At a media event today, Amazon introduced Amazon Fire TV ($99), a streaming box designed to compete with Apple TV. The box has a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi for fast downloads. Larsen claims it’s three times as fast as Apple TV and other boxes. Many apps are supported, including Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and of course, Amazon Prime. The included remote control supports voice search with a built-in microphone. FireTV also supports games with the physical remote, an upcoming app, or the Fire game controller ($40). The device will begin shipping today.
Features include:
– Massive selection—Over 200,000 TV episodes and movies, millions of songs, and over a hundred games
– Perfect with Prime—Unlimited access to thousands of popular movies and TV shows including exclusive titles like Downton Abbey and Under the Dome. Get a free 30-day trial
– Voice search that actually works—Simply say the name of what you want to watch and start enjoying in seconds.
– Tiny box, huge specs—Fast quad-core processor, 2 GB of memory, dedicated GPU, plus 1080p HD video and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound
Easy to set up and use—Pre-registered to your Amazon account so you can enjoy favorite titles and personalized recommendations
– Instant streaming—Exclusive new feature ASAP predicts what movies and TV episodes you’ll want to watch and buffers them for playback before you hit play
– Perfect for parents—Amazon FreeTime lets you easily limit screen time and create personalized profiles just for kids (coming soon)
– Great for gaming, too—Play blockbuster titles like Minecraft-Pocket Edition, The Walking Dead, and Monsters University, plus free games and Amazon exclusives. Paid games start from just 99 cents