Earlier this month we started hearing rumors once again that Amazon has a set-top box up its sleeve, one that may provide tough competition to the likes of Roku and Apple TV. Amazon itself hasn’t confirmed whether or not it is working on such a device, so there’s no official indication from the company regarding the release of its first ever set-top box. Though the release of this device has apparently been delayed, it is said to have been pushed beyond the coveted holiday season. Amazon was reportedly pushing to launch its set-top box around the holidays this year.
The Amazon set-top box will reportedly run on an Android fork, the kind you’ll find on its Kindle Fire tablets. Though it is believed that Amazon might open up this device for third party applications. Apart from this, the set-top box is also likely to have access to Amazon’s collection of Prime videos. It has also been rumored that this device may launch with various movies, games and music streaming apps to provide a richer user experience. Amazon hasn’t officially confirmed the moniker, but it recently filed to trademark ‘Firetube’ in the U.S. and Canada. It is strongly believed to be the moniker that Amazon attaches with its set-top box. Reasons for this delay in its release are not entirely clear. There’s also no word as yet on the pricing, though if Amazon’s history of competitively pricing its products is taken into account, then this set-top box might just give its competitors a run for their money.
Filed in . Read more about Amazon.