Fresh on the trail of Apple and it’s shiny new Apple TV announcement, Amazon has apparently fired back with the announcement of an updated Fire TV. This time around however, Amazon looks to be attempting to cater to those who have a 4K TV in their homes already, as their new set-top will not only utilize the 4K resolution, but will also pack a little more power under the hood. as well as the ability to expand its storage to 128GB.
You can pre-order the updated Fire TV here.
The new Amazon TV will release on October 5th, 2015 which is the same month the new Apple TV releases and will cost $99.99. IN addition the device will include an improved voice command system, thanks to Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. As for some much needed power, the device will incorporate a quad-core 2.0 Ghz MediaTek 8173C CPU, dedicated PowerVR GX6250 GPU and 2GB of RAM under the hood, all of which will help when it comes to streaming that 4K content and gaming. However, much like the upcoming Apple TV, the updated Amazon Fire TV will forgo a toslink connection, so for those who were holding on to their older generation audio receivers, it may be time to upgrade.
One thing is for sure, the living room set-top wars are heating up again and it’s a bit exciting, right HT enthusiasts?
Speaking of gaming, there will also be a new Fire TV gamepad, which will retail for $49.99 and launches on October 22, 2015. The new gamepad also features a microphone for voice commands and a 3.5mm jack for connecting headphones to it. And yes the new gamepad is compatible with existing Amazon Fire TV’s, however the headphone jack will only work with the new Fire TV.
As an added bonus, the gamepad will also come with a free copy of Duck Tales: Remastered, which is a great for sitting around the TV and having some old school gaming fun.
You can currently pre-order the gamepad here.