Amazon Fire TV

Philip Wales · 23-10-2014, 12:28

Surprised no thread on this, got mine today.

Not tried it yet, in work, but looks really nice.

Trainer99 · 23-10-2014, 13:27

Mine is ready for collection. But won't get a chance to plug it in until tomorrow night.

chattermatters · 23-10-2014, 14:31

just waiting on mine, to arrive anytime soon today

Philip Wales · 23-10-2014, 14:44

Apparently I was searching the net last night and there are plenty of reports of people in the US and other countries who have been using Un Block Us with the Fire so fingers crossed. If it will work (though unsupported at the moment) it will be bye bye Apple TV.

ovbg · 23-10-2014, 15:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philip Wales

Apparently I was searching the net last night and there are plenty of reports of people in the US and other countries who have been using Un Block Us with the Fire so fingers crossed. If it will work (though unsupported at the moment) it will be bye bye Apple TV.

I can confirm that this indeed does work with services like Unblock-us and OverPlay, and wait for this... it is actually possible to mix and match apps from all three regions (US, UK and DE) onto the one hub (with one Amazon account).

I'm testing this at the moment, and will have a how-to guide completed by tomorrow (It's easy, but not something people would be able to do by just browsing apps, as the American apps are not normally visible when looking at the app store), but suffice to say I have the BBC iPlayer sitting right next to Hulu Plus with both working fine from Germany.

Philip Wales · 23-10-2014, 15:14

^^ Thanks mate, can always rely on you to sort it out. I probably won't bother with mine till the weekend. Will be great to finally have NF and Amazon Prime on one device, and be able to access the other NF regions.

gother · 23-10-2014, 15:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by ovbg

I can confirm that this indeed does work with services like Unblock-us and OverPlay, and wait for this... it is actually possible to mix and match apps from all three regions (US, UK and DE) onto the one hub (with one Amazon account).

I'm testing this at the moment, and will have a how-to guide completed by tomorrow (It's easy, but not something people would be able to do by just browsing apps, as the American apps are not normally visible when looking at the app store), but suffice to say I have the BBC iPlayer sitting right next to Hulu Plus with both working fine from Germany.

Really looking forward to your guide mate, would it be similar to how i got the verizon tv app on my tablet i installed another app store alongside googles? and iplayer, hulu+ etc all sit alongside each other working perfectly.

ovbg · 23-10-2014, 15:25

Hi gother, no, it's a bit different as you have to mess around with the Amazon website(s), changing a few things, adding apps, and then normalizing it all.

Once done, all apps appear on the main hub of the Amazon TV after a sync.

I'm still rather stunned that I have all the American, British and German apps sitting together.

Not all are working via the DNS services I have tested (Demand 5 is not working for me in Germany right now), but I guess you guys won't have that problem.

Philip Wales · 23-10-2014, 15:33

TBH I'll be happy with just being able to change NF regions as I do now with Apple TV

ovbg · 23-10-2014, 15:34

You can certainly do that Philip, no problems.

Philip Wales · 23-10-2014, 15:50

^^ Thanks, look forward to your "how to" guide, I've read a couple of things about having to change Amazon region settings and such, not sure I fancy that, it can get you banned from Amazon, then the wife will get no xmas presents...lol

MsLurker · 23-10-2014, 17:07

Got mine this afternoon. Not set it up yet because I haven't chance to hunt around the house for a HDMI cable lol

I liked the way it was packed. Neat and simple which is unusual for Amazon.

gother · 23-10-2014, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philip Wales

TBH I'll be happy with just being able to change NF regions as I do now with Apple TV

I'll just be happy with a device i can get bbciplayer, itv, hulu+, mgo, abc on without having to switch accounts lol.

racey43 · 23-10-2014, 23:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by gother

I'll just be happy with a device i can get bbciplayer, itv, hulu+, mgo, abc on without having to switch accounts lol.

I don't think you can get ITV player on it although I hope I'm wrong about this.

SimonB79 · 24-10-2014, 02:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by gother

I'll just be happy with a device i can get bbciplayer, itv, hulu+, mgo, abc on without having to switch accounts lol.

I've gotta setup my grandmother's fire tv tomorrow, it'll go with her Roku3 box, she's 85 and handles the iptv apps like a champ!

ovbg · 24-10-2014, 10:39

Ok, the guide is up and can be viewed here.

Feel free to ask any questions here or there

Philip Wales · 24-10-2014, 10:53

Hi OVBG, got mine running last night, didn't bother with changing the DNS to Unblocks yet. It seems I need to enter the Ip address of my router, to go further into the settings, is that correct?

Thanks in advance.

gother · 24-10-2014, 11:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by racey43

I don't think you can get ITV player on it although I hope I'm wrong about this.

No you can't

oddly itv player has been removed from ps3 too ohwell i'm sure there's a way to stick plex onto Amazon fire tv and use the plex itv app which i currently do for my roku (it's set up for usa).

ovbg · 24-10-2014, 12:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philip Wales

Hi OVBG, got mine running last night, didn't bother with changing the DNS to Unblocks yet. It seems I need to enter the Ip address of my router, to go further into the settings, is that correct?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Philip, no, you should be able to do this directly on the Amazon Fire TV. Unless something has changed in the latest update (which came through with the new UK box), this should still be possible.

From memory though, you can only do it when joining a WiFi network, so if you have already joined, try forgetting, then joining again and somewhere at the password stage there should be an advanced option.

The configuration button seems to require an Ethernet port, and I've run out of Ethernet cables in my test rig

Opps.

Oh, I think you may have to create a static IP address as well, so it pays to note down either the existing IP address, or find a spare one in your network.

ovbg · 24-10-2014, 12:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by gother

No you can't

oddly itv player has been removed from ps3 too ohwell i'm sure there's a way to stick plex onto Amazon fire tv and use the plex itv app which i currently do for my roku (it's set up for usa).

Or MGO and ABC for that matter as well.

There is STV though, which has most of ITV's content. Hulu Plus is also available, which has more ABC stuff than the normal ABC apps, but requires a sub.

Plex is also available, but at a small fee. I haven't tested it yet as I'm a bit cheesed off with the guys at Plex over this. I have a Plex lifetime pass which is supposed to give me free apps as well, so I don't like the idea of paying again for something I have already paid for.

gother · 24-10-2014, 12:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by ovbg

Or MGO and ABC for that matter as well.

There is STV though, which has most of ITV's content. Hulu Plus is also available, which has more ABC stuff than the normal ABC apps, but requires a sub.

Plex is also available, but at a small fee. I haven't tested it yet as I'm a bit cheesed off with the guys at Plex over this. I have a Plex lifetime pass which is supposed to give me free apps as well, so I don't like the idea of paying again for something I have already paid for.

I was luckily enough to grab plex from Amazon app store when it was a freebie of the day, i do agree with you you shouldn't have to pay for something twice.
Tbh i only just noticed ABC isn't on ROKU either lol but as you correctly stated HULU+ has a load of ABC stuff.
I wonder if Amazon will allow the fios verizon tv app and the xfinity tv to go app anytime soon as i have logins for those and this would be a huge plus.
I'm debating still between Amazon fire tv or a Android tv box, i believe Googles tv box is out very soon too?

ovbg · 24-10-2014, 13:11

Gosh, it gets really confusing with Android boxes (as anything with Android really):

Android 1: (unofficial) as in the Minix boxes. These are great for people who like to tinker with the box, and is a great XMBC machine (Zattoo is also fine on them), but they can be pretty shit with most other TV apps as they usually have very low quality streams and poor UIs (as they were designed for mobile touch screens).

Android 2: The Amazon Fire TV. All as described above, and some people have been able to sideload GooglePlay apps, which can mean "technically" everything you may want. But like above, these apps were not designed for anything but mobile screens and many refuse to work anyway.

Android 3: The Nexus Player, basically that new Google TV thingie. It seems really good, but not much different to the Amazon Fire TV. Won't have Prime, but may have a few other apps. At the moment, only available in the US, but it may have more opportunity to launch globally than the Amazon Fire TV - as the above box only can ever go to countries which has Prime (and that is only three in a very very big world).

Android 4: Older Google TVs (forget about this)

Android 5: Chromecast. Works great to be honest if you like this sort of half and half approach. Some good services work with it, and from many different countries. But some people have been known to "get lost" as it can really seem confusing at times.

At the moment, a Roku box set to the US has the most American services, so perhaps this is still the best option for those wanting American content, and a separate box for the UK stuff. But I really believe that as long as Amazon don't block this ability to install apps from different regions (using the backdoor method), then this could end up being a Smart DNSer's dream machine.

MSH · 24-10-2014, 13:34

Got mine yesterday.. Am actually very impressed so far..

I've also got apple-tv, now-tv, chromecast, Push2TV, and various other ways of watching content but this seemed the most fun of all so far

Also got one of the gaming controls, just need to find something fun to play, only tried that milkfloat racing around the dining table thing so far

gother · 24-10-2014, 13:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by ovbg

Gosh, it gets really confusing with Android boxes (as anything with Android really):

Android 1: (unofficial) as in the Minix boxes. These are great for people who like to tinker with the box, and is a great XMBC machine (Zattoo is also fine on them), but they can be pretty shit with most other TV apps as they usually have very low quality streams and poor UIs (as they were designed for mobile touch screens).

Android 2: The Amazon Fire TV. All as described above, and some people have been able to sideload GooglePlay apps, which can mean "technically" everything you may want. But like above, these apps were not designed for anything but mobile screens and many refuse to work anyway.

Android 3: The Nexus Player, basically that new Google TV thingie. It seems really good, but not much different to the Amazon Fire TV. Won't have Prime, but may have a few other apps. At the moment, only available in the US, but it may have more opportunity to launch globally than the Amazon Fire TV - as the above box only can ever go to countries which has Prime (and that is only three in a very very big world).

Android 4: Older Google TVs (forget about this)

Android 5: Chromecast. Works great to be honest if you like this sort of half and half approach. Some good services work with it, and from many different countries. But some people have been known to "get lost" as it can really seem confusing at times.

At the moment, a Roku box set to the US has the most American services, so perhaps this is still the best option for those wanting American content, and a separate box for the UK stuff. But I really believe that as long as Amazon don't block this ability to install apps from different regions (using the backdoor method), then this could end up being a Smart DNSer's dream machine.

Thanks for the info mate i'll stick to my ROKU box for now and just stick to using my pc, then again a mini pc might be a idea to just keep connected to my tv for media, actually that's what i'm going to do haha.

gother · 24-10-2014, 13:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSH

Got mine yesterday.. Am actually very impressed so far..

I've also got apple-tv, now-tv, chromecast, Push2TV, and various other ways of watching content but this seemed the most fun of all so far

Also got one of the gaming controls, just need to find something fun to play, only tried that milkfloat racing around the dining table thing so far

If it's available on Firetv dead trigger is a great game.

23-10-2014, 12:28	#1
Philip Wales Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: South Wales Posts: 5,866	Amazon Fire TV Surprised no thread on this, got mine today. Not tried it yet, in work, but looks really nice.

23-10-2014, 13:27	#2
Trainer99 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 252	Mine is ready for collection. But won't get a chance to plug it in until tomorrow night.

23-10-2014, 14:31	#3
chattermatters Forum Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 935	just waiting on mine, to arrive anytime soon today

23-10-2014, 14:44	#4
Philip Wales Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: South Wales Posts: 5,866	Apparently I was searching the net last night and there are plenty of reports of people in the US and other countries who have been using Un Block Us with the Fire so fingers crossed. If it will work (though unsupported at the moment) it will be bye bye Apple TV.

23-10-2014, 15:10	#5
ovbg Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,348	Quote: Originally Posted by Philip Wales Apparently I was searching the net last night and there are plenty of reports of people in the US and other countries who have been using Un Block Us with the Fire so fingers crossed. If it will work (though unsupported at the moment) it will be bye bye Apple TV. I can confirm that this indeed does work with services like Unblock-us and OverPlay, and wait for this... it is actually possible to mix and match apps from all three regions (US, UK and DE) onto the one hub (with one Amazon account). I'm testing this at the moment, and will have a how-to guide completed by tomorrow (It's easy, but not something people would be able to do by just browsing apps, as the American apps are not normally visible when looking at the app store), but suffice to say I have the BBC iPlayer sitting right next to Hulu Plus with both working fine from Germany.

23-10-2014, 15:14	#6
Philip Wales Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: South Wales Posts: 5,866	^^ Thanks mate, can always rely on you to sort it out. I probably won't bother with mine till the weekend. Will be great to finally have NF and Amazon Prime on one device, and be able to access the other NF regions.

23-10-2014, 15:18	#7
gother Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Between Venus and Mars Posts: 9,027	Quote: Originally Posted by ovbg I can confirm that this indeed does work with services like Unblock-us and OverPlay, and wait for this... it is actually possible to mix and match apps from all three regions (US, UK and DE) onto the one hub (with one Amazon account). I'm testing this at the moment, and will have a how-to guide completed by tomorrow (It's easy, but not something people would be able to do by just browsing apps, as the American apps are not normally visible when looking at the app store), but suffice to say I have the BBC iPlayer sitting right next to Hulu Plus with both working fine from Germany. Really looking forward to your guide mate, would it be similar to how i got the verizon tv app on my tablet i installed another app store alongside googles? and iplayer, hulu+ etc all sit alongside each other working perfectly.

23-10-2014, 15:25	#8
ovbg Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,348	Hi gother, no, it's a bit different as you have to mess around with the Amazon website(s), changing a few things, adding apps, and then normalizing it all. Once done, all apps appear on the main hub of the Amazon TV after a sync. I'm still rather stunned that I have all the American, British and German apps sitting together. Not all are working via the DNS services I have tested (Demand 5 is not working for me in Germany right now), but I guess you guys won't have that problem.

23-10-2014, 15:33	#9
Philip Wales Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: South Wales Posts: 5,866	TBH I'll be happy with just being able to change NF regions as I do now with Apple TV

23-10-2014, 15:34	#10
ovbg Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,348	You can certainly do that Philip, no problems.

23-10-2014, 15:50	#11
Philip Wales Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: South Wales Posts: 5,866	^^ Thanks, look forward to your "how to" guide, I've read a couple of things about having to change Amazon region settings and such, not sure I fancy that, it can get you banned from Amazon, then the wife will get no xmas presents...lol

23-10-2014, 17:07	#12
MsLurker Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 1,421	Got mine this afternoon. Not set it up yet because I haven't chance to hunt around the house for a HDMI cable lol I liked the way it was packed. Neat and simple which is unusual for Amazon.

23-10-2014, 17:19	#13
gother Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Between Venus and Mars Posts: 9,027	Quote: Originally Posted by Philip Wales TBH I'll be happy with just being able to change NF regions as I do now with Apple TV I'll just be happy with a device i can get bbciplayer, itv, hulu+, mgo, abc on without having to switch accounts lol.

23-10-2014, 23:09	#14
racey43 Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bridgend Posts: 186	Quote: Originally Posted by gother I'll just be happy with a device i can get bbciplayer, itv, hulu+, mgo, abc on without having to switch accounts lol. I don't think you can get ITV player on it although I hope I'm wrong about this.

24-10-2014, 02:05	#15
SimonB79 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 3,121	Quote: Originally Posted by gother I'll just be happy with a device i can get bbciplayer, itv, hulu+, mgo, abc on without having to switch accounts lol. I've gotta setup my grandmother's fire tv tomorrow, it'll go with her Roku3 box, she's 85 and handles the iptv apps like a champ!

24-10-2014, 10:39	#16
ovbg Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,348	Ok, the guide is up and can be viewed here. Feel free to ask any questions here or there

24-10-2014, 10:53	#17
Philip Wales Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: South Wales Posts: 5,866	Hi OVBG, got mine running last night, didn't bother with changing the DNS to Unblocks yet. It seems I need to enter the Ip address of my router, to go further into the settings, is that correct? Thanks in advance.

24-10-2014, 11:57	#18
gother Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Between Venus and Mars Posts: 9,027	Quote: Originally Posted by racey43 I don't think you can get ITV player on it although I hope I'm wrong about this. No you can't oddly itv player has been removed from ps3 too ohwell i'm sure there's a way to stick plex onto Amazon fire tv and use the plex itv app which i currently do for my roku (it's set up for usa).

24-10-2014, 12:30	#19
ovbg Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,348	Quote: Originally Posted by Philip Wales Hi OVBG, got mine running last night, didn't bother with changing the DNS to Unblocks yet. It seems I need to enter the Ip address of my router, to go further into the settings, is that correct? Thanks in advance. Hi Philip, no, you should be able to do this directly on the Amazon Fire TV. Unless something has changed in the latest update (which came through with the new UK box), this should still be possible. From memory though, you can only do it when joining a WiFi network, so if you have already joined, try forgetting, then joining again and somewhere at the password stage there should be an advanced option. The configuration button seems to require an Ethernet port, and I've run out of Ethernet cables in my test rig Opps. Oh, I think you may have to create a static IP address as well, so it pays to note down either the existing IP address, or find a spare one in your network.

24-10-2014, 12:32	#20
ovbg Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,348	Quote: Originally Posted by gother No you can't oddly itv player has been removed from ps3 too ohwell i'm sure there's a way to stick plex onto Amazon fire tv and use the plex itv app which i currently do for my roku (it's set up for usa). Or MGO and ABC for that matter as well. There is STV though, which has most of ITV's content. Hulu Plus is also available, which has more ABC stuff than the normal ABC apps, but requires a sub. Plex is also available, but at a small fee. I haven't tested it yet as I'm a bit cheesed off with the guys at Plex over this. I have a Plex lifetime pass which is supposed to give me free apps as well, so I don't like the idea of paying again for something I have already paid for.

24-10-2014, 12:59	#21
gother Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Between Venus and Mars Posts: 9,027	Quote: Originally Posted by ovbg Or MGO and ABC for that matter as well. There is STV though, which has most of ITV's content. Hulu Plus is also available, which has more ABC stuff than the normal ABC apps, but requires a sub. Plex is also available, but at a small fee. I haven't tested it yet as I'm a bit cheesed off with the guys at Plex over this. I have a Plex lifetime pass which is supposed to give me free apps as well, so I don't like the idea of paying again for something I have already paid for. I was luckily enough to grab plex from Amazon app store when it was a freebie of the day, i do agree with you you shouldn't have to pay for something twice. Tbh i only just noticed ABC isn't on ROKU either lol but as you correctly stated HULU+ has a load of ABC stuff. I wonder if Amazon will allow the fios verizon tv app and the xfinity tv to go app anytime soon as i have logins for those and this would be a huge plus. I'm debating still between Amazon fire tv or a Android tv box, i believe Googles tv box is out very soon too?

DS Forums

Amazon Fire TV

24-10-2014, 13:11	#22
ovbg Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,348	Gosh, it gets really confusing with Android boxes (as anything with Android really): Android 1: (unofficial) as in the Minix boxes. These are great for people who like to tinker with the box, and is a great XMBC machine (Zattoo is also fine on them), but they can be pretty shit with most other TV apps as they usually have very low quality streams and poor UIs (as they were designed for mobile touch screens). Android 2: The Amazon Fire TV. All as described above, and some people have been able to sideload GooglePlay apps, which can mean "technically" everything you may want. But like above, these apps were not designed for anything but mobile screens and many refuse to work anyway. Android 3: The Nexus Player, basically that new Google TV thingie. It seems really good, but not much different to the Amazon Fire TV. Won't have Prime, but may have a few other apps. At the moment, only available in the US, but it may have more opportunity to launch globally than the Amazon Fire TV - as the above box only can ever go to countries which has Prime (and that is only three in a very very big world). Android 4: Older Google TVs (forget about this) Android 5: Chromecast. Works great to be honest if you like this sort of half and half approach. Some good services work with it, and from many different countries. But some people have been known to "get lost" as it can really seem confusing at times. At the moment, a Roku box set to the US has the most American services, so perhaps this is still the best option for those wanting American content, and a separate box for the UK stuff. But I really believe that as long as Amazon don't block this ability to install apps from different regions (using the backdoor method), then this could end up being a Smart DNSer's dream machine.

24-10-2014, 13:34	#23
MSH Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 85	Got mine yesterday.. Am actually very impressed so far.. I've also got apple-tv, now-tv, chromecast, Push2TV, and various other ways of watching content but this seemed the most fun of all so far Also got one of the gaming controls, just need to find something fun to play, only tried that milkfloat racing around the dining table thing so far

24-10-2014, 13:50	#24
gother Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Between Venus and Mars Posts: 9,027	Quote: Originally Posted by ovbg Gosh, it gets really confusing with Android boxes (as anything with Android really): Android 1: (unofficial) as in the Minix boxes. These are great for people who like to tinker with the box, and is a great XMBC machine (Zattoo is also fine on them), but they can be pretty shit with most other TV apps as they usually have very low quality streams and poor UIs (as they were designed for mobile touch screens). Android 2: The Amazon Fire TV. All as described above, and some people have been able to sideload GooglePlay apps, which can mean "technically" everything you may want. But like above, these apps were not designed for anything but mobile screens and many refuse to work anyway. Android 3: The Nexus Player, basically that new Google TV thingie. It seems really good, but not much different to the Amazon Fire TV. Won't have Prime, but may have a few other apps. At the moment, only available in the US, but it may have more opportunity to launch globally than the Amazon Fire TV - as the above box only can ever go to countries which has Prime (and that is only three in a very very big world). Android 4: Older Google TVs (forget about this) Android 5: Chromecast. Works great to be honest if you like this sort of half and half approach. Some good services work with it, and from many different countries. But some people have been known to "get lost" as it can really seem confusing at times. At the moment, a Roku box set to the US has the most American services, so perhaps this is still the best option for those wanting American content, and a separate box for the UK stuff. But I really believe that as long as Amazon don't block this ability to install apps from different regions (using the backdoor method), then this could end up being a Smart DNSer's dream machine. Thanks for the info mate i'll stick to my ROKU box for now and just stick to using my pc, then again a mini pc might be a idea to just keep connected to my tv for media, actually that's what i'm going to do haha.

24-10-2014, 13:52	#25
gother Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Between Venus and Mars Posts: 9,027	Quote: Originally Posted by MSH Got mine yesterday.. Am actually very impressed so far.. I've also got apple-tv, now-tv, chromecast, Push2TV, and various other ways of watching content but this seemed the most fun of all so far Also got one of the gaming controls, just need to find something fun to play, only tried that milkfloat racing around the dining table thing so far If it's available on Firetv dead trigger is a great game.