Amazon replaces Android with Homegrown OS on Echo Show

Earlier this month, Janko Roettgers reported that Amazon has been preparing to transition much of its hardware lineup from Android to a home-grown, web-centric Linux variant that goes by the name Vega OS. However, the future is NOW… as Vega OS has been hiding in plain sight on the 3rd gen Echo Show 5. The … Read more

Amazon’s Blink Ups The Ante with 4th Gen Cameras

Blink is poised to refresh their camera line with 4th gen models that will likely replace 3rd gen. Of course Blink is an Amazon subsidiary, sitting alongside Ring in providing a number of monitoring solutions, that built their brand on affordability and a pair of AAs. As such, I don’t expect much change in relation … Read more

Pre-Prime Day Streaming Hardware Deals

In the best “bang for the buck” category, we’ve got a few solid streaming deals ahead of everyone’s second favorite shopping holiday. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max – $35 A good buy at full price, the Max is a great value at 36% off and will see years of updates given its a power. … Read more

Fire TV Still On Sale (PSA should Roku lose YouTube)

By way of AFTVnews, we learn various Amazon Fire TV models remain on sale. But not for much longer. As Roku and Google haven’t yet come to an agreement, YouTube may be pulled from Roku devices December 9th … and many owners may be seeking an inexpensive insurance policy to retain access. As such, here … Read more

Nice ‘Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max’ Discount

The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max sees its first discount ahead of Black Friday. As the second most powerful Fire TV device Amazon’s ever released, the Max was already competitively priced at a $55 MSRP. But now it’s quite the bargain, more than a third off, at $35. The original 4K Stick was … Read more

AFTVnews Goes Dark (for a good reason!)

AFTVnews, the preeminent site for everything Fire TV, is going dormant. At first blush, it appears to be a tremendous loss for us Fire TV owners. However, proprietor Elias Saba has been hired by Amazon and will be well-positioned within the Fire TV team to represent consumers. And it’s a fascinating story arc as Elias … Read more

How To Download Amazon Recast DVR Recordings

The Amazon Fire TV Recast DVR may not be much to look at, yet the new entrant appears somewhat hackable as AFTVNews has just documented how to offload recordings. Of course, there are tons of reasons why you might want to do this — such as overcoming Amazon ecosystem lock-in, facilitate offline viewing, or to allow … Read more

Amazon Fire TV Recast DVR Is Humongous (and not very good)

I finally took possession of an Amazon Fire TV Recast DVR… and, boy, is it is massive. I assume Amazon went with off-the-shelf components to get to market quickly and, should they find success in this space, invest more resources in a smarter, custom design for v2… much as they did in utilizing the Blackberry … Read more