Since starting off in its early days as a bookseller, Amazon has taken its business in all sorts of directions from selling virtually any type of good you can think of, to its own Kindle Fire HD tablets, to its recent acquisition of Whole Foods. Keeping that in mind, it shouldn’t be too surprising that given the success with its Fire TV streaming devices, the company is looking at taking on Tivo on its home turf.
The device is currently known within Amazon as “Frank,” a source speaking to Bloomberg said, saying that the device would be an accessory for Amazon’s Fire TV devices like the recent Fire TV Cube that would add storage for DVR recordings, letting the Fire TV take over even more of your living room. Though the source would reportedly see Amazon working with cable providers, exactly the types of physical connections it would use remains up in the air.
The source told Bloomberg that the device uses the same wireless technology that Amazon’s Echo speakers use to connect to Fire TV streaming boxes. Similar to not just Tivo, but also Dish Network’s Slingbox, the accessory would allow users to record video and stream it to their phones later. According to the anonymous source, Amazon is working to better highlight live video content like that provided by its Amazon Channels service and plans to release a Fire TV stick with updated software. It’s likely such an update would also include upgraded hardware.
As is the case with these types of internal products, just because the company is working on it, that doesn’t mean it will make it into production. Even the source speaking to Bloomberg admitted that these plans could either be delayed or even fully scrapped before the product ever makes it out the door.
Still, considering Amazon’s recent efforts to become the hub of not just its users’ living rooms, but their entire homes, this would be another step into being the main provider of all of their entertainment needs. With an Amazon Fire TV Edition smart TV, a few Echo speakers, and maybe even a Fire HD tablet, it’s conceivable that a user wouldn’t need any non-Amazon devices, aside from their smartphones, which the company would obviously love. Whether that could ever become a reality remains to be seen, but this device could certainly help the company move in that direction.
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