At Google’s big I/O developer conference this week, the company announced new Android TV hardware. The ADT-2 is a streaming device that is being given away to developers to replace the discontinued Nexus Player. There are no plans to offer the new device to consumers. This is the same device that leaked last month through the FCC and it shares many similarities with the current 3rd-generation Amazon Fire TV. Read more ›
A new pendant-shaped streaming device running Android TV that shares a lot of similarities with the current Amazon Fire TV has just passed through FCC approval. The device, carrying FCC ID number 2AOVU-SN5B6AD, is made by Chinese manufacturer Shenzhen SEI Robotics Co., Ltd and was first spotted by Ausdroid. The Google branding on both the device and remote heavily suggest that it will be the successor to the Nexus Player and sold by Google. Read more ›
It appears as though Google is starting to actively prevent users from using Google apps, such as Google Play Store, Google Play Music, Google Maps, and others on Android devices that are not certified by Google. While Android is an open-source operating system that can be used by anyone without Google’s involvement, manufacturers must follow strict certification guidelines in order to distribute Google’s apps on their devices. Many users of uncertified Android devices, such as Fire TV and Fire Tablet owners, choose to sideload the Google apps they need. That may no longer be possible for newer devices. Read more ›
A new article by Business Insider is being reported by numerous news outlets under sensational headlines that make it seem as though Amazon will be pulling all Nest products from their website and that tension between Google and Amazon has escalated. In reality, the article simply sheds a bit of light on events that transpired last year which contributed to Google announcing that YouTube would be blocked on Fire TV devices. Nothing new that we didn’t already know about has transpired between Amazon and Google. Read more ›
Google has begun serving a different YouTube interface when the video-sharing website is loaded by Firefox on an Amazon Fire TV device. The different interface, spotted by the awesomely named Reddit user Swole_Chicken, is functionally identical to the interface YouTube usually serves, but consists of a slightly different navigation layout. Read more ›
YouTube TV, the paid subscription television service from Google, has just released new apps for Roku and Apple TV devices. Chromecast and Android TV were the only television platforms where you could access the service prior to the release of these new apps. Unsurprisingly, an app for Amazon Fire TV devices has not been released, notably making it the largest streaming platform that YouTube TV does not support. Read more ›
Earlier today, Google began deliberately redirecting customers that tried to access the television optimized version of YouTube through a web browser on an Amazon Fire TV device to the desktop version of YouTube. This effectively blocked access to YouTube for Fire TV users because the desktop version of the YouTube is nearly unusable through the remote control based Fire TV. It appears now that Google has either backpedaled their decision or the redirect was a mistake because Fire TV customers can once again browser YouTube’s television optimized website. Read more ›
Google has essentially broken the ability to browse YouTube on all Amazon Fire TV devices. If you try to browse the television optimized version of YouTube at youtube.com/tv using either the Silk Browser or Firefox app on a Fire TV device, Google has put in place a redirect that forces the browser to load the desktop version of YouTube. By blocking access to the version of YouTube made for television browsers, Google has deliberately made browsing their website an unusable experience on Amazon Fire TVs, Fire TV Sticks, and Fire TV Edition televisions. Read more ›
The new year is here and Google has not done anything to block access to YouTube on the Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire TV Edition television. Despite so many news outlets incorrectly reporting that Google already blocked YouTube on the Fire TV last week, it was actually Amazon that updated the YouTube app early and made it redirect customers to a web browser for YouTube access. It’s unknown if Google forced Amazon to update the app or if Amazon decided to preemptively change their YouTube app themselves, but if you install the old version of the app, it is still fully functional. Read more ›
Amazon has just updated the YouTube app for Fire TV devices, which they make themselves. The updated app now prompts users to load YouTube in the Firefox or Silk web browsers. This appears to be a preemptive move ahead of Google’s decision to block access to YouTube on Fire TV devices on January 1st. Read more ›
@AFTVnews