Amazon Releases Amazon Fire TV

[RHOPKINS13]

Remember this thread? Turns out the rumors were true! Introducing Amazon Fire TV, a streaming 1080p media player with voice search, Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, games, and more. The box comes with a remote, but you'll need to buy the Fire Game Controller separately for playing games. Currently the Amazon Fire TV will set you back $99, and the Amazon Game Controller will set you back another $39.99. You will need a HDMI cable, as it's not included in the box. Amazon Fire TV is only available in the US at the moment. For a limited time Amazon is giving away 1,000 Amazon Coins ($10 value) and Sev Zero ($6.99), a Amazon-exclusive game, for free with purchase of the Amazon Game Controller.

SOURCES:
Amazon Fire TV Product Page
Amazon Fire Game Controller Product Page

 

[the_randomizer]

Might go well with emulators that have been ported to Android

 

[Snailface]

at least the ouya comes with a controller :/

 

[Gahars]

...I'd say the "gaming" portion of this thing was an afterthought, but honestly, I'm not sure even that much though went into it at all.

I mean, the streaming box is nice and all, but if... well, if this is the extent of the game capability, why bother in the first place?

 

[frogboy]

And what reason do I have to shell out 140 big ones when I could, for the same price, pick up a used last-gen console on eBay (which I'd imagine would be significantly more powerful)?

I got nothin'.

EDIT: yeah yeah, i know it's a streaming box... whoops. Anyways, there's no real reason to buy this for gaming purposes.

 

[Pleng]

How do the specs compare with OUYA?

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. Supports public and private Wi-Fi networks that use the 802.11a/b/g/n standard with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication

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

 

[Taleweaver]

I predict a lot of angry customers on this one.

That product page makes it look as if everything is included, but without HDMI cable or controller, it ups the price considerably.

It plays videos and music...that you've bought on the amazon store. Great for customers, I guess. But I doubt I'll be playing my own collection on it.

Furthermore...where do those 100+ games come from (let alone 1000+)? I know they've bought double helix, but are EA and ubisoft really making games for this? (oh, and...ouya's library coming to amazon. You've heard it here first! )


And...pretty much all those video screens show game of thrones, but HBO Go is the only video rendering service they don't have. So...am I missing something here?


Then again, I can't deny that it looks somewhat interesting (voice control? Mirror your tablet? A name that doesn't suck? 1000+ games?). With marketing like this, it wouldn't surprise me if it ends up selling more than the wiiu.

 

[gokujr1000]

Exclusive digital boxes have always seemed like a rather silly concept to me. I can't really imagine anyone wanting something like this when most family's who would be into this sort of thing would have a decent smart TV and a computer in the same room.

 

[FAST6191]

Hopefully it provides MS a tiny bit of incentive to stop paywalling some of its stuff.

Also "Amazon coins".... I thought everybody agreed points systems in place of currency was a bad idea.

Otherwise that looks like a streaming box with some potential, unlike most of the others I have seen. If they manage to get the catch up services for the countries they are in then even better.

 

[Arras]

I predict a lot of angry customers on this one.

That product page makes it look as if everything is included, but without HDMI cable or controller, it ups the price considerably.

It plays videos and music...that you've bought on the amazon store. Great for customers, I guess. But I doubt I'll be playing my own collection on it.

Furthermore...where do those 100+ games come from (let alone 1000+)? I know they've bought double helix, but are EA and ubisoft really making games for this? (oh, and...ouya's library coming to amazon. You've heard it here first! )


And...pretty much all those video screens show game of thrones, but HBO Go is the only video rendering service they don't have. So...am I missing something here?


Then again, I can't deny that it looks somewhat interesting (voice control? Mirror your tablet? A name that doesn't suck? 1000+ games?). With marketing like this, it wouldn't surprise me if it ends up selling more than the wiiu.

To be fair HDMI cables can be gotten for like 3$.