The competition for the living room is heating up. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon’s long-rumored streaming device is set for an April unveiling, and will carry the Fire name the company uses for its Kindle line of tablets.
Although leaks regarding Amazon’s media device have been largely unspecific, early reports indicated it would run a modified version of Android, and have access to a variety of streaming apps. More recent information suggests the device will come in a dongle form factor, include a remote control, and may retail with a gaming controller accessory.
Despite intense competition in the set-top box space from established players Apple and Roku, Amazon believes its Prime membership offers a unique value proposition. The company licenses and commissions television shows and movies for streaming through its Prime Instant Video service, and is currently in talks with record companies about an on-demand music service.
The Wall Street Journal said the device will go on sale both through Amazon and brick-and-mortar retailers like Best Buy and Staples, but was unable to nail down a launch price.
Anyone interested in buying another media box, or are you all waiting on something better?
Unless and until I start buying more Prime eligible merchandise, Amazon is going to lose my business if they don’t open up Instant Video to all Android devices instead of their forked devices.
I already have the devices that I want: Moto X, Asus tablet, and a Chromecast. I pay for Prime, and I shouldn’t have to buy one of their devices to use that membership to it’s fullest extent.
Are you listening Amazon? Give us an app and we’ll buy your content!
I already have a media streaming device. It’s called an Asus Nexus 7. All I need from Amazon is a freaking Instant Video App. (like they provide to iOS users) so I can view the content I’m already paying for with my Amazon Prime membership!!!
Roku let’s me stream Amazon Instant Videos and Netflix and whatever other videos. Chromecast let’s me do a whole lot of other stuff too. Sooo….unless Amazon plans to allow competitors’ apps on this thing (and basically give them away free for Prime members), what’s my motivation for getting one?
Instead of a stand alone device how about just providing content worth streaming in the first place? Amazon prime streaming is a joke.
I’d rather them launch well designed streaming apps for existing platforms. Maybe then, I’ll renew my Prime membership for that hiked up $99. I already asked them to disable auto-renew.
I would, but I use the shipping part of Amazon prime way too much for it to be cost effective to not have prime (even at $99).
My biggest beef is that they should just release Android apps already for video! I would consider purchasing movies and Tv shows in amazon, but if I can’t watch them on the go, what is the point? And I prefer to not use the browser (I’m not even sure if that still works).
Same. Also disabled auto-renewal. 2 day vs 2-4 day shipping (still free for non-Prime) isn’t really a big deal. Everything I have bought from Amazon were never time sensitive.
I wish google would release an android dongle with a keyboard/game controller, let me use my TV as a giant tablet, kind of like what the archos was supposed to release with their TV connect that was only introduced to a few European countries. Third party android dongles never got a good reception and seem to all have a lot of faults.
i would buy one if it were twenty bucks or less. i would only need it to stream my prime… and i already have the ps3 for that. but for twenty bucks… i would happily put the ps3 back in the closet and use this. it would pay for itself in power savings in a year or two.
I just want a wd tv live 2 box. If you are in the market for a media device though buy one of these chromecast for $30, wd tv live $80, neo x7 $130, or go intel nuc $250+. Cast is nice for streaming, wd lets you do that plus your own content, x7 all that plus browser and xbmc, nuc all of that super smoothly plus pc games and much more
+1 on the WD TV Live. I have two of them in my house. They’re GREAT for playing my local videos from my 4TB hard drive, but ABSOLUTE GARBAGE for everything else (ie streaming services) due to the clunky UI. Doesn’t really bother me though since I only use it for local content. I have a PS3 and Chromecast for everything else.
yeah…. does this mean i have to buy a $30-$40 “zoncast” ? Soon, i’m going to need a TV with 10 HDMI ports.
I was thinking about this today before this new hit actually… I wish amazon would just release a streaming app to be used with the chromecast, and cut some sweet deal with movie companies to get $1 movie rentals to compete with redbox. i think they would blow netflix out of the water if this came true
Sigh… I love everything about Amazon except the forking of android and not giving us Google Services. Otherwise I LOVE AMAZON
I agree.
…but an Amazon Prime Video app for Android would be nice.
Especially seeing how iOS has had this for a long, long time now.
And the news today keeps coming…
Please make a Prime App…
this device has to do more than just amazon to beat anyone these days. If amazon wants to do just amazon they should have came out when the first iteration of the apple tv came out (2007).
How about let us use the amazon prime app and stream to chromecast……
never gonna happen. amazon is too much like apple.
It’s not that they like apple, it’s that their tablets don’t directly compete with the ipad like they do with cheaper android tabs.
Why don’t they just get streaming to work on Android devices with chromecast support and be done?
I assume that puts the nail in the coffin of any hopes of an Amazon Player app on Android much less one with Chromecast support. My Amazon Prime membership looks less and less of a value….
I just made a similar comment.
Because you don’t own smart tv, computer, etc? Prime will always be worth it.
I don’t watch movies or shows on my computer screen. I own a Samsung Smart TV and the interface is slow and clunky. After i bought the Chromecast, I never use Netflix on my TV the Chromecast experience, especially on Android, is awesome. Prime may always be worth it for you but not for everyone.
Smart TV’s tend to have issues. Slow boot, constant app updates, horrible interfaces, you name it. …and each one is different. There’s no standard of quality or competency. Most of it is utter crap. Unless you do a fair amount of research, it’s a crap shoot and you get what you get.
I have Prime for shipping. I used it for video for a short period while my TV’s HDMI ports on my old “dumb” TV stopped functioning as it was as “easy” as the netflix and hulu plus app on my Wii.
New “dumb” TV later and I haven’t touched Prime Video since.
Until/unless there is some decent “smart TV” standard (interface, apps same across vendors) smart TV’s are generally more trouble than they are worth considering the ease, elegance, and simplicity of the alternatives.
I need to know more about it before I make a decision.