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Amazon officially announces the Amazon Fire TV
Amazon’s Video press event is currently underway, and the company has just announced a solution that should help quell all the pitfalls of most companies’ video streaming options. They’re calling it the Amazon Fire TV, a device made to inspire change ina market that doesn’t always get the attention and care it deserves.
This small media box packs a lot of power, with Amazon opting for a quad-core CPU and GPUs that are found in today’s most powerful smartphones. Here’s a full list of its specs:
- Quad-core CPU and GPU (make and model TBA)
- 2GB of RAM
- dual-band WiFi
- Shorter than the height of a dime
- Based on Android and HTML to make porting apps easy
Amazon says that combination is important to offering an experience that has a smooth user interface, which is one of the frustrations they want to solve compared to other products. Comparable devices tend to skimp on specs to keep costs down, but that typically comes at the cost of smooth performance.
Amazon Fire Features and Content
Amazon will undoubtedly look to push their own collection of video through Prime Instant Video and Instant Video rentals and purchases — you will be able to browse and buy content from Amazonright from the Fire TV — but they won’t be the only sources of content.
The Amazon Fire TV will support apps and games all the same, making it easy for developers to port their wares over. The platform will be open for any content provider to port their apps over. Some confirmed music apps are iHeartRadio, Pandora and TuneIn. For video? Apps like Netflix, Hulu+, ESPN, HBO Go and NBA GameTime will all make an appearance, as well as tons more.
Voice will be a big part of the experience, as Amazon will allow you to search their catalog by simply speaking out the name of whatever you’re looking for. You could say something like “Along Came Polly” and have it pop right up, or do a general genre or topic search to get a list of all the movies and shows related to whatever category you’re looking for.
Amazon Fire TV Gaming Controller
And this is where Amazon finally introduces their gaming initiative. For an extra $40 (which comes with some Amazon Coins to help get your games collection started), you can get yourself a nice controller that can be hooked up to the box to play some of the many games Amazon’s looking to feature.
One of those games is Minecraft, which Amazon tells us has been specifically crafted for their platform (no pun intended) and not ported from others. They’re also talking about Gameloft’s Asphalt 8, and an endless running game themed after Monsters Inc.
Amazon will also push games of their own, such as a new third-person shooter called Sev Zero. There’s no telling if this is the game that ex-Killer Instinct developer Double Helix was acquired to work on, but we at least have confirmation of Amazon’s reasons for purchasing them.
The controller won’t be the only thing you can play games with, though. Some games can be used with the remote that comes packaged with the Fire TV, while others can be controlled using a controller app on your smartphone or tablet.
Developing…
Xbox One SmartGlass beta app launches, brings OneGuide and DVR features for preview users
Are you part of the Xbox One dashboard preview program? Do you want to test out some great new features that are coming to Xbox One’s SmartGlass apps soon? Now you can, thanks to the launch of a separate Xbox One SmartGlass beta over at Google Play.
The beta already brings some rather significant goods for those of you on the latest version of the Xbox One dashboard preview. For starters, you can now browse your OneGuide listings from the app, and have your TV switch to a channel as if you were using an actual remote. Think of your smartphone or tablet as the smartest remote you’ve ever owned.
You’ll also be able to thumb through your DVR content from your device and start playback, something that required the use of your existing cable or satellite remote before. Here’s a full list of everything that’s coming:
- An enhanced TV watching experience (that’s already available in the U.S.), which sees TV listings added to OneGuide, alongside Favorites and App Channels. This will work for people in Europe and Canada who have their TV connected to Xbox One via HDMI-in.
- More control over Xbox One, their TV, and set-top box, including setting new recordings and watching recorded content from their DVR, all from a tablet or smart phone. Xbox SmartGlass also adds a cool new feature to show the most recently-watched channels.
- New Kinect voice commands in Europe and Canada (already available in the U.S.) which let you control your set-top box and other AV equipment.
The new DVR features will be facilitated through a new remote control user interface that mimics that of a cable box’s. The commands will likely be transmitted over the network to the Xbox, which will use the Kinect to issue the commands to the cable box. Pretty neat setup, right? Here’s what the digital remote interface looks like on your phone:
Interested? You can find it in Google Play, but remember that it’s a beta and there may be some unknown issues lurking about. Don’t forget that you won’t be able to use any of this unless you’re in the dashboard preview program. There’s a handy in-app option for reporting issues, so be sure to exercise that option if you happen to come across anything.
[via Microsoft]
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