Amazon is putting the full promotional weight of its online empire behind its latest product, a set-top box that takes on Apple TV and Roku in the streaming content product category.
Meet Amazon’s Fire TV, a miniscule device that easily connects to an HDTV providing access to Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, SHOWTIME, video rentals, etc.
“Tiny box, huge specs, tons of content, incredible price—people are going to love Fire TV,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO.
Amazon Fire TV, which delivers 1080p HD video and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound, retails for $99.
“Our exclusive new ASAP feature predicts the shows you’ll want to watch and gets them ready to stream instantly,” Bezos says. “And our open approach gives you not just Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video, but also Netflix, Hulu Plus, and more. On Fire TV you can watch Alpha House and House of Cards.”
The new set-top box even delivers Voice search, which Amazon says “works.” Users simply need to speak the name of a movie, TV show, actor, director, or genre into the remote, and that’s it.
Amazon says the remote control has a built-in microphone.
The device also delivers a quad-core processor with over 3x the processing power of Apple TV, Chromecast, or Roku 3. There’s also a dedicated GPU, plus 4x the memory of Apple TV, Chromecast, or Roku 3 for “exceptional speed and fluidity.”
Amazon Fire TV is in stock and shipping today for those who are interested.
