Amazon goes after Roku and Chromecast with $39 Fire TV Stick
Amazon's Fire TV is doing very well for itself, but it's hard to justify that $99 price when a Roku Streaming Stick is $50 and a Chromecast is only $35. That's why the company has whipped out the Amazon Fire TV stick that can be snagged for as little as $19, if you're a Prime customer and move quickly enough. Like its rivals, the stick connects to your TV through the HDMI port, enabling you to watch streaming video from a wide variety of sources like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Hardware-wise, there's 1GB RAM, 8GB of storage, dual-band WiFi and, perhaps surprisingly at this price, a dedicated remote control. Naturally, you can also mirror your smartphone and tablet display, both if you're rocking a Fire phone or tablet or a Miracast-equipped device, and you can use app-based voice search with the hardware. Gaming-wise, the Fire TV controller will work with the device, but considering that the company chose to mention Flappy Birds Family over, say, Amazon-exclusive Sev Zero, it's not clear if Fire TV titles will work on the cheaper device. If you're not a Prime customer, then the device will set you back $39, and you can even get voice search baked into the remote for an additional $30 - but either way, the hardware will begin shipping on November 19th.
