AMAZON has unveiled a new set-top box that will deliver instant access to a library of 200,000 movies and TV episodes.
The palm-sized device, called Amazon Fire TV, will cost $99 (£59) and will make Amazon's enormous library of content, including games, apps, TV shows and films, available to users.
Fire TV connects directly to Amazon Instant Video's vast content bank, including films such as Frozen and Gravity, as well as popular TV series such as Game of Thrones and Sherlock which users can either rent or buy. The device also connects to media players from Netflix and Hulu, which allow single-payment access to multiple titles.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The device was launched last night in New York by Amazon Kindle executive Peter Larsen. Fire TV promises to serve high-definition video via high speed dual Wi-Fi. It also has an inbuilt microphone for voice control, and works with Kindle devices, which can be used as a remote for the set-top box. Fire TV will also anticipate what you might want to watch next and pre-load content to prevent buffering.
The new device will go head-to-head with the Apple TV box and Google's Chromecast dongle.
David Watkins of Strategy Analytics told The Guardian: "Amazon's move is essentially the final piece in a three-way battle between America's internet heavyweights for tomorrow's TV screen. It's like Dr Pepper challenging Coke and Pepsi's empire.
"Apple's there already, Google joined last year, now all will be up against the incumbent pay-TV providers. To thrive, however, they'll probably have to do partnership deals as Apple has been trying."
The comparatively cheap set-top device will aim to boost the electronic commerce company's profits in the same way the Kindle tablets has done, by driving sales directly to Amazon. Business Insider notes that during a single year, Kindle owners spend $443 more buying from Amazon than the average Amazon shopper who does not own a Kindle.
Apple currently dominates the streaming device market in the US with 43 per cent of all sales. Another device called Roku has 24 per cent and Google's Chromecast 14 per cent.
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
October 5 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
iPhone Air: Thinness comes at a high priceFeature Apple’s new iPhone is its thinnest yet but is it worth the higher price and weaker battery life?
-
Is the UK government getting too close to Big Tech?Today’s Big Question US-UK tech pact, supported by Nvidia and OpenAI, is part of Silicon Valley drive to ‘lock in’ American AI with US allies
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
South Korea's divide over allowing Google MapsTalking Points The country is one of few modern democracies where the app doesn't work
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust rulingSpeed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
-
Is AI killing the internet?Talking Point AI-powered browsers and search engines are threatening the death of the open web
-
Amazon's robotaxi looks to be Waymo's biggest competitorIn the Spotlight The company recently opened a new robotaxi production plant in California
-
Unreal: A quantum leap in AI videoFeature Google's new Veo 3 is making it harder to distinguish between real videos and AI-generated ones
