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Amazon's Apple TV Competitor to Launch in April as Chromecast-Like Dongle
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I'm pretty sure I don't like this new world order where regional cable monopolies are replaced with terminals to siloed walled gardens of content. But hey, it's better than cable!
I look forward to Amazon's device, since Amazon and Apple are obviously not going to play nice and put the Amazon Instant app on the AppleTV. (Or, if Apple is opening up a future AppleTV to an App Store, they're taking their sweet time about it.)
I expect this device to be sold at cost, just like the Kindle, or at a slight negative margin as a loss-leader to get people to buy video. Amazon Prime customers will probably get a couple of free movies thrown in to prime the well (pun intended).
Amazon has been trying to get people to watch their video service by stapling it onto Prime. As a Prime customer I've only found one thing I'd want to watch on it that isn't already on Netflix. I haven't used Instant Video because of the horrible, horrible UI. Hopefully this device will change that.
I look forward to Amazon's device, since Amazon and Apple are obviously not going to play nice and put the Amazon Instant app on the AppleTV. (Or, if Apple is opening up a future AppleTV to an App Store, they're taking their sweet time about it.)
I expect this device to be sold at cost, just like the Kindle, or at a slight negative margin as a loss-leader to get people to buy video. Amazon Prime customers will probably get a couple of free movies thrown in to prime the well (pun intended).
Amazon has been trying to get people to watch their video service by stapling it onto Prime. As a Prime customer I've only found one thing I'd want to watch on it that isn't already on Netflix. I haven't used Instant Video because of the horrible, horrible UI. Hopefully this device will change that.
If it does not have 5ghz wifi then I won't even consider it. That is the biggest flaw of the Chromecast as it only has 2.4ghz. I have over 70 AP networks in my area and sometimes I can't use the Chromecast because of the interference.
Use my Apple TV daily and never had an issue. I for see this amazon dongle to only allow amazon content of which I use none so for me not a big deal but for those people who do I guess this "could" be cool.
I would say their app store, it's the actual walled garden problem that people thought Apple's would be. But the hardware has all been fine.
What am I doing wrong? My ATV just always seems to work. I Airplay movies from every device in my house. I stream music from iTunes Radio from ATV, my iOS devices, my Macs using the Remote App. I watch movies and TV shows. I Netflix all the livelong day. Did I somehow get the only Apple TV that was built correctly?
Guessing by how hard they're trying to shove it down everyone's throat, we can only guess that they think that streaming video service they have is pretty vital to their success - and that nobody is using it.
Yep, and for me it works more times than not via Chromecast than AirPlay or directly on the Apple TV.
Well the 3rd gen ones are 1080p, so if your TV is 1080p that could explain the difference since you're not looking at something upscaled from 720p (like the 2nd gen ones).
Battlestar Galactica. That one thing is Battlestar Galactica, isn't it? Isn't it!?
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Airplay or my AppleTV has never failed me. But then again, my Xbox360 never fails to load Netflix or Amazon either, so maybe my wifi network and internet connection are just super-duper awesome!
Amazon Video on Chromecast?
This is all nice but when is Amazon going to support streaming of Amazon video on the Chromecast? I'm sure the Amazon dongle will be sold at or below cost since the goal is to get into our living rooms, so why are they holding back on supporting Chromecast - I could have been buying videos from them for months now? I'm really hoping maybe they'll announce support at the same time this is released - so the only difference in effect is the remote they're rumored to be selling with their dongle (I hate having to use my iPad to control the Chromecast).
This is all nice but when is Amazon going to support streaming of Amazon video on the Chromecast? I'm sure the Amazon dongle will be sold at or below cost since the goal is to get into our living rooms, so why are they holding back on supporting Chromecast - I could have been buying videos from them for months now? I'm really hoping maybe they'll announce support at the same time this is released - so the only difference in effect is the remote they're rumored to be selling with their dongle (I hate having to use my iPad to control the Chromecast).
Apple does make something like this and it IS an AppleTV. It's just $99 and it's great! You don't need anything other than a wireless network to make it work with AirPlay (well, a device to send it AirPlay).
I'm not sure where the Airport Extreme/Express/Time Capsule fit into your question, you don't need those to stream to your AppleTV. I know multiple people with AppleTV just using their basic supplied cable or DSL WiFi to use it (none of those other devices).
Gary
Battlestar Galactica. That one thing is Battlestar Galactica, isn't it? Isn't it!?
Actually, it was all of Mythbusters (not just selected collections), and How It's Made. Mostly just for the short-attention-span theater. But it's hard to keep track of all the content license juggling between Netflix and Instant Video. For all I know this week you can only watch Mythbusters on Netflix and the Discovery Channel is actually running some midget-toddler-gold-mining show over the Mythbusters dead air.
Amazons efforts seem pretty good to me, I prefer them as a cheaper alternative to Apple over Google. Kindle seems successful, Amazon Web Services are used everywhere. I'm not really sure what you're talking about. Are you?
As we forgot to cancel our Prime membership, I'm interested in this for streaming TV shows and movies. Looking forward to it.
The e-ink ones are just OK, damn high standards!
SO which book reader do you consider to be excellent???
If it's like the Google Chromecast dongle then it's an Apple TV competitor, it's a Chromecast competitor. Silly MacRumors always going for the headlines that will generate the most controversy. Chromecast and Apple TV are two very different things. One is fully self-contained and offers all kinds of streaming options built-in while the other does nothing but stream whatever it is your smartphone can send it. My Chromecast hasn't replaced my Apple TV in any way.
I never said they were unsuccessful. I just don't like them.
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Dude, chill...
For all of you wondering, I'm just a kindle hater. Not much more.
Huh. My experience with Chromecast vs. Apple TV has been exactly the opposite of yours. In fact, all of the Chromecast dongles we got for meeting rooms at work have been removed and replaced with good old-fashioned HDMI cables and a suite of adapters. We just could not get those Chromecasts to work. For myself at home, the video playback from sources like Netflix was always much worse and less reliable on the Chromecast than it was on the Apple TV. I ended up giving the Chromecast to my brother and felt a little bad because of the sea of beta-product-troubleshooting I was condemning him to.
One of those your mileage may vary situations, I suppose?
I'd appreciate something cheap like this for Netflix. But I expect some serious UI issues, especially with lag. It looks like it's just a streaming client (frames are rendered on Amazon servers and streamed to the device) so network lag will dictate user experience.
Whoa. I'm afraid you seriously misunderstood me. Apple does not make a dongle to wirelessly stream directly from a device to a tv. Pretty sure even the chromecast requires an infrastructure wireless network.
This is what I want: a dongle* that I can plug into the tv, and then to be able to stream from my macbook/iPhone/iPad via an ad-hoc connection directly between the device and the dongle - without requiring an infrastructure wireless network provided by a router (Airport Extreme/Express/time capsule).
I have an Apple TV, I know how great it is, and I know exactly what it does not do.
*kinda like this.