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Amazon To Put Android In Set-top Box To Compete With Apple, Roku
sfcrazy writes "Amazon is all set to get Apple and Roku some serious competition with its own 'web-TV' or set-top box. According to reports, Amazon will be using Google's Android to build the box. Amazon already has a huge library of content (from Amazon Prime) which it can push to the living room through the box. Amazon, like Netflix, is also investing heavily in producing content to their own set-box. Amazon has also been hiring game developers and it won't be surprising if the company also dabbles into gaming." And while it may be only a rumor, the idea's got some reasonable legs: besides the content on Prime, Amazon has been making media-centric Android devices for a few years with its Kindle Fire line.
Or, they could just add Chromecast and prime instant streaming support for existing Android devices. Much less e-waste that way.
It is not exactly a full-fledged stand-alone streaming box. Chromecast requires a third-party smart device, usually a smartphone/tablet, to initiate the stream. While that makes it cheaper, and is not an impediment to the more tech-savvy users; it makes its overall market more limited. Amazon would be wiser to pursue a device that can be operated with either a dumb remote or a smart device, even if that makes it more expensive. Chromecast also lacks an ethernet port, which I personally find annoying.
I completely understand what Amazon is trying to do, but the whole set-top box thing is a bad play.
Amazon is working from an old playbook. They're trying to do now with this box what M$ did with Xbox...it's why M$ could allow Xbox to run at a loss...it got Microsoft a space on the shelf in the living room.
Shelf space as marketing tool is old news (and was never a good idea)...ex: Netflix
Amazon is going to lose money on this deal. No one wants **another** box....especially one that doesn't do anything that Netflix can't do.
Amazon should work on competing with iTunes, spotify, etc instead of this move...the movie business is almost always a losing proposition for tech...Netflix is an exception that can't easily be supplanted.
Thank you Dave Raggett
If it:
- Accepts large (TerraByte) external storage media via USB and understands FATxx, NTFS, ext3fs and HFS+
- Understands and plays m4v files to at least the level supported on current iPads (i.e. H.264 video, AAC surround, captions and chapters)
- Can translate AAC 5.1 to LPCM 5.1 when using HDMI output and/or and has 5.1 analog outputs and converts AAC 5.1 to them
I am pre-ordering NOW. I mean really NOW. Amazon, please take my money... please....
Unless the other features include something compelling, not sure the motivation to buy this.
The ability to use a phone other than an iPhone. Currently, Apple has a monopoly on phones compatible with Amazon video.
Even on Apple TV, you can play Amazon Video content if streamed via AirPlay from an iPhone/iPad.
But then you have to buy an iPhone/iPad first.
What advantage any of this will have over a Chromebook + HDMI cable + bluetooth keyboard & mouse combination?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Netflix doesn't need to. An open platform for competiting services already exist. Netflix doesn't have to stand alone. It can stand beside competitors and benefit from their presence.
THAT was the genius of AVOIDING exactly what Amazon is trying to do here. Netflix benefits from an open platform that is not seen as an Amazon or Apple or Netflix exclusive.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
That's a weird business decision on the part of Amazon. Amazon Instant works on the Android based Fire. Why they decide not to support other Android devices is anyone's guess.
There have been regular rumors that Amazon will be raising Prime subscription fees. It seems plausible that they would include the set top box for free with increased Prime fees to control PR and incentivize renewal. Amazon already treats other devices (e.g., Kindle) as loss-leaders.