Amazon Press Event - 02 Apr

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

Just out of curiosity: are you a representative for nvidia? These guys seem to roam around in tech forums predicting doom and gloom for anyone who don't buy their latest $1000+ cards (and a pc to run them of course)

This incredibly cheap Amazon device is running a beast of a mobile chip called Snapdragon, not the latest iteration but the previous one. To put it in perspective: it's the same hardware in my smartphone, which runs 1080p streams smoothly. My previous smartphone with quite less powerful hardware also ran it just fine.

As for games, nobody is expecting to run Crysis or PS4 games

Ya know, normally I would think that question silly, but apparently companies really do take sneaky PR to community forums. It's bizarre. Also no, lol. Incidentally I use an AMD gpu at the moment.

my point was that Fire TV is not overbuilt, and that its relatively more powerful hardware is taken advantage of. It doesn't take much to run 1080p. The hardware is for the OS/apps. For the price, I wouldn't expect more, no matter what company they went with for the tech.

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

Ya know, normally I would think that question silly, but apparently companies really do take sneaky PR to community forums. It's bizarre. Also no, lol. Incidentally I use an AMD gpu at the moment.

my point was that Fire TV is not overbuilt, and that its relatively more powerful hardware is taken advantage of. It doesn't take much to run 1080p. The hardware is for the OS/apps. For the price, I wouldn't expect more, no matter what company they went with for the tech.

This is a far more measured praise of the Fire TV than you initially gave:

"the price actually is rather aggressive"

"This thing could be $120 and still be a better value, imo, but $100 makes it a no-brainer"

"Fire TV is such a clear choice that's it's almost unfair"

"The only substantial thing I see keeping people holding on to Roku is HBO-Go, and I don't see that being the case for long."

So what happened?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

Ya know, normally I would think that question silly, but apparently companies really do take sneaky PR to community forums. It's bizarre.

It's actually common.
Sony has been caught doing it several times and there was a case of covert corporate activity around here a while back. Overly enthusiastic support tends to lead to head scratching and suspicions...

On another ebook site I frequent there is a kneejerk B&N supporter who swears everything they do is right and proper and seems to have a direct pipeline to Riggio himself.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

This is a far more measured praise of the Fire TV than you initially gave:

"the price actually is rather aggressive"

"This thing could be $120 and still be a better value, imo, but $100 makes it a no-brainer"

"Fire TV is such a clear choice that's it's almost unfair"

"The only substantial thing I see keeping people holding on to Roku is HBO-Go, and I don't see that being the case for long."

So what happened?

I mellowed out a bit. Those comments are still an accurate reflection of my take on this; I just wanted to reinsert some humility.
If I can sum it up: I think Amazon upped the ante with a device that offers a palpable hardware advantage with comparable content at a similar price, which I think spells trouble for the Roku. I realize there's more to it than that, and will be watching as things unfold.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It's actually common.
Sony has been caught doing it several times and there was a case of covert corporate activity around here a while back. Overly enthusiastic support tends to lead to head scratching and suspicions...

On another ebook site I frequent there is a kneejerk B&N supporter who swears everything they do is right and proper and seems to have a direct pipeline to Riggio himself.

It seems counter-productive. Not only does it make the company look terrible if/when caught, but it creates an atmosphere of suspicion. It's the nature of these kind of communities to praise/criticize products, usually motivated by nothing more sinister than boredom.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

It seems counter-productive. Not only does it make the company look terrible if/when caught, but it creates an atmosphere of suspicion. It's the nature of these kind of communities to praise/criticize products, usually motivated by nothing more sinister than boredom.

It turns out that the minuses of being found out are way less than the pluses reaped by astroturfing, which is why it is a common tool of corporate PR, political campaigns, and product evangelists to drive through a message or create a product image. Strategic seeding and repetition of talking points can turn outright lies into internet memes. ("Indie ebooks are all unedited crap", "ebook sales have declined", "Microsoft is going to ditch XBOX", etc.) Most of that gets repeated, quoted uncritically, and reinforced through bouncing across blogs and news sites. The victims of whisper campaigns end up playing a thankless, endless game of whack-a-mole.

Corporate astroturf campaigns and internet sock puppets and other covert moves are used because they work and the pluses far outweigh the minuses. It's like in the corporate media: scandalous reports show up on page one headlines, retractions show up on page 47.

[tubemonkey]

Here's the teardown from iFixit

• Amazon Fire TV Teardown

[QuantumIguana]

I'm thinking of getting the Roku stick. It's half the price of the Roku 3 or the Amazon box, and I don't really need the games.

[wizwor]

It's half the Roku, too. If you want a Roku, get the Roku 3 or the Roku 2 XS. You'll be very happy to have a usb port, an ethernet port, and other features not found on the stripped down stick.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by wizwor

It's half the Roku, too. If you want a Roku, get the Roku 3 or the Roku 2 XS. You'll be very happy to have a usb port, an ethernet port, and other features not found on the stripped down stick.

My router isn't anywhere near my TV, so Ethernet isn't a relevant for me, WiFi works just fine. I just don't have much content that I would want to use the USB port for. Now, if the Roku 3 was better at streaming than the stick, that would be a factor.

[wizwor]

well, it is 5x faster and people have been complaining about the performance of the stick. Anyway, there is a R3 refurb for $70 shipped...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/380852313650

happy streaming!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

My router isn't anywhere near my TV, so Ethernet isn't a relevant for me, WiFi works just fine. I just don't have much content that I would want to use the USB port for. Now, if the Roku 3 was better at streaming than the stick, that would be a factor.

If you ever find the need for local media playback or DLNA you can get something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...990_em_1p_2_ti

...and still be ahead on price and features.

(The vob support makes DVD archiving a breeze.)

Me, I went with the slightly Pricier WD TV Live, that also serves as a NAS for a home network.
It has Hulu, Netflix, and Pandora, which is all the internet streaming I need.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...990_em_1p_0_ti

[wizwor]

QI, if you are also OTA, you may want to look at Mohu Channels. They just published an impressive list of tested channels including...

A&E, Animal Planet, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, History, Lifetime, MTV, TBS, TLC, TNT, Xfinity, Crackle, HBOGo, Hulu+, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, CBS Sports, ESPN, NHL GameCenter, NBA Game Time

http://www.gomohu.com/blog/channels-apps-first-release/

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by wizwor

QI, if you are also OTA, you may want to look at Mohu Channels. They just published an impressive list of tested channels including...

A&E, Animal Planet, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, History, Lifetime, MTV, TBS, TLC, TNT, Xfinity, Crackle, HBOGo, Hulu+, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, CBS Sports, ESPN, NHL GameCenter, NBA Game Time

http://www.gomohu.com/blog/channels-apps-first-release/

To be honest, this sounds more interesting than the FireTV.
Not holding my breath for the final product but the idea makes sense.

[wizwor]

They're all interesting. Lots of choice all of a sudden. All have shortcomings. For me, the biggest flaw in the Channels streamer is the lack of a DVR. If the idea is to not leave the Mohu interface, then one is probably going to want to record and playback shows. I like the Simple DVR, but there is now a Tablo alternative, and MediaMall has PlayLater. One of these would be a big plus.