The set-top box would increase Amazon's reach into the living room, where today it is dependent on other hardware makers to reach consumers watching video on TV sets. It would also serve as a delivery vehicle for Amazon's existing streaming video service, available to Prime members. The set-top box, which would pit the online retailer against a host of established rivals, is a small device that will resemble a Roku player and can run apps and content from different sources.
When that day comes, I can return to full retirement rather than my current semi-retired state.īill Husted writes about technology.Amazon is taking steps toward releasing a video-streaming device, just in time for the holiday selling season. In fact, the Amazon TV has been so amazing that I feel as if I ought to be able to pick up the remote for it at this point and say “finish this column and send it off.” But I’ve enjoyed this thing so much I wanted to tell you about it. Regular readers know I seldom praise specific commercial products in this column. Heck, I send them money, not the other way around. All this is designed to work with Amazon’s Prime service.Īt this point, I sound like an advertising copywriter (a job I once held between newspaper jobs in a pathetic attempt to make a living wage) but I need to tell you I don’t get paid by Amazon to tell you all this. I can ask it for the current weather and that pops up, or I can tell it I want it to remind me to do something in five minutes and it faithfully does. It has a lot of other features - many I don’t use often, but some of them might please others. There are downsides to any product, and while this thing isn’t on the par with a cure for the common cold, it truly has made a big difference in the joy my wife and I get from home entertainment. It’s a big enough deal that I will talk about remotes in a future column. My house is overrun with remotes already, so that’s a real problem. So you’re stuck with using the Amazon remote for that gadget and yet another remote for your TV and yet another for other devices. That means most universal remotes won’t work with it - you’d have to buy a high-priced model such as the Logitech Harmony. And the Amazon TV’s remote doesn’t use infrared to communicate like most other remotes. It would be nice to stream from other web sources rather than just built-in apps. It doesn’t have a built-in web browser (nor do most competing models). There are a few things I don’t like about the Amazon TV. I asked her what she wanted to hear and she said: “Gregorian.” I thought that might be a bit much for the Amazon set. The other day, the woman who cleans my house wanted some music.
If I just want some music, I can say - being an old guy who likes jazz - “play Louie Prima” and the music starts. No other searching is needed, and it sure beats typing my search words on a crude on-screen keyboard.Īnd it controls a lot more than TV shows. If I simply say “watch 'Endeavor,'" (a BBC TV series), the show pops right on my screen ready to play. More importantly, it almost instantly makes things happen. Maybe it’s a secret Southerner, but for whatever reason, it translates my voice commands with no trouble at all. The voice recognition of the Amazon TV is really astounding. But my friends will be sorry to hear that I’m keeping this one. My friends love it when I end up with a toy that doesn’t work out they are likely to get it as a gift. And I knew - just as I did with the Apple TV - that if it didn’t suit me I could give it to a friend. Then, just for the heck of it, I tried the Amazon Fire Streaming TV. Then I moved to an early video streaming device called the Boxee (it’s out of production but still has some advantages) and finally to a smart TV - one with the capability to receive streaming video built into the set. I started out streaming video using a complicated connection between my computer and the TV. My wife and I have used video streaming for many years - it dates way back to the days when it was an unusual and even exotic way to watch video. It has made my video streaming easier and more fun. It’s the new Amazon TV, a tiny little box no bigger than a DVD case.
Like any self-respecting 13-year-old, I need to talk about it. But those that are useful are even better.įor instance, look at my newest toy. In truth, they don’t have to be useful to please me.
I love toys, especially toys that blink and beep and need batteries or an AC outlet. I’m a 13-year-old trapped inside an old bald-headed man’s body.