Amazon's FireTV is a reality, ready for pre-order, searchable by voice

Amazon announces the AMAZON FIRE TV

Fire Tv,Amazon's "tiny box" that you connect to your HDTV to easily enjoy "Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, low-cost movie rentals, and much more" (including WatchESPN) is even ready for delivery.  Didn't I just read that Amazon denied the rumors?

  The only surprise for me was that instead of the usual pre-ordering, it's available in one day to people who can't wait the usual Prime two days if ordered within ~4 hours from the time I'm typing this but I'm never in that much of a hurry for any product.  And 2-day Prime shipping (+ the program's InstantVideo + downloads and Kindle-book loans) is fast enough.

They offer an HDMI cable with it for $6 if you don't already have one.  If you don't, I'd get the one they are suggesting, as it's a decent price and they will have tested it together.  HDMI cables vary in effectiveness.

I'm editing to add that they have a separate page for "What's on" or available for the new Fire TV unit.

  They also suggest an Amazon Fire Game Controller for $40 currently (which needs batteries and those are suggested also, in their purchase box.  Their description of what you can do with this:

'...In addition to using the Fire TV remote and the Fire TV app available starting next month, you can also choose the Amazon Fire game controller, which enables more high-intensity and complex gaming with dual analog sticks and a complete assortment of controls. Simple and comfortable to use for hours, the Fire game controller pairs with Fire TV via Bluetooth.

The Fire game controller also intelligently manages power by automatically going to sleep when not in use, and waking at a touch of a button, so you get up to 55 hours of gaming on a pair of AA batteries. You can pair multiple game controllers with a Fire TV so the whole family can play together in the same room. ... The Fire game controller can also be used as a remote, with fast forward, rewind, play and pause, so you can control all your movies and music on Fire TV. The Fire game controller is available today for $39.99, and comes with a free copy of Sev Zero
[an Amazon's original game] and 1,000 Amazon Coins (a $10 value) for purchasing games.

They also have a page now for Fire TV apps: Apps for Android.

I'll just get this off by reproducing Amazon's wording, so people who've been interested can see what Amazon has to say about what they've actually done, and this one will be of interest to many.

   The VOICE-search is the thing that got my own interest, as I hate doing searches with the remote control, and I already have good experiences with the quality of Amazon's streaming of video and music. Here is what they're describing at their product page.  I'll add more detail later.

For $99:
The Features You Expect from Amazon

Amazon Fire TV is a tiny box you connect to your HDTV. It's the easiest way to enjoy Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, low-cost movie rentals, and much more

Your partner in Prime—The best way to enjoy unlimited access to over 40,000 Prime Instant Videos on your HDTV, including Amazon exclusives like Downton Abbey and Justified Massive selection—Over 200,000 TV episodes and movies, millions of songs, and over a hundred games Voice search that actually works—Simply say the name of what you want to watch and start enjoying in seconds. Tiny box, huge specs—Fast quad-core processor, 2 GB of memory, dedicated GPU, plus 1080p HD video and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound Easy to set up and use—Pre-registered to your Amazon account so you can enjoy favorite titles and personalized recommendations Instant streaming—Exclusive new feature ASAP predicts what movies and TV episodes you’ll want to watch and buffers them for playback before you hit play Perfect for parents—Amazon FreeTime lets you easily limit screen time and create personalized profiles just for kids (coming soon) Great for gaming, too—Play blockbuster titles like Minecraft-Pocket Edition,The Walking Dead, and Monsters University, plus free games and Amazon exclusives. Paid games start from just 99 cents

At the moment, I'm not sure how much will be on it right away but here's what Amazon says it will do:  This is a small preview of the comparison chart with Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast that you'll get a larger version of at Amazon if you click on "Show me" on the Fire TV product page.

So, for now, if interested, take a look for yourself, as there are too many details for one blog space, and I'm reading info from other sources that I'll add later today.


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Kindle News 11/11/11: Kindle Fire adds HULU PLUS and EPSN. Plus Kindle Fire Newsstand and more

KINDLE FIRE NEWSSTAND TO OFFER OVER 400 FULL-COLOR MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS

ADDING ON:  Amazon Kindle Fire gets HULU PLUS and ESPN. That just came in. More later on that.

The Newsstand Headline
That's the headline of Amazon's press release today, although the Kindle Fire Newsstand page itself still says "Choose from over 300 popular magazines and newspapers, including Vanity Fair, Elle, O, The Oprah Magazine, and more."

  They do still have 4-6 days to add another 100 :-) In fact, Jessalyn. of MyKindleStuff noticed today and tweeted that NEW buyers are being told on the product page that new Kindle Fire orders made today will be shipped 3-5 days from now.  That means anything shipped 3 days from now, 11/14, with one-day shipping would arrive ON the designated official day for shipping to customers.  As usual, Amazon is likely to be early.

Those who pre-ordered some time ago and who live in less-remote areas may receive theirs by Nov. 15.   They've always shipped new models only to U.S. customers at first, but they plan to ship them globally later.

A Special they're offering mentions that
"Kindle Fire customers who subscribe before March 1, 2012 will also receive an exclusive free three-month trial of 17 Condé Nast magazines, including Vanity Fair, GQ, WIRED and Glamour.

  Other magazines in full-color include Meredith, and Hearst.  Interactive editions with built-in video and audio are also available for many magazines such as Better Homes & Gardens, Allure and Self."

Russ Grandinetti, VP, Kindle Content, mentions "the beautiful, intuitive reading experience we've built for their favorite magazines such as US Weekly, The New Yorker, and Reader's Digest, and that the response from publishers has been "overwhelmingly positive."

  To learn more about the Kindle Fire Newsstand, visit http://amzn.to/kindlefirenewsstand.

CNN's Cashmore: "Kindle Fire will be hottest tablet since the iPad"
So, the big day for the first Amazon tablet, after all those months of rumors, is almost here.  An almost typical news story comes from CNN.

Peter Cashmore (such a name!) is founder and CEO of Mashable, a popular blog on tech news and the digital scene.  He mentions that the Kindle Fire and the Nook Touch are both contenders, in what has been an iPad world.   He goes on:

' Of the two, the early favorite to emerge as the iPad's top rival is the Kindle Fire.  More than any other competitor, Amazon is able to spar with Apple by controlling all the pieces of the puzzle -- from the device itself to the content that you'll consume on it.

This "end to end" solution mimics Apple's strategy -- it should mean that the user experience is radically better than other iPad alternatives ... they've also made changes to the interface that make it feel more holistic.
...
Mark my words: The Amazon Kindle Fire will be the most successful tablet device since the iPad. Five hundred dollars is a steep price to pay for many tablet-craving consumers, but paying $200 for a similar device is comparatively painless.
  At the very least, the Kindle Fire is set to become the world's second-most popular tablet.

At that price, I wouldn't even bet against the Fire dethroning the iPad as the market leader. '

  Well, I sure wouldn't go that far! But that the Kindle Fire is definitely spreading fast.



Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

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