New Amazon Fire TV announced

TheMightyTen

TheMightyTen

TheMightyTen

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Well it was expected but the new Fire TV has been announced for a 25th October release and also as expected it's based around the S905 (S905z to be exact) and Mali, this actually puts it below the Fire TV gen 2 in hardware terms but adds 2160p at up to 60Hz and HDR10, also Ethernet is only available with an extra USB adaptor and there's no news as whether that's 100 Mb/s or 1000 Mb/s.

Full Spec:

Size: 65.0 mm x 65.0 mm x 15.0 mm
Weight: 87.1 g
Processor: Amlogic S905z quad-core up to 1.5 GHz | ARM 4xCA53 @ 1.5 GHz
GPU: Mali450 MP3
Storage: 8 GB internal (actual formatted capacity will be less) available for apps and games
Memory: 2 GB
Wi-Fi Connectivity: Dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi (MIMO) for faster streaming and fewer dropped connections than standard Wi-Fi. Supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi networks.
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1, BLE
Voice Support: Yes, with Alexa Voice Remote (included) or free Fire TV Remote App (available for download on Fire, Android and iOS)
Ethernet Support: With optional Amazon Ethernet Adaptor
Ports: HDMI output, micro-USB for power only
Audio Support: Dolby Atmos, 7.1 surround sound, 2ch stereo and HDMI audio pass-through up to 5.1
Content Formats Supported: Video: HDR10. H.265, H.264, Audio: AAC-LC, AC3, eAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), FLAC, MP3, PCM/Wave, Vorbis, Dolby Atmos (EC3_JOC), Photo: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
Output Resolution Supported: 2160p, 1080p and 720p up to 60 fps
System Requirements: High-definition television with available HDMI input, Internet connection via Wi-Fi, an electrical socket
TV Compatibility: TV must support minimum HDCP requirements for protected content playback. Learn more. Compatible with 4K ultra high-definition TVs with HDMI capable of 2160p at 24/25/30/50/60 Hz and HDCP 2.2

It's an interesting spec and I've pre-ordered one to test for Plex and SPMC so will give it a good test. In some ways I think it will be more refined than the Shield TV but is far less adaptable and powerful.
 
Yes lack of HD Audio is annoying, although might be interesting to see what Koying can do with the API, there are rumours he has managed to access NVidia's SE5.2/6.0 APIs to get the Shield to auto resolution switch so there's no telling what he can find audio wise buried in the depths of the Fire 2017,
 
jpaul said:
vp9 is not listed so no utube 4k
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It is on their developer spec can't link to it because the developer site is an off shoot of the amazon site but it supports VP9 level 2 in hardware.

To confirm a comment I made above Koying has got resolution switching working on the Shield TV in SPMC :D :D, with the latest SPMC Alpha 17.4a10 if you set the resolution to 1920x1080 it changes the shield resolution regardless of if its set at 3840x2160 so 1080p/24 content plays at 1080p/24 and if you then choose 4K content (and HDR as well) it switches up to 3840x2160, the only caveat being if you choose the GUI at 1920x1080 you can only choose refresh rates of 23.97, 24, 29.97 and 30 (refresh rate switching still works for played content though)
 
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I've also been told the new Fire will be running Fire OS 6 which is based on Android 7.1 (API Level 25), if that is the case there is every chance SPMC/Kodi can pass through HD Audio formats using the IEC61937 audio standard.

The question is whether Amazon will have finally blocked sideloading in the new OS (There have been rumours), if that's the case at least Koying has been working with MrMC on implementing some of his SPMC work into MrMC's "payed for" version available from the Amazon store.
 
This version is more about Amazon getting a model out there that can take advantage of their own HDR service because equipping the gen 2 with an HDMI 1.4 was a bit of an own goal

Marvt74 said:
Does seem an odd step.

I'm still on the original Fire TV, hoping this pushes down the price of the Gen2!
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There are no Fire TV gen 2 left only refurbs.
 
Nope, no NowTV and virtually zero chance of it ever happening, they see themselves as rivals with Sky so neither side will support the others ecosystem.

From the Amazon developer site it looks the Ethernet adapter is only 10/100 which in 2017 is ridiculous. There are also growing rumours that FireOS 6 is locking away a lot of the Android 7.1 APIs, thus making things a lot tougher for third party guys like the Kodi team, Koying of SPMC and MrMC. A lot of the rumours could possibly be scare mongering from some self styled "Experts" though, that more often than not have their own warped agendas. It would seem silly if Amazon completely blocked side loading as they full well know that a good number of their hardware sales come from people "adapting" the Fire TV and the more sales they make the more people they have in their ecosystem over Google's and Apple's.
 
Pottsey said:
Its not just one extension more like 4 or 5 extension/adapters just to get the thing to work as well as the Gen 2 unit. Even after all that can it even run all the apps and games with the weaker hardware and less API and Codex support? Having to have all these adapters bumps up the cost and hardly makes it simple, fast and fluid to use.
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Bit of an over exaggeration ;)

The s905/Mali combination series of SoCs are well proven and more than capable of playing 4K HDR material with room to spare, they have only cut support in hardware for older legacy formats that I can't ever remember using. Amazon (like NVidia with their remote only SKU) seem to be moving away from the ideas that people will be using the boxes for gaming and are just using them for streaming services hence the theoretical reduction in hardware spec (counter that by a much more stable and understood SoC). The biggest unknown is what OS6/Android 7.1 is going to bring to the Fire and what restrictions Amazon will try to force on devs.
 
Pottsey said:
An exaggeration? I need an adapter to get HDMI video out, another adapter to get sound out, another adapter to get wired network, another adapter or two for the game controller and storage. Assuming it can even run the games with the weaker GPU. Even after all those adapters I still end up with the loss of the microSD.
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But you are comparing Oranges to Apples ;)
 
Pottsey said:
I don't see how I am comparing Oranges to Apples as this is the replacement for the current Fire TV. That’s why the current TV was discontinued to be replaced by this new unit which is also the same price bracket as the gen 2 unit. The amazon development pages also class it as a Fire TV gen 3 unit.

The cube that is coming later is not a replacement for the fire TV gen 2, it’s a new high end device that is a hybrid built around the Echo device and expected to be double to triple of the price of Fire TV gen 2.
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So they are rescaling their pricing (not really a surprise considering the tanking of the £ and the costs of running a streaming service) this Fire TV is not the direct replacement for the Gen 2, when the current Fire Stick Gen 2s run out there will be no more manufactured. This unit is the tier 2 one and equivalent to the stick, the old Gen 2 was the tier 1 but that tier has been price rescaled and will be replaced by the cube. I suspect they haven't done it to upset you personally so there is no real point being overly dramatic about it. :p ;)
 
Well after reading a few more things that some devs are saying about rumours they are hearing I've cancelled my pre-order in favour of a wait and see. Instead I've just ordered myself a Vero 4K to play around with, it's a mighty little box with one hell of a range of format support, including HDR and HD Audio (with working refresh, resolution and colorspace switching) plus a great support community (not surprising since it's almost an offshoot of the Raspberry Pi one ;)) :D, it's a while since I've dug under the hood of OSMC. Will keep my Shield for Netflix and Amazon retro gaming and game streaming and probably transfer all of my Kodi/Plex usage over to the Vero if it turns out to be as good as many are saying.

Getting the Vero does confirm my thoughts that there is no true "One Box" solution though :(
 
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jpaul said:
(forgot to ask) Did you consider Rok64
based system, this seems to have resolved performance issues of older pi's giving hevc+hdmi2.0, and given pi peripherals such as nice dac's can be a good & good-value playing system.
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I keep meaning to get one to play around with but I what I liked about the Vero 4K is the community support and I have to say I am blown away by it's performance so far, everything I have thrown at it has played correctly, at the correct resolution, the right Colour space and with the proper refresh rate. It's not cheap but it works so well :)
 
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