think Apple TV is definitely more closed based on the shear "lack" of magnitude of content providers available compared to its competition
 
Elbon said:
Amazon totally beat Apple to the punch on this one. This is exactly what I have been waiting for the Apple TV to become.

If I wasn't so thoroughly invested in the Apple ecosystem, I'd definitely choose this over the current-gen ATV. Apple really needs to step up, fast.
Click to expand...

I agree, apple had such a lead with the aTV, aTV 2, & aTV 3. If I was a fire owner, this would be an ideal companion device.

I hope that apple makes an announcement soon about an AppStore compatible & improved aTV soon.
 
bbeagle said:
Since Apple doesn't have an Amazon App on it's device....
and Amazon doesn't have an iTunes App on it's device...

this will be the new console wars in the TV space.
Click to expand...

Apple has already won this war with the rich iTunes multi-device experience. A few substandard apps on the Amazon box will do nothing to change this.

----------
Richdmoore said:
I agree, apple had such a lead with the aTV, aTV 2, & aTV 3. If I was a fire owner, this would be an ideal companion device.

I hope that apple makes an announcement soon about an AppStore compatible & improved aTV soon.
Click to expand...

Apps are not important to the overall Apple TV experience. I am very sure when you see how badly this is done on the Amazon box you'll move away from your desire to see AppStore experiences on Apple TV until Apple has found the perfect solution.
 
From coverage:

$99
11:50:53 AM EDT
"Tiny box, huge specs."
Click to expand...

http://live.theverge.com/live-amazon-tv-video-event/

This will sell very well at $99. It's everything I expect from a re-newed Apple TV (hopefully coming soon).

The games looked quite good and the optional controller at $40 makes sense for people into casual games. Not everybody wants expensive console games.

Well done, Amazon. And I'm not even a huge fan of the company besides owning a low-end e-ink Kindle for reading books.

At this point the AppleTV needs to be upgraded.
 
Apple stock is basically flat right now. Basically a yawn from Wall Street.
 
Rogifan said:
What exactly is this that AppleTV and Roku arent? I can't imagine you'll be able to do any serious gaming on a little box like that.
Click to expand...

According to The Verge, "The FireTV is billed not as a competitor to the Xbox or PlayStation brands, but as a way for people who wouldn't otherwise buy a console to play games." Makes sense to me.
 
I think if Apple added Amazon Prime to the AppleTV it would knock this device almost dead.

Without adding it (and I can totally understand why, it is a direct competitor to Apple's iTunes) people will "need" to buy both devices and may think they have Amazon Prime already so just adding this and NOT updating the AppleTV.
 
samcraig said:
How closed is it really if they have netflix, hulu, vudu, mgo, etc - all companies that provide content outside of Amon's ecosystem?

I think Apple TV is definitely more closed based on the shear "lack" of magnitude of content providers available compared to its competition
Click to expand...

Apple TV has netflix, hulu, vudu, etc. too. Apple TV also has HBO GO, which Amazon does not have. Most of the icons they showed are the same icons on my Apple TV.

Apple TV has:
ABC, ACC Sports, Apple Events, Bloomberg, CanalPlay, Crackle, CrunchyRoll, Disney, Disney Jr., Disney XD, ESPN, Flickr, HBO GO, Hulu Plus, iCloud Photos, iTunes Festival, iTunes Radio, KORTV, MLB.TV, MLS, NBA, Netflix, NHL, Sky TV, PBS, Quello, Red Bull TV, Smithsonian, VEVO, Vimeo, Watchever, The Weather Channel, WSJ Live, WWE, Yahoo! Screen and YouTube.

Hardly not a lot of content. Much more than Amazon showed.
 
MacRumors said:
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]
Amazon also added the kid-safe FreeTime service for $2.99 monthly, allowing parents to control the content available to children who are watching media through the Fire TV.
Click to expand...

Amazon is charging for a kid-safe service? What the hell? This should be standard! They have just exposed themselves to the child-safety vs corporate greed argument for no good reason.

Otherwise, seems like a great device, other device manufacturers including Apple need to get a move on, App Store for the Apple TV needs to happen, like, today.
 
Richdmoore said:
I agree, apple had such a lead with the aTV, aTV 2, & aTV 3. If I was a fire owner, this would be an ideal companion device.

I hope that apple makes an announcement soon about an AppStore compatible & improved aTV soon.
Click to expand...

Would love to see/hear something out of Cupertino.....this whole "teaser in June, no releases until the Fall" cycle is starting to get old.

Things are happening more quickly. I'm not saying the iPhone or iPad should be updated more frequently, but for heaven's sake, stagger the updates!

If things pan out, we could have new iPhones, iPads, AppleTVs, iWatches and Macs all in the second half of the year.....that's too much and makes the first part of the year crap....
 
bbeagle said:
When Apple updates it's Apple TV to offer games, then the Google Chrome and Roku will have a hard time catching up.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Assuming Apple has something similar up its sleeve, these devices are going to squash the Chromecast. Not sure where Roku will land.
 
Bottomline here is buy the box that best fits the ecosystem you've bought into. Ultimately the features on all these boxes are fairly similar. Not exact -- similar.

All this [insert Apple competitor here] bashing is childish. Whether the comments are coming from kids, I can't say.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back