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Amazon FireTV Announced and Released [$99 box, $40 controller, game capable STB]

Grief.exe

Member
Mine just arrived. It is (slowly) downloading updated firmware. Will post updates as I use it today. :)


Setup was easy, and it has a cute intro movie to explain the features. Voice search works well and videos load instantly, and come in at full res without any initial pixelation.


It recognized the wired Xbox 360 controller! Playing asphalt 8 now.

Have you tried expandable storage through a USB stick?
What about a wireless 360 controller dongle?
 

Raistlin

Post Count: 9999
asphault 8 is 1.2 GB. The 8GB of storage is not going to be enough if anyone is inyetersted in buying this device for gaming. :(
Yeah, if they don't update this to support USB game loading ... this iteration of the device will be really limited for gaming :\



On a related note, I originally order the game pad but decided to bail for now to see how things progress on the gaming front. In reality, I bought this 99% for streaming anyway. Regardless, I'm gonna see if PS3 or PS4 controllers work with it. That would be great if they do.
 

tensuke

Member
Does anyone have any experience using Plex? If I end up getting the Fire TV, it'll be used extensively for streaming my media, but I have zero experience with Plex, so any feedback on it would be appreciated.

Plex is seriously amazing software. We use it on our Roku (server being Mac Mini connected to NAS) and it works great. It used to be free on Roku but now I think you have to pay like $5 for it. Haven't checked the Fire TV store yet but I imagine it's $5 there too. It indexes all your content and gives you cover pictures, theme songs, metadeta, episode/movie descriptions, keeps track of what you've watched, etc. It's way better than navigating a folder structure to watch things.
 

Grief.exe

Member
I just keep dreaming of the possibilities if Valve ever makes an ARM/Android compatible In-Home-Streaming app.

The Fire TV would actually be the perfect companion as it is already compatible with H.264 and a variety of gaming controllers.
 
Plex is seriously amazing software. We use it on our Roku (server being Mac Mini connected to NAS) and it works great. It used to be free on Roku but now I think you have to pay like $5 for it. Haven't checked the Fire TV store yet but I imagine it's $5 there too. It indexes all your content and gives you cover pictures, theme songs, metadeta, episode/movie descriptions, keeps track of what you've watched, etc. It's way better than navigating a folder structure to watch things.

The Plex app for FireTV is on sale for 99 cents right now.
 

Tak3n

Banned
asphault 8 is 1.2 GB. The 8GB of storage is not going to be enough if anyone is inyetersted in buying this device for gaming. :(

when you get chance can you see if you can manually change DNS settings, and can you pull movies from a DLNA device, for example a Nas, your laptop etc

if you can mate, no worries if not
 

ViciousDS

Banned
Plex is seriously amazing software. We use it on our Roku (server being Mac Mini connected to NAS) and it works great. It used to be free on Roku but now I think you have to pay like $5 for it. Haven't checked the Fire TV store yet but I imagine it's $5 there too. It indexes all your content and gives you cover pictures, theme songs, metadeta, episode/movie descriptions, keeps track of what you've watched, etc. It's way better than navigating a folder structure to watch things.

its 99cents for FireTV


so its a great deal.

EDIT: beaten damn!
 

Raistlin

Post Count: 9999
I recently bought a Roku that I am returning to Amazon for this reason. I can't stand the Plex app on it. I'm going to buy a FireTV for Plex mostly (I figure no harm no foul with Amazon's return policy). From the few photos I've seen the app does look more like HT than Roku.
Yeah, the original developer widgets for Roku are pretty damn archaic at this point. :\





I've never had any success with Plex. Only attempted to use it with PS3, though.
I should give that a try actually. I never tried using the web portal.
 

Tak3n

Banned
Have you tried expandable storage through a USB stick?
What about a wireless 360 controller dongle?


it might be similar to the Nvidia shield in that it would work with a 'official' MS wireless dongle, but not the 3rd party ones, so worth checking if he has the official dongle
 

Raistlin

Post Count: 9999
I just keep dreaming of the possibilities if Valve ever makes an ARM/Android compatible In-Home-Streaming app.

The Fire TV would actually be the perfect companion as it is already compatible with H.264 and a variety of gaming controllers.
Oh shit ... that would be pretty crazy if this ends up as a Steam Player.
 
Plex is seriously amazing software. We use it on our Roku (server being Mac Mini connected to NAS) and it works great. It used to be free on Roku but now I think you have to pay like $5 for it. Haven't checked the Fire TV store yet but I imagine it's $5 there too. It indexes all your content and gives you cover pictures, theme songs, metadeta, episode/movie descriptions, keeps track of what you've watched, etc. It's way better than navigating a folder structure to watch things.

Thanks for the feedback. Urge to buy Fire TV rising!
 

ViciousDS

Banned
I'm reading all the haters and there 1* reviews........there is no way any of them legit bought the damn product lol

Will test Plex, a few games and what not when I get home..........going to hook into my splitter so I can record everything through HDMI to my PC.....than upload to Mega or something.
 
In settings, it has a ADB mode with a warning that anyone on my network could install applications.

Does that mean we could sideload apps??


Also, only 5.59 GB of usable space.

Nothing happens when I plug in a USB drive.
 

Grief.exe

Member
In settings, it has a ADB mode with a warning that anyone on my network could install applications.

Does that mean we could sideload apps??

Someone posted a comment on the last page that described sideloading was officially supported through a toggle. The apps do end up in another list and have to be compatible with a remote or controller out of the box as there is no touch screen support.

For anyone who has gotten it, is wwe network available?

Well, we have two confirmed reports in this thread alone that sideloading is officially available. As long as the WWE Network app is compatible with Remote functionality just sideload it on for the time being.
 
I'm reading all the haters and there 1* reviews........there is no way any of them legit bought the damn product lol

Will test Plex, a few games and what not when I get home..........going to hook into my splitter so I can record everything through HDMI to my PC.....than upload to Mega or something.

If your going to test Plex, do you have any content that you'd be streaming that has 5.1 surround sound in it? Some people are saying they can't get surround to work with the Plex app and I'm wondering if they are right.
 

Somnid

Member
I'm reading all the haters and there 1* reviews........there is no way any of them legit bought the damn product lol

Will test Plex, a few games and what not when I get home..........going to hook into my splitter so I can record everything through HDMI to my PC.....than upload to Mega or something.

Since nobody sells it but Amazon you can tell if it's an Amazon verified purchase.
 

Grief.exe

Member
I just keep dreaming of the possibilities if Valve ever makes an ARM/Android compatible In-Home-Streaming app.

The Fire TV would actually be the perfect companion as it is already compatible with H.264 and a variety of gaming controllers.
Oh shit ... that would be pretty crazy if this ends up as a Steam Player.

The potential is there for an amazing Steam In-Home Streaming machine. Just keep hoping that Valve makes it happen.
 
After playing the Walking Dead, and Asphault 8, I could see this being "enough" for someone who doesn't play a ton of games. The on board storage is simply too small though. I hope the second generation adds SD card support.
 
After playing the Walking Dead, and Asphault 8, I could see this being "enough" for someone who doesn't play a ton of games. The on board storage is simply too small though. I hope the second generation adds SD card support.

It has an SD card slot, doesn't it? Support could be something enabled in a firmware update?
 

Grief.exe

Member
After playing the Walking Dead, and Asphault 8, I could see this being "enough" for someone who doesn't play a ton of games. The on board storage is simply too small though. I hope the second generation adds SD card support.

Would you mind testing USB storage? The manual said the USB port is currently not supported at all, but your controller is working just fine.
 

Raistlin

Post Count: 9999
It has an SD card slot, doesn't it? Support could be something enabled in a firmware update?
No, though it has a (currently) non-functioning USB slot.

I'm hoping they can update that to support app loading. Otherwise people looking to regularly game on this thing may want to wait until a revision hits with either more memory or expandable storage. I think that and IR are the two hardware items they really need to consider.
 

vermadas

Member
I just keep dreaming of the possibilities if Valve ever makes an ARM/Android compatible In-Home-Streaming app.

The Fire TV would actually be the perfect companion as it is already compatible with H.264 and a variety of gaming controllers.

Until then, there are a couple other options. There is an Android app called Limelight that uses nVidia's GPU encoding/streaming that they use for Shield. Requires Android 4.1 and a GTX 600/700+ though.

There's also Kainy.
 

Grief.exe

Member
Until then, there are a couple other options. There is an Android app called Limelight that uses nVidia's GPU encoding/streaming that they use for Shield. Requires Android 4.1 and a GTX 600/700+ though.

There's also Kainy.

I plan on upgrading to an 800 line this year, but until then I'm stuck with a 500 series. Thanks though, I will remember that.

I put a USB drive in the device but was not able to access it, and it did not increase the storage capacity.

Thanks, I did find this interview with Amazon VP Peter Larsen

Can you expand the storage space?
During the launch, Amazon demonstrated the graphics-rich mobile game Asphalt 8 running on Fire TV — but even that eats up almost 1GB of storage. Is there a way to store more than 8GB worth of games? Apparently so.

“You know, it has a USB port on it,” said Larsen. “So we don’t have anything specifically to announce there, but it’s a pretty good idea. You could add a USB stick to it over time.”

http://mashable.com/2014/04/02/amazon-fire-tv-review/
 
As an owner of the first generation Kindle Fire tablet, I would caution against buying this.

The current Kindle Fires are really cool tablets, but my first generation Kindle Fire is so far behind them it isn't funny. They dropped support almost immediately. It was advertised as a cheap, functional tablet but the only thing it can still handle is being an ereader. It can barely run Angry Birds. Even the web browser is too slow and outdated to use.

In two years The Fire TV may be a slick machine with a really cool game library, but you won't be enjoying any of that on this first generation device. It will only be good for streaming video.
 
I plan on upgrading to an 800 line this year, but until then I'm stuck with a 500 series. Thanks though, I will remember that.



Thanks, I did find this interview with Amazon VP Peter Larsen



http://mashable.com/2014/04/02/amazon-fire-tv-review/

Awesome news. The device is really well designed, it just needs the ability to add storage if they want the gaming side to take off.

The voice search is much much cooler than one would imagine it to be.
 
Did they change the audio settings on the device?

Yeah. It was 2 people on the Plex forums. Seems really weird to me that something like the FireTV couldn't output 5.1 when something like the Roku Streaming Stick can. Not sure if they aren't changing the right settings, or if it's a bug somewhere.
 
As an owner of the first generation Kindle Fire tablet, I would caution against buying this.

The current Kindle Fires are really cool tablets, but my first generation Kindle Fire is so far behind them it isn't funny. They dropped support almost immediately. It was advertised as a cheap, functional tablet but the only thing it can still handle is being an ereader. It can barely run Angry Birds. Even the web browser is too slow and outdated to use.

In two years The Fire TV may be a slick machine with a really cool game library, but you won't be enjoying any of that on this first generation device. It will only be good for streaming video.

I agree completely about the original Fire being unusable now, but I have a first gen iPad, and it's slow as shit and won't play most new games. So I don't think you can put the blame squarely on Amazon.
 

Arkam

Member
This is a very smart product.
Good specs and an attractive pricetag.

I am actually impressed by amazon on this one. I was afraid they were going to bungle a console. Instead that nailed a mainstream media device. One that even has the potential to actually engage gamers. This may be gifted to a few people this year :)
 

ClearData

Member
I appreciate those warning early adopters but as long as your expectations are set correctly then you won't be disappointed. I bought this day one as a gift for my sister and her daughters because they loved their Roku and it broke, All they need is a capable streamer and this device has extremely good specs for that. They game mostly on mobile/tablet but not too heavily so this is exactly the consumer the Fire TV is geared toward. The gaming is a "bonus" for them as Amazon said.

If the game side takes off or they enjoy a certain title then I can order them some controllers at some point.
 

luoapp

Member
As an owner of the first generation Kindle Fire tablet, I would caution against buying this.

The current Kindle Fires are really cool tablets, but my first generation Kindle Fire is so far behind them it isn't funny. They dropped support almost immediately. It was advertised as a cheap, functional tablet but the only thing it can still handle is being an ereader. It can barely run Angry Birds. Even the web browser is too slow and outdated to use.

In two years The Fire TV may be a slick machine with a really cool game library, but you won't be enjoying any of that on this first generation device. It will only be good for streaming video.

I use Dolphin browser on the 1st gen Kindle Fire almost daily. It feels ok for the most part actually, even with gif heavy webpages. You should give it a try. Outside gaming, what do I do with my 1st gen Fire? It still runs youtube decently ( HD video no less), play video off my network drive ( < 480p), use flickr app for my photos. Yup, I am still geting good usage out of it.
 
I agree completely about the original Fire being unusable now, but I have a first gen iPad, and it's slow as shit and won't play most new games. So I don't think you can put the blame squarely on Amazon.

I owned a Kindle Fire HD for 2 days. My iPad 2 felt superior in every way except screen resolution and quality. The UI was very unresponsive in the Fire HD.
 
Ok, mine just came. Who's got questions?

327135A8-5DA3-40CE-B1D3-7878CBEA0170_zpshk7pxb5s.jpg
 
I just keep dreaming of the possibilities if Valve ever makes an ARM/Android compatible In-Home-Streaming app.

The Fire TV would actually be the perfect companion as it is already compatible with H.264 and a variety of gaming controllers.

If Valve did that, then I'd be a whole lot more interested in the Fire TV.
 

dyergram

Member
As an owner of the first generation Kindle Fire tablet, I would caution against buying this.

The current Kindle Fires are really cool tablets, but my first generation Kindle Fire is so far behind them it isn't funny. They dropped support almost immediately. It was advertised as a cheap, functional tablet but the only thing it can still handle is being an ereader. It can barely run Angry Birds. Even the web browser is too slow and outdated to use.

In two years The Fire TV may be a slick machine with a really cool game library, but you won't be enjoying any of that on this first generation device. It will only be good for streaming video.
Agreed 1st gen kf are terrible.
 

tensuke

Member
Alright got it all plugged in. Kept trying to connect to wifi and it wouldn't which worried the heck out of me. Rescanned available networks and tried it again, and it's downloading the latest update now. Really slow though. :(
 
Alright got it all plugged in. Kept trying to connect to wifi and it wouldn't which worried the heck out of me. Rescanned available networks and tried it again, and it's downloading the latest update now. Really slow though. :(

Same boat. Initial impressions and feature checks on hold while firmware updates.
 
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