Big news Amazon is taking on Chromecast.
Today, Amazon is bringing the same experience customers love about Amazon Fire TV–ease of use, great performance, and vast selection–to a smaller and even more affordable device. Introducing Fire TV Stick, a small stick that connects to the HDMI port on your HDTV for instant access to movies, TV shows, music, photos, apps, and games. Fire TV Stick is just $39 and is available for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com/fire-tv-stick and will ship November 19. As a thank you to new and existing Prime members, Fire TV Stick is available for two days only for just $19 on Amazon.com.
“Fire TV Stick is the most powerful streaming media stick available–a dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of storage, dual-band and dual-antenna Wi-Fi, included remote control, voice search with our free mobile app, easy set-up, an open ecosystem, and exclusive features like ASAP for instant streaming,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “The team has packed an unbelievable amount of power and selection into an incredible price point–Fire TV Stick is just $39.”
Fire TV Stick delivers instant access to a vast selection of content, including the most popular video and music services such as Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, NBA Game Time, Twitch, SHOWTIME ANYTIME, Prime Music, Spotify, Pandora, Vevo, Plex, A&E,PBS, PBS KIDS, WATCH Disney Channel, YouTube.com, and more. The number of video services and games available on Amazon Fire TV has tripled in just seven months, with more services and games being added every week. You can also rent or purchase over 200,000 movies and TV episodes from Amazon Instant Video, which has the world’s largest selection of videos to rent or buy, including new releases and blockbusters.
Amazon Fire TV Stick features:
- The most powerful streaming media stick–Dual-core processor, 1 GB RAM, and 8 GB storage for fast and fluid navigation and instant search results. Fire TV Stick has 50% more processing power and 2x the memory of Chromecast; it has 6x the processing power, 2x the memory, and 32x the storage of Roku Streaming Stick–this results in faster and more fluid navigation, plus more storage for apps and games. It delivers stunning 1080p HD video and immersive audio with Dolby Digital Plus surround sound. All of this power comes in an incredibly small package–Fire TV Stick is the size of a pack of gum.
- Simple to set-up and easy to use–Arrives pre-registered so you can simply plug it in and start streaming in minutes. Features the same fast and fluid user interface as Amazon Fire TV, with big, beautiful images and easy-to-discover content.
- Includes a remote control–Customers have told us they want to use a remote control, not just their phones, to watch TV. Now, everyone in the household can watch movies and TV shows without borrowing your phone–use the included remote to easily navigate and discover movies, TV shows, apps, and games.
- Free Fire TV Remote App (with Voice Search)–If you prefer to navigate using your phone as a remote control, the Fire TV Remote App for Fire phone, Android phones, and coming soon to iPhone, lets you navigate and manage playback from your phone. The app also features voice search that actually works–it is powered by the same voice search engine as Amazon Fire TV, enabling you to simply speak the name of a movie, TV show, actor, director, or genre into your phone, and you’re done.
- Fast, reliable streaming–Fire TV Stick features dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi with MIMO for fast and reliable streaming. Chromecast only has single-band, single-antenna Wi-Fi.
- Instant streaming with ASAP–No more waiting for your movies and TV shows to buffer–ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction) predicts which movies and TV episodes you’ll want to watch and buffers them for playback before you even hit play so videos start instantly.
- Fling movies and TV shows from your phone or tablet–Fling movies and TV shows from your Fire tablet or Fire phone to Fire TV Stick, turning your TV into the primary screen and freeing up your phone or tablet to provide playback controls, a customized display for X-Ray, or simply a place to email, browse the web, and more, while you watch a movie. Fire TV Stick supports standards like DIAL so you can also fling services like YouTube, Spotify, and coming soon, Netflix, from your Android phone or iPhone.
- Mirror your phone or tablet display–Wirelessly mirror your tablet display to your Fire TV Stick from Fire tablets, Fire phone, and Miracast-enabled phones or tablets including devices from Motorola, Samsung, LG, andGoogle without any additional apps or software.
- X-Ray for movies and TV shows–Using Second Screen on your Fire tablet or Fire phone, you can see X-Ray information as your movie or TV show plays on your TV via Fire TV Stick. See information about cast and crew, the names of songs as they play, as well as a list of music in the movie or TV show, trivia items in context with the action on the screen, and character backstories so you can easily remind yourself of the character’s history. X-Ray is exclusive to Amazon and is powered by IMDb.
- X-Ray for music–Lyrics display and scroll line-by-line automatically as the song plays, so you can follow along with songs.
- Great for casual gaming–Play your favorite casual games like Monsters University, Ski Safari, and Flappy Birds Family.
- Personal photos and videos–Play slide shows and choose your favorite album for the screen-saver on Fire TV Stick. Photos or videos you take on your phone or tablet can be automatically uploaded to Amazon Cloud Drive, so they appear on your Fire TV Stick.
Fire TV Stick is not a gadget–it’s a seamlessly integrated service that brings together the features customers expect from Amazon, including:
- Whispersync–Amazon’s Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your video and music library across all of your devices. Start watching a movie on your phone or tablet, and when you get home, pick up where you left off on your TV. For games that support Whispersync, your place in the game will also sync across devices so you can always pick up where you left off.
- Watch on hundreds of devices–When you buy a movie or TV show on Amazon, you can watch it on hundreds of devices, including iOS, Android, and Fire OS devices.
- Worry-Free Archive–Automatically backs up your Amazon digital content in the cloud so you never need to worry about losing your collection.
- Top-Rated, World-Class Customer Service–When a customer shops on Amazon, buys a Fire TV Stick, or buys digital content from Amazon, they know that they are also getting Amazon’s world-class customer service. Customers with a Fire HDX tablet or Fire phone can also use the Mayday button to receive 24×7, free, live, on-device tech support for all their Amazon devices.
- Free Month of Amazon Prime–Amazon continues to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to bring Prime members new movies, TV shows, songs, and books to enjoy at no additional cost. Prime members enjoy unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video. Eligible customers get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime when they purchase Fire TV Stick.
Fire TV Stick is available starting today for just $39–order on Amazon here: