Amazon Fire TV

Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Fire TV with remote (first generation)
Developer Amazon
Manufacturer Foxconn
Type Digital media player, microconsole
Release date
  • US: April 12, 2014
  • DE: September 25, 2014[1]
  • UK: October 23, 2014[1]
  • JP: October 28, 2014[2]
Introductory price US$99[3]
Operating system Fire OS 5 "Bellini"[4]
System-on-chip used Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 APQ8064T[5]
MediaTek MT8173C (2nd Gen)
CPU Qualcomm Krait 300, quad-core up to 1.7 GHz (1st generation)[5]
dual-core ARM Cortex-A72 up to 2 GHz and dual-core ARM Cortex-A53 up to 1.573 GHz (2nd generation)
Memory 2 GB LPDDR2 RAM[5]
Storage 8 GB internal[5]
Display 1080p and 4K[5]
Graphics Qualcomm Adreno 320 (1st Gen)[5]
PowerVR GX6250 (2nd Gen)[6]
Sound Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound[5]
Connectivity HDMI, Bluetooth 4.0, Bluetooth 4.1, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), 10/100 Ethernet, Optical audio, Fire game controller[5]
Power 5.5 mm DC[5] (6.25 V 2.5 A power adapter[7])
Current firmware 6.2.1.2
Dimensions 115 × 115 × 17.5 mm (4.53 × 4.53 × 0.69 in)[5]
Weight 281 g (9.9 oz)[5]
Related articles Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Ouya
Website amazon.com

Amazon Fire TV is a digital media player and its microconsole remote developed by Amazon.[8][9] The player is a small network appliance entertainment device that streams digital audio/video content to a high-definition television from the home (internet) network. The player also allows users to play video games with the included remote, via a mobile app, or with an optional game controller.

The device comes in two form factors: Fire TV, a set top box, and Fire TV Stick a cut-down version presented as an HDMI plug-in stick.

The first-generation Fire TV device featured 2 GB of RAM, MIMO dual-band Wi-Fi, and a Bluetooth remote control with a microphone for voice search. It supported 1080p streaming and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound but was dependent on internet bandwidth of the user. Unveiled on April 2, 2014, the Amazon Fire TV (1st Generation) was made available for purchase in the US the same day for US$99 and was launched with a video game called Sev Zero.[3]

In 2015, the Amazon Fire TV (2nd Generation) was released with improved processor speed and 4K UHD support.[10] Amazon Fire TV is also available in the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and launched in India in 2016.[11]

In September 2018, Amazon announced the Fire TV Recast, a digital video recorder which works with a HD antenna to record shows for later viewing on a Fire TV or Echo Show device.[12] It is designed to use with over-the-air TV services and is a part of the cord-cutting movement.[13]

Fire TV

Original model

First generation

The first Fire TV (codenamed "Bueller" after the eponymous character from Ferris Bueller's Day Off)[14][15] offers HDMI and optical audio, with support for Dolby Digital Plus and 7.1 surround sound pass-through, along with an Ethernet port and a USB 2.0 port. According to Amazon, the Fire TV is designed to outpace competitors like the Apple TV and Roku in performance: The 0.72-inch-thick box features a 1.7 GHz quad-core CPU (Qualcomm Snapdragon 8064), 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage, along with a dual-band wireless radio for 1080p streaming over 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and a 10/100 ethernet connection. The company said that it does not intend the Fire TV to compete with gaming consoles; instead, its gaming capabilities are geared toward people who do not already own a console but may play games on a smartphone or tablet. It has a dedicated controller accessory.[4]

Second generation

Amazon released a 2nd-generation Fire TV, codenamed "Sloane",[14] in late 2015. The 2nd generation features 4K Ultra High Definition support, improved processor performance, and a MediaTek 8173C chipset to support H.265 (HEVC), VP8, and VP9 codecs. Wireless hardware upgrades includes a dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with 2x2 MIMO and Bluetooth 4.1.[16][17]

Third generation

On September 27, 2017, Amazon announced the third generation Fire TV alongside 5 other new Amazon products.

On October 3, 2018, Amazon has announced discontinuing Fire TV in favor of Fire TV Stick. [18]

Fire TV Stick

First generation Fire-TV Stick with remote (without voice search)
First generation Fire-TV Stick with remote (without voice search, codenamed "Inigo"[14])

First generation

On November 19, 2014, Amazon released a smaller version of the Fire TV called the Fire TV Stick. Codenamed "Montoya",[14] it is an HDMI-port plug-in device that replicates much of the functionality of the larger Fire TV.[19] Its hardware is slightly different, it has 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal storage, weighs 0.9 oz. (25.1 g) and it uses a Broadcom BCM28155 dual-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A9 processor and a Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU. Wireless hardware includes a dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi with 2x2 MIMO and Bluetooth 3.0 [17][20] The Fire TV Stick is bundled with a remote control, in either of two variants; one with voice search on the remote and one without.

Second generation

Second generation Fire-TV Stick with Alexa remote (with voice search)
Second generation Fire-TV Stick with Alexa remote (with voice search)

On October 20, 2016, Amazon released Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, codenamed "Tank".[14][21] Other than the new remote, the updates include MediaTek MT8127D Quad-core ARM 1.3 GHz processor with a Mali-450 MP4 GPU, and support for the H.265 (HEVC) codec. Wireless hardware upgrades includes a dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with 2x2 MIMO and Bluetooth 4.1.[17] It retains the 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage and weighs slightly more at 1.1 oz. (32.0 g).[22]

Third generation

On October 3, 2018, Amazon has announced on Fire TV Stick 4K, with all-new Alexa Voice Remote, which will include for the first time buttons for volume, power, and mute. Amazon scheduled the release date for October 31, 2018, which will also introduce the new remote control as a standalone product.[18]

Fire TV Cube

The Fire TV Cube was launched in June 2018, as a mix of the Fire TV and Echo Dot.[23] The device uses a 1.5 GHz quad-core ARM 4xCA53 processor, 2 GB RAM, and 16 GB storage.[24]

Software

The device initially ran Fire OS 3.0, based on Android Jelly Bean 4.2. According to Amazon, that made it "simple for developers to port their services and games over to Fire TV."[4]

In November 2017, Amazon launched the Fire TV version of the Amazon Silk web browser.[25] In December 2017, Mozilla launched a Fire TV version of the Mozilla Firefox browser.[26]

Updates

On March 24, 2015, Amazon announced an update to the Fire TV software to provide the following additional features which address some of the concerns raised in early reviews:[27]

  • Expandable USB storage on Amazon Fire TV; the user can connect a USB mass storage device to expand the Fire TV storage.
  • Connect to the user's hotel or dorm room Wi-Fi with captive portal support, which enables the user to connect to Wi-Fi that requires web authentication—this includes Wi-Fi at most major hotels, as well as some universities.
  • Private listening on Fire TV, adds support for wireless Bluetooth headphones to Fire TV.
  • Browse and search Prime Playlists: Prime members can now take advantage of Prime Music playlists from Fire TV with hundreds of expertly curated Prime Playlists to pick from.
  • Hidden PIN entry, the PIN entry screen hides the numbers selected.
  • New shortcuts put the user's Fire TV to sleep or enable display mirroring by pressing and holding the Home button on the remote.

Models

Generation (within Fire TV) 1st generation (2014)1st generation (2014)2nd generation (2015)2nd generation (2016) 3rd generation (2017) 1st generation (2018) 3rd generation (2018)
ModelFire TVFire TV StickFire TVFire TV Stick Fire TV Fire TV Cube Fire TV Stick 4K
Release date April 12, 2014November 19, 2014 September 29, 2015October 20, 2016 October 25, 2017 June 21, 2018 October 31, 2018
Status Discontinued Current Discontinued Current Pre-order
OS [28] Fire OS 5 Fire OS 6
System Version [28] 5.2.6.6 6.0
CPU Maker Qualcomm Broadcom MediaTek Amlogic MediaTek
Family Snapdragon 600 Quad-core ARM big.LITTLE
Model APQ8064T BCM28155 MT8173C MT8127D S905Z MTK8695+MT7668
Cores 4x Krait 300 @ 1.7 GHz2x ARM Cortex-A9 @ 1.0 GHz 2x ARM Cortex-A72 @ 2 GHz and

2x ARM Cortex-A53 @1.573 GHz

 4x ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1.3 GHz 4x ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz 4x @ 1.7 GHz
Width 32-bit 32-bit 64-bit 32-bit 64-bit
GPU Designer Qualcomm Broadcom Imagination Technologies ARM Imagination Technologies
Family Adreno VideoCore IV PowerVR Mali PowerVR
Model 320Capri VC4 GX6250 450 MP4 450 MP3 IMG GE8300
OpenGL ES 3.0 2.0 3.1 2.0 3.2
Vulkan n/a n/a 1.0 n/a
OpenCL 1.1 embedded profile n/a 1.2 n/a
Hardware Decode

Support [17]

 MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, H.265, VP8, VP9 MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, H.265 MPEG-4, H.264, H.265, VP9 MPEG-4, MPEG-2, H.263 H.264, H.265, VP8, VP9
RAM 2 GB LPDDR2 1 GB LPDDR2

(512 MB system, 512 MB video)

 2 GB LPDDR3 1 GB LPDDR3 2 GB 1.5GB DDR4
Storage Internal 8 GB NAND Flash 8 GB 16 GB 8 GB
External USB up to 128 GBn/a Up to 128 GB microSDXCn/a Micro USB
Microphone Yes No
Wireless Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0

HID, SPP Profiles

 Bluetooth 3.0

HID, SPP Profiles

 Bluetooth 4.1

HID, HFP, SPP profiles

 Bluetooth 4.1

A2DP, AVRCP, GAVDP, HID, IOPT profiles

 BT 4.2 + LE

Supported profiles: A2DP 1.2-SRC, AVRCP 1.0-TG, HID 1.0-Host, HOGP 1.0-Host

Bluetooth 4.2 Bluetooth 5.0 + LE
Wi-Fi Dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n

2x2 MIMO

Dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n

2x2 MIMO

Dual-band 802.11 b/g/n/ac

2x2 MIMO

 Dual-band 802.11 b/g/n/ac

2x2 MIMO

 Dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

2x2 MIMO

 Dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi supports 2x2 MIMO 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Dimensions 84.9 mm x 25.0 mm x 11.5 mm 115 mm x 115 mm x 17.8 mm

4.5" x 4.5" x 0.7"

 85.9 mm x 30.0 mm x 12.6 mm

3.4" x 1.2" x 0.5"

 65.0 mm x 65.0 mm x 15.0 mm

2.6” x 2.6” x 0.6”

 86.1 mm x 86.1 mm x 76.9 mm

3.4” x 3.4” x 3.0”

 38 mm x 142 mm x 16 mm
Power Supply 6.25V, 2.5A, 16W, DC

Plug: 5.5mm (outer) x 2.5mm (inner)

 5V, 1A, 5W, DC

Micro USB Cable and USB Power Adapter required

 15V, 1.4A, 21W, DC

Plug: 3mm (outer) x 1mm (inner)

 5V, 1A, 5W, DC

Micro USB Cable and USB Power Adapter required

 5.2V, 1.8A, 9W, DC

Micro USB Cable and USB Power Adapter required

Reception

Dan Seifert from The Verge reviewed Fire TV on April 4, 2014, giving it an 8.8/10 and largely praising its current functionality and future potential.[29] Dave Smith from ReadWrite wrote: "Fire TV aims to be the cure for what ails TV set-top boxes."[30] GeekWire editor Andy Liu's review is headlined "Amazon's Fire TV sets a new bar for streaming boxes."[31] Ars Technica praised the device specs that are better than the competition, the build quality was high, and if you use Amazon content, the microphone works very well. However, the reviewer did not like that media browsing puts Amazon content in the front thus making other apps less convenient, the game selection is limited and many games are unoptimized, and its free space is only 5.16GB, limiting the number of games that can be installed.[32]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Amazon Fire TV now available for pre-order in the UK and Germany".
  2. ↑ "Amazon Fire TV & Fire TV Stick Coming to Japan".
  3. 1 2 Horn, Leslie (April 2, 2014). "Fire TV: Everything You Need to Know About Amazon's $100 Streaming Box". Gizmodo. Gawker Media. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Publish to Fire OS 5". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Amazon Fire TV –Streaming Media Player –Shop Now". Amazon.com. Retrieved April 12, 2003.
  6. ↑ James, Dave. "Amazon Fire TV review". techradar. Retrieved 25 Jul 2016.
  7. ↑ https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/customerdocumentation/Amazon_Fire_TV_User_Guide.pdf
  8. ↑ Solomon, Kate. "Amazon Fire TV is Amazon's powerful new streaming box". Techradar.com. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  9. ↑ Tam, Donna. "Amazon unveils Amazon Fire TV for streaming video". CNET. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  10. ↑ James, Dave. "Amazon Fire TV review". techradar. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  11. ↑ "Amazon Fire Stick launched in India: Detailed review 2017". Finissue. 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  12. ↑ Goode, Lauren; Calore, Michael (20 September 2018). "Is there an Echo in here? Everything Amazon announced". Wired. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "Amazon Fire TV Recast: The new cord cutting DVR explained". Trusted Reviews. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Amazon Fire TV Stick 2's codename is Tank". AFTVNews.
  15. ↑ "Amazon's Fire TV Piles Into the Living Room". Businessweek. 2014-04-02. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  16. ↑ James, Dave. "Amazon Fire TV review". techradar. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Device Specifications for Fire TV". developer.amazon.com. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  18. 1 2 "The Fire TV Stick 4K fixes Amazon's remote problem". techhive.com. 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  19. ↑ "How Amazon's Fire TV Stick Compares to Other Streaming Dongles - WIRED". WIRED.
  20. ↑ Fire TV Stick - Official Site. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  21. ↑ Estrada, Maren (2016-10-17). "Amazon's next-gen Fire TV Stick with Alexa is only $40, and it launches this week". BGR. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  22. ↑ All-New Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote | Streaming Media Player.
  23. ↑ Haselton, Todd (21 June 2018). "The Amazon Fire TV Cube is so good I want one for every TV in my house". CNBC. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  24. ↑ "Amazon Fire TV Cube specs, UK release date, price and more". Pocket-lint. 2018-06-22. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  25. ↑ Amazon releases their Silk Web Browser for the Amazon Fire TV - AFTV News, 28 November 2017
  26. ↑ Firefox is now available on Amazon’s Fire TV, and it can access YouTube - Nick Statt, The Verge, 20 December 2017
  27. ↑ "Amazon Announces New Features for Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick". Amazon. 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  28. 1 2 "Amazon Fire TV Device Software Updates". Amazon. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  29. ↑ Seifert, Dan (2014-04-04). "Amazon Fire TV review". The Verge. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  30. ↑ "Review: The Amazon Fire TV Is Kind Of A Mess – ReadWrite".
  31. ↑ Liu, Andy. "Review: Amazon's Fire TV sets a new bar for streaming boxes". GeekWire. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  32. ↑ Amazon Fire TV misses the same marks as Ouya, other media boxes. Ars Technica. Retrieved 1 July 2014.

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