Amazon’s rumored set-top box for streaming media may finally arrive next month.
Citing anonymous industry sources, a report from Re/code asserts that Amazon is readying a box competitive with Apple TV and Roku’s products for a March launch. It will allegedly be powered by Android, much like Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets, which run a “forked” (independent) version of Google’s mobile operating system.
A dedicated piece of hardware for online media streaming makes a lot of sense for Amazon, which offers a large library of streaming TV shows and movies to Amazon Prime subscribers. It also produces its own original TV content, and it’s rumored to be working on an online TV service that could challenge cable and satellite television providers.
It’s possible an Amazon box may also play games: The company acquired Killer Instinct developer Double Helix Games this month, and it posted an Amazon Game Studios job listing on LinkedIn in January. Meanwhile, games blog VG247 recently reported that Amazon is working on an Android box that will offer games alongside music, movies and TV content.
Amazon has yet to officially confirm the device, but taken together, the rumors point to a Kindle TV-style box. The company was reportedly planning to launch the box during the 2013 holiday season, but it clearly shelved those plans.
