I'm really not that impressed. This is just Apple TV for the Amazon eco-system with gaming lopped on. The majority of people don't care about the specs of their set-top box since that really doesn't affect the performance of streaming an HD video in this day and age. So the two differentiating features are:
- Voice Search
- Gaming
Are those enough of a value proposition? Probably not to make converts. I suspect the main buyers will be those who simply have bought into Amazon Instant Video as opposed to iTunes in the past. Let's see what Apple's next revision of Apple TV offers.
God yes. The level of stupidity of all the set-top boxes I've used is staggering. I sit there and use a tiny keyboard to type in B-R-E-A and get tons of hits for things nowhere close to Breaking Bad until I practically type out the whole title.
I'd love to be able to just say the title and be done with it. Heaven forbid I'm ever allowed to say "Season pass, bob's burgers, new episodes only," and walk away. I do similar things with my Nexus phone and google now. The tech is certainly here.
> The level of stupidity of all the set-top boxes I've used is staggering. I sit there and use a tiny keyboard to type in B-R-E-A and get tons of hits for things nowhere close to Breaking Bad until I practically type out the whole title.
I'd settle for a non-braindead mobile or desktop client, I don't even need voice. I have a Sony Blu-Ray/Internet box whose remote app on iOS is literally the same up-down-left-right pad the remote has, but you have to swipe just right to get it to register. Why not just give me the same menu options the box has, but in a reasonable mobile device metaphor? I can't tap "Services" -> "Hulu" -> "TV Shows" -> type "SNL"; I have to navigate the set-top box's menu while trying to look at my phone at the same time. Mind-bogglingly bad.
And that Sony remote app has ads ... on top of being a royal pain to pair with the controlled device (haven't bothered pairing the new BD player after the 4yo stripped the tray-ejection gears pushing it in on the previous model).
> I suspect the main buyers will be those who simply have bought into Amazon Instant Video as opposed to iTunes in the past.
But that includes anyone with Amazon Prime.
> Let's see what Apple's next revision of Apple TV offers.
Is Apple's next revision of Apple TV going to let me watch iTunes content from non-Apple devices? You're glossing over this as insignificant when, for lots of us, it's a deal-breaker.
If this is just going to be offering Prime videos, they really need to improve the quality of films they offer as else nobody will hang around. They offer ancient sci-fi films from the 1950s and also incessant horror films, neither of which I have an interest in watching.
All the films you'd want to watch have to be paid for now. Pretty glad I stuck with my Lovefilm disc renting option - far better choice, despite the fuel burn used by Royal Mail to get it to me.
For me, it's not. But that's just me. Besides, what happens when Amazon decides that it wants to focus on it's ecosystem and pulls their app from other devices?
People want one box that does it all. Not a GoogleBox, AppleBox, and an AmazonBox. That's madness.
They want one box, preferrable for less than 100 bucks, that will play Hulu, Netflix, Prime, Vudu, Youtube, GooglePlay, iTunes, Plex, etc.
Right now, the _only_ way to do this with one box is to build your own NUC HTPC for a couple hundred dollars.
Amazon offers Amazon devices because they think you will be a better customer if they control the complete experience. However I can't imagine they would stop supporting Prime Video and Kindle on Android and iPad just to pump up their own device market. That's putting the cart before the horse.
Being as they don't support Prime Video on any Android devices (with very limited exceptions), it's very easy to imagine them "stopping" support of it.
> This is just Apple TV for the Amazon eco-system with gaming lopped on.
I hate the word "just". The iPad is "just" a big iPod Touch. The new feature the client wants is "just" a simple checkbox. Etc.
Not only does that single word abstract away hundreds of person-years of work; it ignores the fact that products often gain market traction despite being "just" $existingThing + $minorChange, whether by reaching a tipping point of quality and experience, or through other intangibles like ecosystem, name recognition and marketing.
I love my AppleTV (mostly), but I'm keeping an eye on this thing (hopefully its software is higher quality than the Fire tablets).
I understand your gripe you just made with the word "just" and I'm not the OP.
I had a friend excitedly text me about this today so I looked it up. On the device's page [1] there is a 'compare to xyz' box they literally place 3 other devices that have existed for a while now and looking through this, it appears to me to be "just" amazon's attempt to get into this space without providing a lot of additional value.
Looking at the list they provide there each of the devices provide all the functionality I personally would ever want in a streaming hardware solution. They have "just" provided Apple TV for Amazon, they have not extended the paradigm as far as I can see.
If you have kids, you get some love in your parent role, too: limits to what kids see, and caps by content types and times of day -- no more negotiating! And they're launching an all-you-can-eat content subscription designed for kids under 9, including e-books.
This is a killer feature for parents. It's why I bought my daughter a Kindle tablet instead of an iPad. Having the same sort of controls available for the TV is why I'll buy this and ditch my Google TV (which, actually, I really like).
I'm hoping that controls will span both devices, so settings that are made on the tablet will also take effect on the TV.
This is the exact reason I just ordered one. I was on the fence about getting the HDX due to cost, but with this we can attach it to an old TV, get the subscription, and have a hopefully well thought out limit system built into the console.
I thought I'd follow up if anyone was watching. The Fire TV is blazingly fast. As in, it puts even my PS3 running Netflix to shame.
But, and it's a big one, any video service other than Amazon is treated as a second class citizen. So, without the kids AYCE package out yet I'm a bit disappointed. I think Amazon would do well to follow the Roku style and have cross-provider search and navigation.
In any case, it will move to be the kids TV media device now as it still isn't ready to be my primary media device.
Which is not an insignificant demographic. There's a whole lot of folks who actually arent invested in the Apple ecosystem, this addresses a huge market segment, regardless of whether games are included.
Voice Search integrated with e-commerce could be the killer feature. Imagine saying "OK Amazon buy those shoes" that are currently displayed on your TV. One or two more steps to confirm the transaction orally and it's on its way. You've already got Prime and you trust that you'll get a competitive price from Amazon. So why not just buy right away?
That's a really great idea. Sadly I can see it being dangerous when the cat sits on the remote and my wife says "I would love to buy these shoes" and we get an Amazon box turn up.
>The majority of people don't care about the specs of their set-top box since that really doesn't affect the performance of streaming an HD video in this day and age.
My Roku 3 might laugh at 1080p video but there's an advantage for Amazon if they can improve on the UI (fluidity and ease of navigation).
If this Amazon box ever gets MLB.TV I'll buy one that day to replace my AppleTV. I don't watch enough movies or non-sports TV to make Netflix worth it to me, but having ties into what Amazon Prime streaming would be enough to pull me over.
Smart TV saturation remains small, so I don't see it being a proposition where they need to convert people: If you put the Amazon Fire beside an Apple TV, for many people the Amazon device may very well represent a better choice.
As to the specs of the device, while it's certainly true that specs alone mean little (especially vague, close to meaningless specs like "quad core"), the hardware put a ceiling on what the device is capable of doing. And in this case right off the bat it can do voice search, which as an Apple TV user I would actually be a convert for: It is an act of pure brutality to search on the Apple TV device.
Even just that the remote does not use infra-red is a hugely compelling feature to me.
EDIT: given that I mentioned the specs being vague, I should correct that on Amazon's dev site they list specifics, and it has a powerful CPU/GPU combo. Actually the same SoC as the Nexus 7 (2013), running at a higher frequency.
- Voice Search
- Gaming
Are those enough of a value proposition? Probably not to make converts. I suspect the main buyers will be those who simply have bought into Amazon Instant Video as opposed to iTunes in the past. Let's see what Apple's next revision of Apple TV offers.