Amazon may have made a major misstep when it comes to its flagship smartphone, but could the company’s Amazon Fire TV Stick actually go head-to-head with Google Chromecast and Roku Streaming Stick?
The major failure that followed after the launch of Amazon’s first smartphone was painful to watch for many tech lovers and fans of the company.
Sales of the device were less than impressive, and AT&T, who partnered with Amazon to push the phone, quickly lost its enthusiasm for the product.
Despite the flagship phone flop, Amazon has had some technology successes in the past (take the Kindle, for example) and the company is hoping to mimic that success with the launch of its Fire TV Stick.
The tiny stick is able to plug directly into consumers’ TV’s HDMI ports and will be able to bring a world of viewing pleasure to those who purchase it.
The Fire TV Stick will support Amazon Prime Instant video and music, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify, Hulu and more, according to Mashable.
It will also be able to support the needs of the average gamer. Nothing quite as extensive and demanding as the console-level gaming that is supported by Amazon’s Fire TV box, but still pretty impressive for the little stick that can slip into one’s back pocket.
Of course, if the product is sounding pretty familiar to you – a simple stick that allows you to stream a large variety of media content on multiple supported platforms – there is an obvious reason for that.
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick isn’t necessarily innovative, as it is simply Amazon’s take on Google’s Chromecast and the Roku Streaming Stick.
Amazon’s version does, however, come with a few perks.
Amazon’s product does boast more storage than Google’s Chromecast.
Google’s product gives consumers 2 GB of storage in Google Chrome while Amazon’s Fire Stick will give consumers an impressive 8 GB of storage.
Then there is also that nifty little remote.
While this is a perk that Chromecast users don’t get, it’s not too great of an advantage and it is something that Roku has already delivered on in the past.
As for Chromecast users, they have to use an app that will allow them to use their cellphones as remote controls and, quite frankly, most consumers don’t mind that at all.
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick may also deliver slightly short on its promise of wonderful arrays of content. The content that is available is certainly impressive and there is more than enough available materials for the average TV watcher, but some of the most popular titles won’t be making their way to the device just yet.
The Fire TV Stick does not support HBO Go.
While Google’s stick also doesn’t support Amazon content, it’s more likely that consumers will be more upset over not having HBO Go than they will over not having access to Amazon’s content.
Of all the competitors, however, it seems like Amazon’s Fire TV Stick has the upper hand when it comes to gaming, according to Time.
Time also points out that there is no way anyone can lose by purchasing any of the three sticks.
What this means is that Amazon may have a product that can indeed keep up with its pre-existing competition, but the company may have needed a little more edge to its product in order to really beat out its counterparts.