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Amazon Fire TV

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Re: Amazon Fire TV

#321

Post by declan »

alexeisadeski3 wrote: post #129
declan wrote: post #96

This is a reasonable answer to Apple TV. If you have videos on or subscriptions to iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon Prime (as I do), there's no box I'm aware of that will let you watch all three. So you end up using your Apple TV and then Roku or another box -- the Playstation 3 in my living room takes a long time to boot, and a long time to load the Netflix app, draws quite a bit of power, and is overkill for merely watc…

Apple TV lets you watch all three (iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon Prime). Airplay is a thing.

Ah, but I want to be able to view Amazon Prime without resorting to an Airplay workaround. For my living room use case Airplay isn't an option; I'm looking for an integrated unit.

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#322

Post by cc439 »

bitcrusher wrote: post #111
programminggeek wrote: post #84

This is pretty much what Google TV should have been all along, but Google cares too much about web search and not enough about what people actually want to do on a TV - watch shows and play games. The gaming aspect of this will make it a winner. OUYA's big problem is that it didn't do streaming and was a bit clunky. Amazon has a big game library and just needs controller support. As a parent, a $100 streaming box and…

It's interesting how different perspectives work: > The gaming aspect of this will make it a winner. OUYA's big problem is that it didn't do streaming and was a bit clunky. Amazon has a big game library and just needs controller support. I think the gaming aspects are the worst part and are entirely useless. Who wants to casual game with an underpowered box on a giant TV screen? Goofy games are fun on a 4-7" screen b…

The midrange SoCs found in boxes like this have a surprising amount of power. They are capable of powering games with graphical fidelity that falls somewhere in between the PS2 and PS3. Plus they aren't as RAM starved as those consoles.

The market has so far been defined by the capabilities of mobile devices. That means simplified controls and gameplay designed for short sessions. There's no technical reason for these limitations in the streaming box market, OUYA failed and Amazon might fail but the market still exists. Consumers have bought tens of millions of these devices just to watch TV, eventually someone will be able to expand to tap the couch gaming market. The price point is low, install base high, and the processing power is just sitting there and waiting.

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#323

Post by Osiris »

I ordered one with 1-day shipping.

I'm heading to Sunnyvale for a week and I'm tempted to take it with me to see how it works over the hotel WiFi.

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#324

Post by cc439 »

WoodenChair wrote: post #45

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 m…

>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).

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#325

Post by pbhjpbhj »

theorique wrote: post #313
OlivierLi wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Warning: the link above is highly NSFW.

Sorry, should have mentioned that bit. AMZN has just bid the value of that domain through the roof though.

Maybe a few years ago when the search engines used exact match domains as a key relevancy indicator. SE now are highly likely to put amazon.tld above firetv.com for all "fire tv" searches [Google does for me now anyway]. Who types in domain names anyway?

Amazon's brand strength means those not going to a SE are going to go to Amazon.tld to find it, certainly that was what I did without thinking about it. [Sadly though there's nothing there that's relevant except the option to buy a Chromecast, seems very poor marketing to me. They could probably take pre-orders even without a localised list of content providers being ready].

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#326

Post by jessaustin »

jggonz wrote: post #225
laxatives wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similarly, I've never understood the purpose of ChromeCast. The lag makes it completely unusable for video (I'm getting ~1 frame / 3 seconds), making it a glorified radio with cellphone/laptop remotes.

You need to upgrade your router. I was using a cheapo D-Link router when I first got my ChromeCast and the connection was awful. Range to laptops and devices was terrible and the connection always dropped. I bought an ASUS router for $150 and life is incredibly easier. I can stream HD content from 40-50ft away across 3 bedrooms without any issues.

I'm confused: are you talking about wifi range (presumably fixable by using a WAP that's better than the one built into your router) or the bandwidth of the router itself? Only asking because ISTM a decent WAP is much cheaper than $150...

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#327

Post by tass »

saturdaysaint wrote: post #207
sosborn wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Constantly? http://us.playstation.com/support/systemupdates/ps3/history/

Compared to any other device I use, PS3 updates are unusually intrusive. Almost nothing seems to be done automatically, so I'll end up with 5 minutes of downloading update apps and system updates before I can do what I intended to do when I sat down. Oh, and the updates are often "required", meaning you're prevented from even running your out of date app. I'm hopeful that they fixed most of these issues for the PS4 (…

They're using it as an incentive to purchase PS+ - so I don't think this will be fixed with PS4. I find it distasteful being forced to pay to prevent being blocked by updates when all I want to do is watch a video.

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/setti...

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#329

Post by nikoftime »

canvia wrote: post #309
laxatives wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, that's great. But I don't use Netflix at all. I'd like to watch something from VLC, but apparently the plug in that enabled that was killed. Google's so simple its stupid makes it impossible for me to find out how the thing actually works and why I can't try to configure it to work any better.

It's awesome for YouTube and you can stream any local media using Plex.

+1 for Plex - works perfectly from the browser/iPhone/iPad/Android phones and tablets. Great Chromecast integration.

Re: Amazon Fire TV

#330

Post by esrauch »

twoodfin wrote: post #224
smackfu wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting that Amazon now has a pretty good motivation to remove this feature.

Why? Amazon wants to make money on the blades (content), not the razor.

Except they are now selling a razor that "works best" with their own blades.
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