Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon Fire TV

amazon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 400 posts

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#51

Post by oskee80 »

theseanstewart wrote: post #6

This looks really cool but I'll have to wait and see how it compares to the other devices that accomplish the same objectives. I would have liked to see it include gigabit ethernet instead of just 10/100. Interesting that they have a game controller available. I've been looking for something to replace my Popcorn Hour, but I haven't been able to find anything in this price range that will play MKV files and allow pla…

Western Digital's WDTV Live can play any file you throw at it. http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

It supports many online services as well, but unfortunately no Prime Instant Video. I have yet to see a box that offers everything I want: Local and network media playback, Netflix, Prime.

However, I wish the WDTV had better specs and UI - it can be a little clunky.

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#52

Post by mindslight »

Or simply stick with a Raspberry Pi, which is free of arbitrary manufacturer-imposted restrictions and comfortably off of the locked-down-software induced upgrade treadmill.

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#53

Post by webology »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #7

What I'm taking away from this is that Fire TV is the same as Roku and Apple TV. As for the gaming capabilities, it'll be interesting to see if they can compete with Steam Machine.

FireTV is built on Android and has a real controller for gaming. It won't compete with Steam Machines for high-end games but there's certainly enough hardware to pull off some great games and apps.

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#56

Post by mkempe »

mashmac2 wrote: post #29

Amazon FreeTime (coming next month, according to this page) is the most interesting piece for me - customized child safety settings for each child, with monthly subscriptions at $2.99 for children's TV shows. It seems like Amazon recognized the popularity of streaming services for parents of young kids and is setting this up just for them...

Further, the voice-driven interface is an interesting feature for young kids. Soon they'll expect to be able to talk to every machine in the house.

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#58

Post by jyap »

j_s wrote: post #42
mashmac2 wrote: post #29

Amazon FreeTime (coming next month, according to this page) is the most interesting piece for me - customized child safety settings for each child, with monthly subscriptions at $2.99 for children's TV shows. It seems like Amazon recognized the popularity of streaming services for parents of young kids and is setting this up just for them...

Kindle FreeTime Unlimited is available now. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?&docId=1000863021

Ugh it's $2.99 a month if you have Amazon Prime. Otherwise it's $4.99 month. That kinda changes the deal since $4.99 a month gets you closer in cost to other services.

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#60

Post by theseanstewart »

oskee80 wrote: post #51
theseanstewart wrote: post #6

This looks really cool but I'll have to wait and see how it compares to the other devices that accomplish the same objectives. I would have liked to see it include gigabit ethernet instead of just 10/100. Interesting that they have a game controller available. I've been looking for something to replace my Popcorn Hour, but I haven't been able to find anything in this price range that will play MKV files and allow pla…

Western Digital's WDTV Live can play any file you throw at it. http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330 It supports many online services as well, but unfortunately no Prime Instant Video. I have yet to see a box that offers everything I want: Local and network media playback, Netflix, Prime. However, I wish the WDTV had better specs and UI - it can be a little clunky.

I've been holding off on the WDTV because of the UI and a few other issues I came across while researching it.
Post reply on HN