Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick faces the same competition as other set-top boxes, Smart TVs, and other smart devices. They can accomplish their task of providing entertainment on the big screen despite their various form factors but it still comes down to one thing… content. Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick are most beneficial to Amazon Prime members that take advantage of the unlimited streaming movies, TV shows, and music. If you can find something to watch or listen to, almost nothing else matters. The Fire TV and Fire TV Stick along with the Fire tablets are just one way to hook into Amazon’s content ecosystem.
Even though it might be ‘live by the content, die by the content’, good hardware can make the experience more enjoyable. Today, Amazon announced some enhancements to the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick that will certainly make the experience more enjoyable for many.
You can now use expandable USB storage for the Fire TV to increase your space for apps and games.
You can now sign into captive portals (those “I agree” or sign in pages you have to fill out before being able to browse the web at hotels, libraries, or universities) on the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick to be able to access the content in more places. Given the portability of these devices, this is a big win.
You can use Bluetooth headphones to connect to the Fire TV to listen to your audio in silence without bothering others.
You can browse and search Prime Playlists to find hand-picked music sets from the Prime Music selection.
You can also put your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick to sleep quickly or enable display mirroring by holding the Home button on the remote.
The Fire TV Stick is also available to order today for UK and Germany and will ship on April 15th.
You can view the full press release below for all of the details:
Amazon Fire TV adds expandable USB storage and private, wireless listening with Bluetooth headphones
Watch on the go–Fire TV and Fire TV Stick now support captive portal so you can connect to Wi-Fi at a hotel or dorm room that requires web authentication
Fire TV Stick now available in the UK and Germany–Amazon Fire TV already the #1 streaming media box on Amazon in the UK and Germany
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mar. 24, 2015– (NASDAQ:AMZN)–Amazon today announced new features are coming to the best-selling Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. These features will be delivered as part of a free, over-the-air software update in the coming weeks. Amazon also announced today that Fire TV Stick is now available in the UK and Germany, joining the #1-selling streaming media box, Amazon Fire TV.
“Customer response to Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick has been overwhelming–we’ve been working hard to build more of both as quickly as possible, and we’re excited to be adding new features we think customers will love,” said Peter Larsen, Vice President, Amazon Devices. “In the UK and Germany, Fire TV is already the best-selling streaming media box on Amazon, and we’re thrilled to be bringing our fastest-selling Amazon device ever–Fire TV Stick–to the UK and Germany. We think millions of customers in the UK and Germany are going to love this product.”
New features coming as part of the free, over-the-air software update include:
Expandable USB storage on Amazon Fire TV–You can now use a connected USB mass storage device to expand your Fire TV storage for downloaded apps and games–this enables you to have more games downloaded for easy access.
Connect to your hotel or dorm room Wi-Fi with captive portal support out of the box–Take your favorite movies, TV shows, games, and more with you away from home–Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick are the first streaming media devices to enable you to connect to Wi-Fi that requires web authentication–this includes Wi-Fi at most major hotels, as well as some universities.
Private listening on Fire TV–Enjoy favorite movies and TV shows after the kids go to sleep, without worrying about waking them up. Support for wireless Bluetooth headphones to Fire TV lets you listen to your movie, TV show, or music without bothering others in your household.
Browse and search Prime Playlists–Prime members can now take advantage of hand-crafted Prime Music playlists directly from Fire TV and Fire TV Stick–there are hundreds of expertly curated Prime Playlists to choose from based on your mood, activity or even artist or decade of choice.
Hidden PIN entry–With the new PIN entry screen that hides the numbers selected, you can now make sure your kids (or freeloading friends) can’t see your device PIN as you enter it on-screen to confirm a purchase on Fire TV or Fire TV Stick.
New shortcuts–Quickly put your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick to sleep or enable display mirroring by pressing and holding the Home button on your remote.
Fire TV and Fire TV Stick are available for purchase at www.amazon.com/firetv and www.amazon.com/firetvstick. Fire TV Stick is available to order starting today in the UK and Germany–it will start shipping on April 15. Learn more at www.amazon.co.uk/firetvstick and www.amazon.de/firetvstick.
About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.