Amazon announces Amazon Fire TV (1 Viewer)

"Invent and Simplify"

Amazon has announced the introduction of a tiny, incredibly powerful
and simple black box (shorter than a dime) that will stream content in your home.

It features a quad-core processor and a dedicated GPU (the kind usually
found in smartphones).

The Fire TV has 2GB or RAM (that's 2-4x more than other current streaming
devices), which means bottlenecking is a thing of the past and booting is
quick.

The device has dual-band WiFi so applications download quickly and
consistently.

The device features a manual remote with additional voice search control.

The main screen allows you to Search, Home, Movies, Watchlist, Video
Library, Games, Photos and Apps.

Fire TV is based on Android and HTML and will feature a a huge selection
of apps.

Starting off with Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video. More partners will
follow in time. There will be 10 original, exclusive shows coming to Amazon
Video in the Spring.

Photos can be pushed from phone to Fire TV via Amazon Cloud Drive.
Photos taken become a mosaic screensaver when walking away from device.

Music Apps: Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn

Many features from the Kindle Fire series will be ported over including
"Free Time," a safe OS environment catered for children.

Fire TV will also feature gaming via the remote, the Fire Game Controller
($39.99) or a custom app that will be released later this month. The Fire
Game Controller will come with Amazon coins so you can begin using credits.
Most games will cost under $2.

Amazon will be creating its own games from the ground up.

...and you can multi-task! Play music while using other apps, for instance.

PRICE: $99 and available today

(We will post a link as soon as it goes on sale on Amazon)

Xray for music looks great.
Gaming looks lame. Controller pictured in the leaks was 100% accurate

So far no real reason to "switch" if you are happy with Roku or Apple, but those of us who like to tinker might wanna add one of these for gaming and such.

Price is going to be the killer. Get it under $75 and its a winner, over that and meh. controllers can't be $30 each.

Controller is $39.99. Dead in the water.

Sam,

I dunno. I am looking for a "killer" feature on this.

Yeah, it's faster and easier to control but so many of us have Roku or Apple TV.

....and I can get Amazon Instant Video (I have PRIME) on my Roku.

Still waiting to see a reason why I need to buy this thing.

It has the SAME PROBLEM EVERYONE ELSE HAS. It's not a receiver. It's not a cable box. It has to go through those or it's just another device like an Xbox One, an Apple TV or whatever.

"Not premium prices" You better deliver on that with your overpriced controller already dragging you down, Amazon...

$99 meh. That's $140 if you want the frigging controller. I'll get one but this isn't a slam dunk.

Yeah, was hoping Amazon would at least beat the competition in price.

Are Roku and Apple TV that painfully slow and unsearchable that we need
to spend another $100 for basically the same thing?You are not being innovative, Amazon

And apple will destroy all of that in the next Apple TV refresh even if they don't make a 'real' TV box.

Zatz found the link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CX5P8FC/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=ur2&tag=14-18-20

Glenn Fleishman ‏@GlennF 4m
I guess I’ll put the FireTV on top of the Apple TV, next to the Roku, in front of the set top, near the router behind the…

Hands on:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/2/5573510/amazon-fire-tv-hands-on-prime-comes-to-your-living-room

Prepurchase your apps:
http://www.amazon.com/b?node=7031433011

Sam,

I have an extra $100 I could spend on this right now.

I have no urge to waste that money.

I tried to purchase The Walking Dead and got this message "Instant Order Update for Samuel R Posten III. You purchased this item on January 3, 2014."

So it's cross buy, Tablet purchase gets you TV and vice versa.

No worries Ron, I'll take one for the team and put it through its paces.

Yeah, I'm not buying this unit as I have three Roku units including the stick plus two Apple TV. I plan on buying that new Apple TV when it comes out so I have a Roku and Apple TV at each of my three HT setups.

It's a fine looking device but there comes a point where one box just isn't that different than the other. I wanted to give one a shot for $99 but since there is no UV support at all (either through Amazon or a Vudu app) there's really no point for me. If that changes, I'll give it a go.They did make me optimistic that they want an "open eco-system" which is very important to me when it comes to things like the sources I can get news from (please get the Sky News app!) or places I can spend my digital dollar. Kudos to Amazon for that.I'm also glad to see 1080p and DD+ audio...***Edit to add that they do have Flixster for UV which is at least something

Not all roses. No Vudu, No HBO, No Sports, No USB:
http://blog.streamingmedia.com/2014/04/amazons-device-comparison-chart-skewed-make-look-better.html

Both Roku and Apple TV can stream your own content, Apple from ITunes and Roku From Plex, this box isn't going to allow this , is it ?