Just three days after Roku unveiled the revamp of its set-top box line, Amazon came forward with a new and improved version of its Fire TV Stick.
The latest generation thumb-drive-like adapter is priced at an affordable $40 retail, and adds voice control via the company’s popular Alexa personal digital assistant, which is embedded in the remote.
The remote will take spoken commands to search across more than 90 channels and apps; rewind and fast-forward programming; and execute a long list of “skills”.
Read more on Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick after the jump:
Other improvements over the prior version of the TV Stick is a new quad-core processor that brings a 30-percent boost in speed from the original version. Also added is dual-band 802.11ac MIMO Wi-Fi capability for faster wireless connectivity, Advanced Streaming and Prediction (ASAP) for Amazon Video, 1 GB of RAM, and up to 8 GB of internal storage.
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The new Fire TV Stick, which supports up to Full HD 1080p video resolution, also includes support for the High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC), which is typically used in conjunction with 4K Ultra HD content, but Amazon said the Codec will give users more 1080p HD streams from their existing Internet connection.
The new Fire TV Stick is available for pre-order now, and will be available to ship October 20th. As a kick-off promotion, Amazon said it is offering free of charge to people who purchase the new media adapter by October 31st, a $65 content package including one month of Sling TV, two months of Hulu (Limited Commercials), and a $10 credit toward rentals or purchases from Amazon Video.
By Greg Tarr
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