Amazon’s Luna game streaming service launches early access with 50 games for $5.99/month

Posted by Elias Saba on October 23, 2020 — 3 Comments

Invitations for early access to Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming service have started rolling out to select customers. Check your inbox for an invitation if you requested early access, but it does seem like only a small portion of requests have been fullfilled. The service has launched with 50 games in the Luna+ Channel for an early-access price of $5.99. Games include Control, Metro: Exodus, Grid, The Surge 1 & 2, Sonic Mania, several SteamWorld games, and much more. Additional channels, such as a Ubisoft channel, each with their own set of games and subscription will eventually be available through the service, but they’re not available yet. It doesn’t seem like the new Luna controller has shipped yet, but some have reported being able to order one with their early access invitation.

Posted in Article Tagged with: Amazon Luna

All the newly expanded Alexa/Echo hands-free voice controls for Fire TV devices

Posted by Elias Saba on October 21, 2020 — 7 Comments

Amazon has announced today that they’ve significantly expanded what Alexa commands you can say to an Amazon Echo device to control your Fire TV or Firestick. For a long time now, it has been possible to ask an Echo that has been linked with your Fire TV to perform a few basic tasks, such as launching apps, searching for content, and controlling video playback. When the Fire TV Cube was first released, what you could do hands-free with Alexa and a Fire TV expanded, but all the new capabilities required speaking directly to a Fire TV Cube and did not work through a separate Echo or Echo Dot and something like a Fire TV Stick. Today’s Alexa expansion on Fire TV brings many of those voice commands that formerly only worked on the Fire TV Cube to the rest of Amazon’s Fire TV devices. Here’s the full list of Alexa voice commands that can be used to control a Fire TV hands-free. Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: Alexa, Amazon Fire TV

How to install Quibi on unsupported Amazon Fire TVs and Firesticks

Posted by Elias Saba on October 20, 2020 — 9 Comments

An official Quibi app has just launched on some Fire TV devices, but they’ve excluded most Fire TVs and Fire TV Sticks from being able to install the app. If you’d like to sideload the app on any of these unsupported Fire TV models, just use my Downloader app and enter bit.ly/ftvq (Alternate Mirror: bit.ly/ftvqb) into the app’s URL field to download and install the Quibi APK. If you need a more detailed step-by-step instructions for sideloading, see this guide. Note that, since I don’t have a Quibi subscription, I have not checked to see if the app works on any of the unsupported Fire TV models, but I suspect it’ll work fine on at least some of them. Let everyone know in the comments if you have success sideloading the app and on which device.

Posted in Article Tagged with: Guide, Quibi, Sideload

Quibi app arrives on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV

Posted by Elias Saba on October 20, 2020 — 5 Comments

The relatively new short-form streaming service Quibi has just released apps for Amazon Fire TV devices, as well as Android TV and Apple TV. The service launched in April 2020 as a mobile-only service with 10-minute “quick bite” episodes of original content that was meant to be viewed when you have some free time while on the go. With everyone spending so much time at home, the mobile-centric service has struggled to hold on to subscribers so they’ve now switched strategies by releasing new apps for all major streaming platforms except Roku. Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: App, New App, Quibi, Streaming Service

HDHomeRun’s ATSC 3.0 4K tuner is now available for Pre-Order — Shipping now to early backers

Posted by Elias Saba on October 19, 2020 — 11 Comments

As spotted by CordCuttersNews, HDHomeRun’s new CONNECT QUATRO 4K network OTA tuner with ATSC 3.0 support has started arriving to backers of their Kickstart campaign and is now available for pre-order by anyone. This is the first tuner of its kind to support the new ATSC 3.0 over-the-air broadcast standard which adds support for 4K video, HDR, and advanced surround sound formats. The new standard is still in early deployment across the US, so check if it’s available in your area before buying. The HDHomeRun CONNECT QUATRO 4K is $199.99 and features 2 ATSC 3.0/1.0 tuners and 2 ATSC 1.0 tuners, for 4 simultanious streams through their Fire TV app or numerous other platforms.

Posted in Article Tagged with: ATSC 3.0, hdhomerun, OTA

PJ Masks Racing Heroes game for Fire TV is currently FREE — Normally $3.99

Posted by Elias Saba on October 19, 2020 — 2 Comments

Get this Free Fire TV Game

The Fire TV game PJ Masks: Racing Heroes has just gone Free for a limited time. This game normally costs $3.99 so if you have young kids around, here’s your chance to give them a bit of racing fun at no cost. It’s compatible with all Fire TV models except the 1st-gen Fire TV and 1st-gen Fire TV Stick. It can be played using the regular Fire TV remote control so you do not need to have a gamepad to play, but it is compatible with game controllers as well if you have one. Since this is normally a paid game, it has no ads which is ideal for young kids. As a reminder, if you’re not currently near your Fire TV, you can click through the link above and “buy” the game for free through Amazon.com so that it is forever available from the cloud.

Posted in Article Tagged with: App, App Deal, Deal, Free, Free Coins & Credits, Game

Recently released 70-inch Insignia Fire TV Edition TV is on sale for $499.99 — First Sale Ever

Posted by Elias Saba on October 18, 2020 — 5 Comments

Get Insignia 70in Fire TV Edition Deal

That didn’t take long at all. I just wrote about Insignia releasing the first 70-inch Fire TV Edition television last week and now it is on sale for $499.99. This is the first time it has ever been on sale. At $150 off of the regular price of $649.99, this is a pretty good price considering it is the largest Fire TV Edition television that you can buy. Typically, the largest size doesn’t get discounted as much as the smaller sizes, but this 23% discount is more than I would have expected for a first sale. If you want to read about the specs in detail, check out my article from last week, but, in summary, this is a 4K TV running Amazon’s latest Fire OS 7 operating system, based on Android 9 Pie. It supports HDR 10 but does not support Dolby Vision. It runs a quad-core 1.5 GHz CPU with 2GB of RAM, but, like all Fire TV Edition TVs, still only comes with 8GB of internal storage. However, the USB port can be used to expand that internal storage for additional apps on a USB drive, for apps that support being moved. The TV has 3 HDMI ports, 1 of which is an ARC port, Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi, a built-in tuner, and comes with Amazon’s latest Fire TV Edition Alexa voice remote. If you’re looking to upgrade to the ultimate Fire TV Edition television, here’s your chance to save a decent amount. (Thanks for the tip, Charlie!)

Posted in Article Tagged with: Deal, Fire TV Edition, Insignia

Why you should never power a Fire TV Stick from your TV’s USB port

Posted by Elias Saba on October 16, 2020 — 75 Comments

On the plastic wrapper of every Amazon Fire TV Stick is a message telling you to “use the included power adapter and USB cable” to discourage you from using the USB port on your TV to power the device. Many people miss the warning or ignore it for the convenience of having one less power adapter to deal with. If you’re currently powering a Firestick off of your TV or are thinking about doing it, here’s why you should reconsider using the stock power brick that comes with the device. Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: Amazon Fire TV Stick

TCL Alto 8+ Fire TV Edition Soundbar is on sale for $107 — Beating Prime Day Price

Posted by Elias Saba on October 16, 2020

Get this Fire TV Soundbar Deal

Well, this is awkward. Less than 2 days after it was on sale for $119.99 during Prime Day, the TCL Alto 8+ Fire TV Edition Soundbar is now on sale for $107.18. I can’t remember a Fire TV device ever going on sale for a better price so soon after a major sales event, but I guess there’s a first for everything. At 46% off its regular price of $199.99, this sale is the new lowest price that this soundbar has ever been. If you purchased it during Prime Day, you may want to chat with Amazon Customer Support to see if they’ll refund you the difference. Unlike most Prime Day deals on Fire TV Edition devices, which started early on October 12th, this soundbar didn’t go on sale until late into the last day of the Prime Day sales event. Perhaps it’s back on sale so soon because its short Prime Day run resulted in fewer than expected purchases. Whatever the reason, here it is for its best price yet for those who are interested. In this soundbar is essentially a Fire TV Stick 4K with all the same capabilities, such as support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, and 2160p video at 60fps.

Posted in Article Tagged with: Deal, Fire TV Edition Soundbar, TCL

How to update your sideloaded Peacock TV app on Amazon Fire TV and Firestick — New Oct. 15 APK

Posted by Elias Saba on October 15, 2020 — 84 Comments

Peacock TV is still not available on Amazon Fire TV devices, but a new ~~v1.1.3 updated version~~ (SEE BELOW FOR UPDATE) has just been released. If you’re new to sideloading, you might not be aware that updating an already sideloaded app is as straight forward as installing the new version right over the existing one. If you followed my guide to sideload Peacock TV or are using my Downloader app, simply use the URL ~~bit.ly/firepck~~ (SEE BELOW FOR UPDATE) in the Downloader app to sideload the latest version of Peacock TV. You don’t need to uninstall the existing version or do anything special if the older version is already installed on the device. Just sideload the new version as you would any new app. After launching the app and signing in, if you get only audio when playing content or the video is frozen, force quitting the app or restarting your Fire TV should solve the issue. To force quit the app, go to Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications and select the app. To restart your device, go to Settings > My Fire TV > Restart. If you need more detailed instructions for sideloading, see this guide and use the URL mentioned above. Note that it seems like the 1st-gen Fire TV and 1st-gen Fire TV Stick are not compatible with the Peacock app. This could change in the future, so there is no harm in trying to install the latest version.

Update

8/17/20 Version 1.1.10: bit.ly/firepea (Alternate Mirror: bit.ly/firepe).

9/9/20 Version 1.2.14: bit.ly/ftvpea (Alternate Mirror: bit.ly/ftvpeaa).

10/12/20 Version 1.3.3: bit.ly/aftvpea (Alternate Mirror: bit.ly/aftvpeaa).

10/15/20 Version 1.3.13 has been released. You can install it using Downloader and the URL bit.ly/firetvp (Alternate Mirror: bit.ly/firetvpp).

Posted in Article Tagged with: Guide, Peacock