Amazon spent $16.6 billion on streaming content in 2022 — Up 28% from 2021

Posted by Elias Saba on — 1 Comment

During its fourth-quarter earnings call yesterday, Amazon revealed it spent $16.6 billion on content in 2022. That’s up from spending $13 billion in 2021. That figure includes around $7 billion spent on original content, live sports, and licensed content available for free for Prime members. That’s up from $5 billion spent the previous year. While not explicitly detailed by Amazon, it’s generally accepted that the company spent $1 billion for rights to stream Thursday Night Football last year and over half a billion on the first season of its most popular original series, “The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.” Read more ›

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Streaming Super Bowl LVII 2023 will be Free without any logins

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Fox has confirmed to The Streamable that Super Bowl LVII on February 12th will be available to stream for free without needing any kind of login or account. Anyone will be able to load up the Fox Sports app on a streaming or mobile device. Fox says the game will stream in 4K resolution, but it is yet unknown if it will actually be shot in 4K or just upscaled from 1080p to 4K, as Fox has done in the past. Read more ›

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Amazon Luna cloud gaming continues free access for Prime members with 4 new games

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With other cloud gaming services like Google Stadia shutting down and recent layoffs taking their toll on Amazon Luna, the future of the game streaming service seems bleak, but Amazon Luna is continuing to truck ahead with business as usual. Nearly a year since starting the trend, Prime members continue to have access to a small selection of free games on Luna. For the month of February, Prime members can play Yakuza Kiwami, WRC Generations, Potion Permit, and SkateBIRD without paying a dime or signing up for any services. While this is the third month that SkateBIRD has been offered for free, the other three titles have never been available for free. Just fire up a compatible device, connected a gamepad or use a phone as a controller, and start playing in seconds. Last month, Luna arrived on select LG TVs and Amazon consolidated its Luna subscription plans, so the service is certainly not sitting idle. New games being added in February for paid subscribers include Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider and Sail Forth.

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Hisense 50in 4K QLED Fire TV is down to $288 for Amazon Prime card holders — New Lowest Price

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If you have a Prime Rewards Visa or a Prime Store Card, you qualify for a great deal on the 50″ Hisense 4K QLED Fire TV. The TV is currently on sale for $337.89, which is already a pretty decent deal as it’s 36% off the regular price of $529.99. However, if you use either a Prime Rewards Visa or Prime Store Card during checkout and select to receive cashback, you’ll get an additional 15% cashback which drops the final cost down to $287.21. For comparison, the lowest regular sale price for this TV in the past was when it dropped to $299.99 during Black Friday, that is if you don’t count the doorbuster deal during Prime Day that sold out in seconds. This Hisense TV is among the best Fire TV Smart TVs available thanks to its Quantum Dot panel, 600 nits of peak brightness, full array local dimming with 32 zones, a variable refresh rate, 4K resolution, and support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The bonus 15% cashback promotion ends on February 4th and its terms and conditions can be found here.

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Peacock eliminates Free Accounts for all new sign-ups

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Peacock will no longer allow new customers to sign-up for a free account, as spotted by The Streamable. For first-time users to access the streaming service, they will now need to sign up for either the $4.99/month ad-supported plan or the $9.99/month ad-free plan. Existing accounts created prior to January 31st that use the free tier will continue to have access to the service, but don’t be surprised if that ends at some point as well. If you have an existing paid account, you too will be able to access the old free tier as well if you choose to end your paid subscription. Peacock launched in 2020 and despite reaching 20 million paid subscribers has yet to turn a profit.

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New Walmart Onn 4K Android/Google TV Streamer makes its first appearance

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Nearly two years ago, Walmart began selling its first 4K Android TV streaming device, the Onn 4K Streaming Box. While it was as generic of a streamer as you could get, it offered unmatched value with a retail price under $30. The Onn 4K box and matching Onn 1080p Stick quietly began to disappear from both Walmart’s website and retail shelves, suggesting the models were being discontinued. Now, the first indication of a successor to the Onn 4K Streaming Box has made an appearance. Read more ›

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The Fire TV Pro Remote is on sale for the first time — Grab this rare discount while you can!

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Amazon has just put the new Alexa Voice Remote Pro for Fire TV devices on sale for the first time. While it’s just a $5 discount, which drops the price from $34.99 to $29.99, it’s still very much worth jumping on this deal if you’ve been contemplating the new flagship remote but haven’t wanted to pay full price. That’s because Fire TV remotes hardly ever go on sale so it’s surprising that this remote has been discounted at all. The last time a Fire TV remote went on sale was at the start of 2019, and that was only because people felt gypped that a new remote was released right after millions of devices were sold with the old remote during the holidays. This Pro Remote sale isn’t meant to make up for anything, but it might prove to be just as rare. Read more ›

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How to open Sideloaded Apps using the Fire TV Pro Remote’s customizable buttons

Posted by Elias Saba on — 9 Comments

The Alexa Voice Remote Pro for Fire TV devices is great, but one unfortunate decision made by Amazon is to not allow the customizable buttons on the remote to launch sideloaded apps. Thankfully, there is a workaround that uses my Remapper apps that will allow you to use either of the customizable buttons to launch any sideloaded app. Here is a full step-by-step guide for how to do it. Read more ›

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How to remap the App Buttons on Fire TV Remotes with Remapper — Updated January 2023

Posted by Elias Saba on — 307 Comments

The app buttons at the bottom of the newest Fire TV Remotes and Fire TV Smart TV remotes can either be fantastic or useless. They’re great if it’s an app that you use often, but they’re a complete waste if you don’t even have the app that they’re for installed. This guide will show you how to reassign the app buttons to open any app you want. This method uses my Remapper app and works for Netflix, HBO, Hulu, PS Vue, Disney+, CTV, Crave, DAZN, TVNOW, and other buttons. It works on the new remote paired to a Fire TV, Fire TV Cube, and Firestick, as well as Fire TV Edition devices from Element, Toshiba, Insignia, Onida, Grundig, JVC, and more.

Updates

4/16/2021: Support for Disney+ buttons has been added

2/25/2022: Amazon has made changes to prevent my original remapping method from working. I have updated this guide with a workaround that should circumvent Amazon’s changes. If you previously installed any Remapper, it is best to uninstall it and carefully follow this guide from the very beginning. Enjoy this workaround while it lasts, but you should expect that Amazon will likely block it as well eventually.

3/3/2022: The original workaround did not work on Fire OS 7 devices. The guide has been updated again to now work on all Fire OS versions.

1/26/2023: Support for ABEMA, DirecTV, and Peacock TV buttons has been added.

Read more ›

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New unreleased Fire TV remote passes through FCC with closer ties to Amazon

Posted by Elias Saba on — 6 Comments

The FCC has just approved a new unreleased Fire TV remote in the US. All indication points to this new remote being a direct replacement for the Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote that currently ships with the 3rd-gen Fire TV Cube and all Fire TV Smart TVs from Amazon’s own Omni and 4-Series TVs to 3rd-party TVs from Hisense, Xiaomi, Toshiba, Insignia, and others. While the remote will likely look and function identically to the existing remote, the FCC submission seems to indicate that Amazon is now taking the lead and pulling this remote in-house for the first time, instead of relying on a 3rd-party. Read more ›

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TOP DEALS

Fire TV Pro Remote - FIRST SALE EVER!List Price: $34.99Sale Price: $29.99
24in Insignia Fire TVList Price: $169.99Sale Price: $89.99
50in Hisense QLED Fire TVList Price: $529.99Sale Price: $338.38
50in Amazon Fire TVList Price: $469.99Sale Price: $319.99
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Fire TV Shortcut Apps

Free Movies & TVView content that is free from numerous apps at once.
Manage Installed AppsQuickly quit apps and clear app cache.
Recently WatchedJump back to what you're watching without scrolling down the home screen.
Bluetooth DevicesEasily pair/unpair headphones. keyboards, mice, and more.
... and over 30 more!

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