Considering how popular streaming devices are these days with Apple TV, Chromecast, and the Roku, it came as no surprise when we heard Amazon would be launching their own streaming service, which they finally did today with Amazon Fire TV.
If you’re wondering whether it’s time you jumped on the streaming entertainment bandwagon, or you might want to switch from the service you’re currently using, here’s a quick rundown of all the Amazon Fire TV features to help you decide.
The Nitty Gritty
The Amazon Fire TV boasts a quad-core processor (read: fast) as well as 2GB of memory (read: a lot) and surround sound, three huge features that you don’t see on any other streaming device on the market right now. and it all comes in a sleek little box.
A huge convenience is that it’s pre-registered to your Amazon account when you order, which means right out of the box it will know your likes and dislikes, and will already have everything you’ve previous ordered and viewed right on file. For you Prime members, you’ll be able to watch all the Amazon Instant Prime videos in a snap. For the rest of you, you’ll have access to a crazy number of movies and television shows to the tune of more than 200,000 to start.
Cool Features
The whole system is impressively intuitive thanks to ASAP, a feature that actually predicts what television shows and movies you might want to watch, buffering them so they’re ready right when you hit play. Hence, the name ASAP. And their voice search means you can just use verbal commands to find what you’re looking for rather than messing around with the remote, which we all know can be challenging, especially with kids who like to walk from room to room with it for no reason at all.
You can stream music onto your Amazon Fire TV through Pandora, TuneIn, and Vevo (no Spotify though, darn!) and if you’re a Kindle Fire user, you can actually stream movies directly from your tablet to your TV, and then use your tablet for other things while you keep watching on your TV. Like looking up just who that guy is in that movie who was that other guy in, oh shoot…what was it?
Just for Parents
I’m glad to see that Amazon will be launching Amazon FreeTime as a feature soon, something that’s already popular on the Kindle Fire HD. This allows parents to limit screen time and create individual profiles for each child in the house. In addition to entertainment options you’ll find tons of good games that are fairly affordable, like Minecraft Pocket-Edition (don’t tell my kids). Plus a dedicated game controller can be purchased separately for $40.
Bottom Line: For the $99 price tag, which matches Roku and Apple TV, this is a brilliant option for heavy Amazon users. But even if you’re not one, you’ll be getting a slew of fantastic features that you won’t find on any other streaming entertainment device out there. Honestly, the Amazon Fire TV sounds like a dream come true.
You can purchase the new Amazon Fire TV from the Amazon site starting today. Cool Mom Tech is an Amazon affiliate.
