How Amazon Fire TV Works

Amazon's vice president of Kindle, Peter Larsen, displays the Amazon Fire TV, which allows users to stream video, music, photos, games and more through their television.

Now, when American families hit the couch at 8 p.m., the TV is no longer king. Dad might be watching the big game live on ESPN, but little Becky and Billy are huddled around the iPad, streaming the latest Pixar movie from Netflix. Meanwhile, mom is on her laptop binge-viewing the entire season of her favorite reality show.

According to a 2013 survey, 51 percent of Americans between the ages of 13 and 54 watch a streaming TV show or movie every week [source: GFK]. While some are happy to watch them on laptops, tablets orsmartphones, a growing share wants to watch streaming video on their big-screen TVs.

What is Amazon Fire TV?

First, let's clear up some confusion. Amazon Fire TV is not a TV; it's a streaming set-top box. A set-top box connects your TV to the Internet so you can enjoy streaming TV shows, movies and music on the bigger screen of your TV. Apple started the whole confusing trend by naming its set-top box Apple TV, which is also not a TV.

Amazon Fire TV was released by online retailer Amazon in April 2014 and sells for $99, the same price as the Apple TV and Roku 3 set-top boxes. As of 2014, only 8 percent of American households owned a set-top box, but Amazon is banking on increased demand from viewers for streaming entertainment on TVs instead of "small-screen" laptops, tablets and smartphones [source: Wood].

How to Use Amazon Fire TV

Pictured in the foreground is the Amazon Fire TV set-top box, along with its remote and gaming controller (sold separately).

Amazon Fire TV works a lot like Apple TV and Roku set-top boxes. The basic idea is simple: Using a remote control, you can make selections from on-screen menus featuring TV shows, movies and apps.

First, you need to set up the Amazon Fire TV. Luckily, this is very easy. When your package arrives from Amazon.com, you'll open it to find a small, square, black, plastic box, a remote control and a power cord. On the back of the box are ports for connecting it to your TV (HDMI) and to your home Internet connection (Ethernet). You have to supply your own cables. Amazon Fire TV is also WiFi-enabled, so you can connect to your home's WiFi network without the Ethernet cable [source: Amazon].

Pros and Cons of Amazon Fire TV

Amazon Fire TV is in direct competition with existing set-top boxes like Apple TV and Roku. The products are similar in many ways. All three allow you to access free and subscription streaming video services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Watch ESPN, YouTube, Crackle and Showtime Anytime on your TV. The only truly unique features offered by Amazon Fire TV are voice search and a few gaming titles. Reviewers also note that the Amazon device is faster and smoother than other set-top boxes thanks to its beefed-up processor and memory [source: O'Brien].

As we mentioned earlier, Amazon Fire TV makes perfect sense for existing Amazon Prime subscribers who already watch a lot of streaming content from Amazon's online entertainment library. That's because Amazon's voice search only shows results from Amazon.com. If you prefer to watch streaming video from a wider variety of sources — Netflix and Hulu Plus, for example — then you have to load each of those apps individually and search within them for movies or shows. That's a potential con for many users.

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Author's Note: How Amazon Fire TV Works

I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber and I'm conflicted about it. On one hand, I love the convenience of getting just about anything in the world shipped for free to my front door. On the other hand, I worry that I'm contributing to a world where one-click online convenience is killing off smaller competition like local retailers. I also worry about the fossil fuels burned to ship my daughter's pink softball bag from a monstrous warehouse in Kentucky to my doorstep in less than two days. And then there are the workers in that Kentucky warehouse running around packing toilet paper and workout DVDs into boxes on 12-hour shifts so we can have the convenience of instant delivery.

One reviewer described Amazon Prime TV as a "Trojan horse" in your living room pretending to offer streaming entertainment, but really trying to sell you on everything that Amazon offers. As a conflicted Amazon Prime subscriber, am I willing to invite this Trojan horse through the front door? One thing's for sure: if I do, it will be here by Wednesday. Free shipping.