Yesterday, Amazon announced its latest streaming adapter: The new Fire TV Stick HD, which might be launched on the finish of the month, is being touted as the corporate’s “slimmest and most portable stick to date.” The stick additionally improves over its predecessor with Wi-Fi 6 help, and is meant to be 30 % quicker than the prior mannequin.
One element not noted of the official announcement: The new Fire TV Stick HD runs Vega, Amazon’s new Linux-based working system, as the corporate confirmed after I reached out yesterday. Amazon has been quietly working on Vega for years, and started utilizing it for its Echo Show sensible shows earlier than debuting it on a primary Fire TV stick final fall.
That system, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, was launched with little fanfare throughout Amazon’s fall gadgets occasion in September. And with app help for Vega nonetheless lagging, Amazon launched the Select stick with an uncommon trick: To assist publishers transition to the brand new system, the corporate is running some Android apps in the cloud, after which streaming them to the system.
The launch of the Select stick was met with some backlash from a small however vocal group of Fire TV customers who bemoaned the truth that it didn’t allow them to sideload Android apps anymore – one thing that’s particularly well-liked with individuals trying to run rogue IPTV apps without spending a dime entry to pay TV content material.
As this week’s launch reveals, Amazon stays undeterred by such criticism. In reality, the corporate appears intent on persevering with its transition to Vega: Amazon plans to launch all future Fire TV sticks with Vega, I’ve been informed by a number of sources with data of these plans. The firm declined to touch upon its Fire TV roadmap.
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Fire TV Stick picture courtesy of Amazon.
