Amazon launched a new media streaming dongle called the Fire TV Stick on Monday to compete against Google's popular Chromecast.
It's tiny, affordable and streams content to TV. No, it's not Chromecast. Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, introduced a new media streaming device, Fire TV Stick, to steal some limelight from the popular Google Chromecast. The e-commerce giant's new device is capable of all the things Chromecast and Roku Stick can do but offers additional perks such as playing games and a remote controller. In short, the Roku Stick is a miniature version of Fire TV streaming box, which was unveiled in April.
It is quite clear that Amazon wants a bigger share of the media streaming market and the introduction of Fire TV Stick is a huge step in that direction. While the tiny dongle is directly aiming at Chromecast, it has a spectacular lead over Roku Streaming Stick with six times more processing power, a dual-core processor and dual-band Wi-Fi. In fact, even the Chromecast does not match the Fire TV Stick in terms of comparable processing power.
Amazon is marketing its Fire TV Stick as "the most powerful streaming media stick," with 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, which is two times more than Chromecast and 32 times more than Roku Stick, Broadcom Capri 28155 dual-core processor, dedicated VideoCore 4 GPU and it uses Amazon's ASAP streaming technology to launch videos without buffering. As a result, users will be treated with fast and fluidic navigation and better storage for apps and games, according to Amazon's press release.
Fire TV Stick comes with its own remote control for seamless navigation. With these useful specs and features, it is certain Amazon is aiming for the top spot on its digital store, which is currently occupied by Chromecast.
Amazon's Fire TV Stick can be used to stream video content from Amazon Prime Instant Video, as well as Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN, YouTube, Spotify, Vevo, Pandora, A&E, PBS KIDS, WATCH Disney Channel, YouTube.com, and more. The tiny thumb-sized dongle can be operated using its dedicated Fire TV Remote App for Fire Phone and Android phones. Support for iOS devices is coming soon, the company said. The mobile app supports voice search, enabling a quick search for a movie or TV show by just speaking the name into the phone.
Among other great features, Fire TV Stick already supports screen mirroring between Miracast-enabled smartphones and tablets and Fire TV. The games portion of the stick is also interesting with games like Monsters University, Ski Safari and Flappy Birds Family.
Amazon is also throwing in an exclusive deal with a free 30-day trial of Netflix and Amazon Prime on the purchase of Fire TV Stick. The dongle will be available for pre-orders from its own online store for $39 and shipping begins November 19. Amazon Prime members have the privilege of getting the Fire TV Stick at half the retail cost, for just $19.
