“50
percent more processor power and two times the memory of Chromecast, and six
times the processing power...Roku Streaming Stick”
Amazon claims in their
Press Material for the US$39 Amazon
Fire TV Stick
Amazon
still has their eyes on the prize, which is of course beating the US$35 Google
Chromecast and eventually the US$50 Roku Streaming Stick.
Their
latest Streaming device, the US$39 Amazon
Fire TV Stick launched on Monday October 27th, 2014 is proof
that Amazon is serious about seizing Pole Position in the Streaming Video World
as reported in the article “Amazon
takes on Chromecast with Fire TV Stick”, published October 27, 2014 6:17 AM
PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News.
The
Amazon Fire TV Stick comes a
mere seven (7) months after the successful launch of the US$99 Amazon Fire TV
as stated in my blog
article entitled “Amazon
Fire TV is a bonafide hit and is out-of-stock according to Amazon - The Bamboo
powered smartphone running Amazon apps cometh” and can be seen as a portable
version of their thus far successful Amazon Fire TV Set to Box.
The
Amazon Fire TV Stick went on
sale in November 2014 after initially being sold for US$19 for the first two (2)
days it went on pre-order on Amazon’s Website. This comes with a free one-month
Amazon Prime Subscription, which Amazon already routinely gives to new
subscribers to Amazon Prime.
This makes only persons without Amazon Prime eligible for this deal as noted in the article “The mixed-up math of Amazon's Fire TV Stick discounts”, published October 27, 2014 9:31 AM PDT, by Joan E. Solsman, CNET News
So
what does the Amazon Fire TV
Stick bring to the table that the Amazon Fire TV doesn't? Streaming and Gaming
Portability!
US$39 Amazon Fire TV
Stick – Direct challenge to Roku and Google Chromecast Streaming Sticks
In
September 2014, Google celebrated the Chromecast's one year anniversary by
giving lucky customer three (3) free months of Streaming via Google Play
Music’s All Access Music Subscription as I'd reported in my blog article
entitled “Google
Play Music’s All Access Music Subscription Three months Free Streaming - Happy
Birthday as Google Chromecast fights Amazon fire TV”.
While
the US$99 Amazon Fire TV was a direct challenge to the dominance of the Roku
Streaming family of devices, the US$39 appears to be an indirect challenge to
the dominance of Roku overall and more specifically, to the US$49 Roku Streaming
Stick as noted in the article “Amazon's
Fire Stick Is a Challenge to Google and a Threat to Roku”, published
October 27, 2014 By Joshua Brustein, BusinessWeek.
It
has all of the Roku's features as detailed in my blog article
entitled “US$49
Roku Streaming Stick with HDMI Compatability launched before Ash Wednesday -
Roku facing a Transformers Age of Extinction as Console Games becomes Content
of Choice for Streaming”, as it connects to your TV in a similar manner via
the HDMI Port.
So
what do you get with a US$39 Amazon
Fire TV Stick that you don’t get with the US$35 Google Chromecast or US$50
Roku Streaming Stick? Plenty of Movies and Content to stream!
US$39 Amazon Fire TV
Stick - Press Kit calls out Google Chromecast but Challenges Roku
The
Amazon Fire TV Stick has some
impressive hardware that’s aimed squarely at the Google Chromecast as stated in
the article “Amazon’s
New Fire TV Stick is a $39 Chromecast Competitor with a Hardware Remote”,
published 10/28/2014 by Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch.
According
to their website Press Material, the Amazon Fire TV Stick has double
the memory Storage of the US$35 Google Chromecast and is six times faster that
the US$50 Roku Streaming Stick. The
specs are somewhat telling as the Amazon
Fire TV Stick has a Dual-Core Processor 1GB of RAM, 8GB of Internal Storage
and a bigger Memory Buffer with better memory virtualization called Amazon ASAP
that reduces buffering when you're streaming.
The
use of MIMO Wi-Fi with its superior Channelization and bandwidth management
also helps with the quality of streaming and may potentially make this device
capable of handling 4K Videos and even 4K Gaming.
US$39 Amazon Fire TV
Stick - 200,000 virtual movie store Streaming Nirvana
It also comes with a remote that's different
from the one that comes with the Amazon Fire TV and has the option of Voice
Control, for which you can pay an extra US$30. You also get a free 30-day trial
of Amazon Prime and Netflix
If
you already had a Netflix subscription, then straight out of the box, you can
connect to your Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, Twitch, WatchESPN
subscriptions as well as such notables as Spotify, Vevo and A&E.
However, by early 2015, you should be able to connect to NBC Live as well as HBO Go and Showtime once you have a Comcast Cable Subscription as explained in my blog article entitled “NBC Universal NBC Live Streaming Service - How TV Everywhere is American Streaming TV's Future as Comcast steps into 21st Century”.
You
also have the option of mirroring or casting your smartphone or Tablet to your
HDTV via Wi-Fi your Amazon Fire
TV Stick, a neat trick that the Google Chromecast can also do. It also
supports MiraCast, which is the same thing as Wi-Fi Direct and is the technology
used by the US$59.95 Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter as detailed in my blog article
entitled “US$59.95
Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter - Poorly designed 1080p P2P HDMI Wi-Fi Direct
Miracast Streaming Stick with No Streaming Content”.
US$39 Amazon Fire TV
Stick - Portable Gaming on the Go to liven up any party
The
Amazon Fire TV Stick, which
also has its own remote control as noted in the comparison article “Fire TV Stick vs.
Chromecast vs. Roku Streaming Stick: Battle of the sticks”, published
October 27, 2014 12:54 PM PDT, by David Katzmaier, CNET News also doubles a HDMI stick Gaming Console
once you opt to buy the US$40 Game controller, which also works with the US$99 Amazon
Fire TV.
The
Amazon Fire Stick TV comes bundled with such titles as Monsters University, Ski
Safari, Flappy
Bird Family as one of its growing list of Casual Gaming titles as explained
in the article “Amazon
Unveils US$39 Fire TV stick”, published OCTOBER 27, 2014 10:44AM EST BY
ANGELA MOSCARITOLO, PC Magazine.
Flappy Bird Family, as you may be remember, is the result of as deal between Amazon and Vietnamese Developer Dong Nguyen, founder of Game Development Studio DotGears inked in August 2014 as explained in my blog article entitled “Flappy Bird returns on Amazon Fire TV - Multiplayer Platform lends to family-friendliness and a Less Addictive Design”.
So
if Gaming is your thing along with loads of Streaming, then you'll appreciate
the fact for US$39, the Amazon
Fire TV Stick is sure to get any house party started once you plug it into
their HDMI capable flat screen TV.
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