The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon is working on a set-top box that will be ready in time for the Christmas holidays. And, surprise, surprise, the lynchpin of this rumour is that Amazon has some major content deals in the works.
The WSJ says Amazon supposedly has hot deals in the works from cable providers for a whole host of apps for the platform, although it doesn’t explicitly mention the companies Amazon is maybe talking to. The question of whether streaming video apps would be a part of the system also remains, but it’s a fairly safe bet if the Kindle Fire is any evidence.
Previous reports suggest that Amazon’s streaming experience would be based on a forked Android OS possibly called Kindle TV. Although that has perhaps been contradicted by the fact that Amazon just filed for trademarks in the US and Canada for the name “Firetube”.
Price is another factor that’s up in the air, but an Amazon set-top box would almost certainly be cheap. We’re talking dirt cheap. It would have to be, especially because the streaming box market is a crowded one that has a whole slew of very nice options, from the Apple TV, to a Roku, or even a Chromecast. There’s always a chance that Amazon could require a Prime membership and throw in a set-top box for zero dollars or close to it. In fact, the WSJ says a set-top box would be used to “bolster” Amazon’s Prime business, rather than the other way around. But in the context of Amazon’s focus on content and its desired to be everything to everyone, a streaming box is a decent possibility. [WSJ]
Picture: Shutterstock/Zastolskiy Victor