Amazon's Next Gen Fire TV Looks Like An Echo Dot Hybrid Streaming Device
There may be a new 4K Apple TV launching tomorrow, but a carefully-timed leak from Amazon is looking to steal the show today. We don't know if this was planned "corporate leak" from Amazon itself, but there are two new Fire TV products that will be arriving shortly from Amazon.
The first model features a dongle-style form-factor, which houses some potent hardware (at least for a media streamer). Its design makes it more similar in concept to the Google Chromecast than the Fire TV Stick, which has been the entry point to Amazon's streaming TV offerings.
This particular model, which goes by the codename "AFTN", will be a mid-range device that will sit above the Fire TV stick in the lineup. We also know that it will support 4K streaming content at 60 fps. The AFTN will be a rather simple device, plugging into a free HDMI port on the back of your television set, while a microUSB port on the back of the device is how power is routed to the device.
AFTVnews was even able to learn that the device will be powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, will include 2GB of RAM and will have 8GB of internal storage (a portion of which will be eaten up by FireOS).
The more interesting of the two devices, however, goes by the codename "AFTA". Although there are no technical details available (i.e. core count, clock speeds, RAM size), we do know that this will be a "Jack of All Trades" device with a cube-like shape. It will reportedly combine the functionality of a Fire TV, Echo Dot and an IR emitter. Given the Echo/Alexa integration, the device will have an onboard speaker to respond to your commands. It's also possible that the device could come with an onboard network port.
Both of the new Fire TV devices are expected to launch later this year with sub-$100 pricing for the new mid-range model. The range-topping model, however, is expected to be price well above the $100 price point.
