Amazon is getting into the TV hardware game. Following Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, and myriad game consoles – Fire TV will be another solution for streaming content over a data connection to your television.
A small, flat, square-ish box hooks up to your TV over HDMI and connects to your home network over WiFi to serve up streaming vide from a variety of sources. Of course Amazon’s videos are available, but at launch you’ll also have access to Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, Showtime, Crackle, Vimeo, Plex and more. Streaming audio services like Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn will satisfy music junkies.
Amazon is also pushing gaming with Minecraft, The Walking Dead, Riptide GP2, Asphalt 8 and more available at launch. A separate game controller is available to purchase for gaming.
Fire TV will have parental controls, and the ability to mirror Kindle tablets on your TV. If you want to share a photo slideshow for instance, you can “fling” it to your TV. You can also control the box via voice commands (demonstrated by Gary Busey below).
The unit is powered by a Qualcomm quad-core processor, and comes with 8GB of storage. There is a USB port for additional connectivity, and you can utilize Amazon Cloud Storage to augment you media streaming.
Fire TV is available to purchase now for $99, and the game controller is selling for $39.99. It’s walking into a highly competitive market with some established solutions. Do you think Amazon has the marketing muscle to make a dent here? Leave us a comment below!