Amazon Debuts Fire TV Streaming Box to Rival Roku and Xbox

04-03-2014 • http://netcaster.wired.com, By Emily Dreyfuss

Not content to be stuck as an app, Amazon’s entrance into your physical living room isn’t aimed just at Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast, but also Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft’s Xbox One.

The thin rectangular box runs a quad-core processor, like that found in high-end smartphones. It has dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi, 2 GB of storage, and full 1080p support. The sleek accompanying remote is Bluetooth. It’s shipping today.

The biggest threat to Apple TV and Roku? The new Fire Game Controller, which will cost an additional $39.99.

Vice President of Amazon Games Michael Frazzini says thousands of games will be available on Fire TV next month. Amazon is partnering with Sega, Disney, EA and more. Yep, it’s got Minecraft (unlike Oculus ever will). Amazon will also be developing its own games, both for Fire TV and the Kindle Fire HDX.

These games will be available as in-app purchases, in keeping with Amazon’s business model of using hardware to push you to spend money in its marketplace.