I get its like Roku, but even.. what does it do? Can you stream local stuff or just things that are offered on the fire platform? Reason Im asking, is that my father is thinking about dumping FIOS. As he never watches "season style shows" He just turns it on to watch something when bored. So something like Fire Tv I think will be cool for him... He wont be playing games, just watching random broadcasts.. He said he liked the Roku and like the 99 cent movie channel.. Does the Fire TV have the same setup as the Roku?
Thanks guys!
Of course, Id be rooting it and downloading that XBMC that I seen. Again I dont know much about it, but it seems like most recommend to do that and root the unit. I seen an OTA blocker too... thanks agian.
mroneeyedboh said:
I get its like Roku, but even.. what does it do? Can you stream local stuff or just things that are offered on the fire platform? Reason Im asking, is that my father is thinking about dumping FIOS. As he never watches "season style shows" He just turns it on to watch something when bored. So something like Fire Tv I think will be cool for him... He wont be playing games, just watching random broadcasts.. He said he liked the Roku and like the 99 cent movie channel.. Does the Fire TV have the same setup as the Roku?
Thanks guys!
Of course, Id be rooting it and downloading that XBMC that I seen. Again I dont know much about it, but it seems like most recommend to do that and root the unit. I seen an OTA blocker too... thanks agian.
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The Fire TV is primarily a video streaming device. Meaning, it plays videos from the internet. The videos it streams can come from several different sources. Some are free, some cost money per video, and some require a paid monthly subscription which lets you play any videos in the library at no additional cost.
Here are some of the most popular video sources used on the FIre TV:
Amazon Prime Instant Video: This costs $99 a year and allows you to view any number of movies and TV shows in their library. This also comes with other perks from Amazon, like free 2 day shipping on most orders.
Amazon Instant Video: This is Amazon's movie and TV show purchase and rental service. You can buy movies or TV shows individually. Once purchased, you can play them as many times as you want. This it the digital equivalent to buying a DVD/Bluray and putting it on your shelf. This service also allows you to rent movies and TV shows. Renting gives you limited access to a movie or TV show; essentially enough access to watch the video once.
Netflix: For a monthly subscription, you get to watch any and all of the movies and TV shows in their library. The selection is better than Amazon Prime Instant Videos, but it's also more expensive considering there are no additional perks. It's strictly a video streaming service.
Hulu Plus: For a monthly subscription, you get access to their library of TV shows. Generally, TV shows will be available on Hulu Plus before they become available on other services.
Netflix and Hulu require that you install a free app on the Fire TV in order to access their videos. Where as, for Amazon Videos, you have direct access to them form the Fire TV's home screen.
You also have several free video options. These all require individual apps. These are services like YouTube, Pluto.tv, iFood.tv, Smithsonian Channel, Tubi, etc...
Lastly, you can play local videos stored on a PC in the house. This is what XBMC and Plex iare primarily used for.
Thanks. I already have Amazon Prime, so I can tag my dad on to that..
And thanks for the description.
mroneeyedboh said:
Thanks. I already have Amazon Prime, so I can tag my dad on to that..
And thanks for the description.
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You're welcome. If you already have Amazon Prime, then it seems like the Fire TV is a good option for your dad.
If your dad is not technologically savvy, or you're worried he may be confused with which videos are free (via Prime) and which ones have to be purchased, I would suggest installing rbox's mod which allows you to hide certain menu options. I have a guide here. This will allow you to hide the "Movies" and "TV" sections (where most of the content is not included free with Amazon Prime) and keep the "Prime Video" section (where all of the content is included free with Amazon Prime). You can also hide all the other sections (like, apps, games, photos, etc..) which it sounds like he will never use.
To install rbox's menu hidding mod, you have to be rooted, so be sure not to accidentaly block rooting during the inital setup process of the Fire TV.
Thanks again. If you dont mind, what all would you suggest to do to it when I receive it? Should I install Llama and that XBMC?
Also seems that Roku has more "misc" movie channels for free versus the Amazon Fire.. no?
Awesome summary from AFTVNews....
Want to add a few things:
-- Amazon prime videos (movies/tv shows) load way faster on FTV than on any other platform. I have PS3, Samsung Smart TV and Wii. It is a no contest when it comes to speed. So, if you are going to watch prime content, FTV is a much better option, just for this reason and even if you don't root it or load anything else like XBMC.
-- As mentioned before, you can buy/rent content from Amazon. Do keep in mind that even if you buy, you will only able to watch it as long as your Amazon account is in good standing, as in forever. If Amazon bars your account for any reason, all your buys will go poof.
-- FTV has a voice enabled search and works reasonably well.
-- If you have your cable subscription through a vendor that allows you to stream WatchESPN, you can download the app and watch all content on it through FTV (along with any other ESPN channels you subscribe to). This was the main and only reason I bought FTV (but now I know better to be happy with just ESPN, LOL)
---------- Post added at 11:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:01 PM ----------
mroneeyedboh said:
Thanks again. If you dont mind, what all would you suggest to do to it when I receive it? Should I install Llama and that XBMC?
Also seems that Roku has more "misc" movie channels for free versus the Amazon Fire.. no?
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You can get all the "free" movie content if you install and use XBMC. Roku might have way higher number of gross apps/feed, but if you are not going to use it, why buy it? And FTV has so much more superior hardware.
---------- Post added at 11:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:03 PM ----------
mroneeyedboh said:
Thanks again. If you dont mind, what all would you suggest to do to it when I receive it? Should I install Llama and that XBMC?
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As a personal preference, the least modifications you do on FTV, the less the chances of wrecking your FTV. I have accepted the trade off of a few more clicks to run XBMC over changing the launching behavior of my FTV. Just an opinion.
mroneeyedboh said:
Thanks again. If you dont mind, what all would you suggest to do to it when I receive it? Should I install Llama and that XBMC?
Also seems that Roku has more "misc" movie channels for free versus the Amazon Fire.. no?
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Click to collapse
@dbdoshi added some great points. If you, or a family member has a cable subscription, your content selection increases because of apps like WatchESPN that let you watch for free if you already have a cable subscription with one of their participating providers.
Llama is primarily only used to reduce the number of clicks needed to get to sideloaded apps. I agree with dbdoshi and feel it's not worth the extra complexity just to save a few clicks.
XBMC is primarily useful for local videos on a hard drive or PC. There are some extensions for XBMC which let you stream more content for free, but most people install it to play their own collection of videos.
Lastly, yes, I agree that Roku has a wider selection of content sources than the Fire TV. I don't have much experience with Roku's, so I can't comment about the quality of their selection but it does seem larger.
Let me add a couple points here. First, you can't share Amazon Prime videos, the family share thing only covers the free 2-day shipping. This doesn't mean you can't give out your Amazon login/password, but if that person starts buying movies and such.... Roku has a boatload more apps, something like 1,700, but unless you are looking for some odd niche there really isn't much on Roku that you can't get on FTV. HBOGo being the biggie if you subscribe to HBO. Side-loading XBMC works great, plus gives you access to all the legal and questionable plug-ins. Between the XBMC plugins and the native FTV apps, I doubt there is anything available online you can't get.
I didn't bother rooting my FTV, and for a casual user I wouldn't recommend it. Sure, you can do nice things like change the launcher, customize the menus, or enable USB storage (something I hope Amazon does in a future update), and other things, but you don't need root to side load apps such as XBMC. I'd rather stay current with Amazon's updates and improvements than worry about blocking them or getting caught up in a cat & mouse game of root exploits.
I'm looking to purchase another Amazon TV that's already preloaded with extras. There's so many people doing it I don't know who I should go with...?? I've looked at them on eBay some are going for $200 others less and one guy says this guy is copying me the other guy says that guy is copying me an back-and-forth. So I'm looking for some direction. Any recommendations for A preloaded Amazon TV? I don't want all of the adult channels and porn channels or whatever you call it loaded on to it. I don't know if I can customize it so they are not there....
Also with all those "free" movies and TV shows and such can you get in trouble with your Internet provider or whatever like the DMCA and get notices from your using such features as all of these add-ons that are provided?
I had gotten A notice in my e-mail from Comcast once when I downloaded something I didn't know about. Just wondering if that can happen again a notice of copyright infringement
superfly611 said:
I'm looking to purchase another Amazon TV that's already preloaded with extras. There's so many people doing it I don't know who I should go with...?? I've looked at them on eBay some are going for $200 others less and one guy says this guy is copying me the other guy says that guy is copying me an back-and-forth. So I'm looking for some direction. Any recommendations for A preloaded Amazon TV? I don't want all of the adult channels and porn channels or whatever you call it loaded on to it. I don't know if I can customize it so they are not there....
Also with all those "free" movies and TV shows and such can you get in trouble with your Internet provider or whatever like the DMCA and get notices from your using such features as all of these add-ons that are provided?
I had gotten A notice in my e-mail from Comcast once when I downloaded something I didn't know about. Just wondering if that can happen again a notice of copyright infringement
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Click to collapse
Just buy a regular AFTV somewhere and follow the steps in the link. You get XBMC/Kodi with pretty much everything you could ask for and with the tool mentioned in that link you don't need to be a rocket scientist to install it on your AFTV
http://www.tvaddons.ag/install-kodi-amazon-fire-tv/
And if you are scared to get caught watching movies or tv shows like this, don't do it. It depends on the laws of your country how they treat people that don't really download content but stream it (which is basically downloading).
It looks like a massive amount of customization when i look at what some of the pre programmed ones have on ebay??? At least when you look at the options they give you on the pre programmed amazon TVs. I basically would want the live TV, hbo and some movie channels I don't really need the most current movies like the handy cam versions I would rather see it in HD and I would not like any of the porn channels LOL not interested in that.
Thanks for the link! I'll read through it and see what I can do. I don't remember if I mentioned it I already have have an Amazon TV with XBMC on it but it's the Gotham version. I was trying to get it so it would recognize my silicone dust network tuner but couldn't get that to work. I have to work on it more yet... I also was trying to get my synology NAS recognized so I can share the files I do have on it but was having trouble with that as well... I'll figure it out eventually just wish it was sooner than later. Thanks for the advice I'm going to give it more of a go. i still am interested in those pre set amazons as an option. but ill work on mine too!
thanks again!
superfly611 said:
It looks like a massive amount of customization when i look at what some of the pre programmed ones have on ebay??? At least when you look at the options they give you on the pre programmed amazon TVs. I basically would want the live TV, hbo and some movie channels I don't really need the most current movies like the handy cam versions I would rather see it in HD and I would not like any of the porn channels LOL not interested in that.
Thanks for the link! I'll read through it and see what I can do. I don't remember if I mentioned it I already have have an Amazon TV with XBMC on it but it's the Gotham version. I was trying to get it so it would recognize my silicone dust network tuner but couldn't get that to work. I have to work on it more yet... I also was trying to get my synology NAS recognized so I can share the files I do have on it but was having trouble with that as well... I'll figure it out eventually just wish it was sooner than later. Thanks for the advice I'm going to give it more of a go. i still am interested in those pre set amazons as an option. but ill work on mine too!
thanks again!
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I also have hdhomerune prime there is many ways to watch live tv,my provider is fios and I will need to learn how to use the PVR addon for xbmc but I saw it works great!
If you have an HDHomeRun you probably want to setup a PVR backend for watching live/recorded shows through XBMC/Kodi. It's not too difficult but you need (or probably highly desire) to set this up on a computer that is always on. Here is a good place to start: http://kodi.wiki/view/PVR_backend
As for which pre-loaded FireTV to buy - none of them. Spending $200 for a $100 device is a waste. There are plenty of great guides and videos to help you set it up however you want, just ask here or on an XBMC/Kodi forum or do a bit of googling to get started. You are going to want to know how to do it yourself anyway to keep up on updates, side-load different apps, and generally set-up your device the way YOU want it. Once you go through it the first time and have an understanding of it all it's easy.
I have to agree with skeptic_always and Ultraschorsch, Buying a plain FTV and installing yourself is very easy.
You mentioned you already have XBMC, download TVMC and install it. It won't overwrite your XBMC, it will load as a separate app and it will install many addons when first started... probably the same addons Ebay sellers are installing for that $100 premium.
wqwrqrfq said:
I have to agree with skeptic_always and Ultraschorsch, Buying a plain FTV and installing yourself is very easy.
You mentioned you already have XBMC, download TVMC and install it. It won't overwrite your XBMC, it will load as a separate app and it will install many addons when first started... probably the same addons Ebay sellers are installing for that $100 premium.
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Isn't TVMC same as XBMC? just with some tweaks.
patt2k said:
Isn't TVMC same as XBMC? just with some tweaks.
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It has a lot of tweaks, repos and plugins installed by default. You pretty much just start it and you are good to go.
thanks all Very cool! I have TVMC installed and it's working! I am having trouble with my PVR. I would've liked to have conneted it wirelessly but not sure if thats the problem or what. I am only 10 feet away from my router wouldve thought wifi is fine. I had set up Live TV viewing before but maybe I did not do it correctly?? When I go to live TV then TV channels I get a listing of TV channels that I'm guessing is from my silicone dust TV tuner. When I select the channel it shows me what is on the channel but it does not play. Also it does not show me that HD stations abnormal TV such as ABC, Fox, NBC and such. It goes from 1 to 541. On my Comcast it goes all the way up to the 800s I believe and that's where the HD stations are. Even when I select channel 3 which is not HD but regular prime channel I guess it does not display it just sticks. Also, it's mind-boggling how many things there are for the TV MC.
Is there a list for guide for installing the best channels or whatever you call it such as these below. . . . Really wouldn't want channels that are just crappy like. My ultimate goal would be at a set when these and make it easy enough for my parents to use and get rid of cable TV which I'm not sure my parents will ever learn LOL
HBO Entertainment, HBO 1, HBO 2, Disney XD, HGTV, National Geographic,
Discovery, TNT, Fox, Fox 11, Sky Movies, Comedy Central, The CW, USA Network,
Spike, Cinemax, Animal, History HD, Food Network, A & E, FilmOn, Animal Planet, BIO, CNN,
Comedy Net, The Country Network, AMC, Fox Movies, Fuel TV, FX, NBC, RMC Top 40, TLC, TNT, Toons, TruTV, NASA, Starz HD, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Science, Bite TV, Bravo, CBS, ABC, ABC Family, NHK World, SYFY, TLC, BBC HD, iTV 2, iTV 3,GM Channel, Fox 2 Detroit, Film HD, icefilms, 1channel, ..........
I definitely don't want the adult channels on it but I do want live TV which I'm still trying to get my PVR running. I'm probably not doing something right. I will keep trying.
Also I read somewhere that the new Amazon fire TVs you can't jailbreak or put XBMC on it? If that's the case where's the best place to buy another one that I can customize before they become too scarce?
Thanks in advance again
superfly611 said:
Is there a list for guide for installing the best channels or whatever you call it such as these below. . . . Really wouldn't want channels that are just crappy like. My ultimate goal would be at a set when these and make it easy enough for my parents to use and get rid of cable TV which I'm not sure my parents will ever learn LOL
HBO Entertainment, HBO 1, HBO 2, Disney XD, HGTV, National Geographic,
Discovery, TNT, Fox, Fox 11, Sky Movies, Comedy Central, The CW, USA Network,
Spike, Cinemax, Animal, History HD, Food Network, A & E, FilmOn, Animal Planet, BIO, CNN,
Comedy Net, The Country Network, AMC, Fox Movies, Fuel TV, FX, NBC, RMC Top 40, TLC, TNT, Toons, TruTV, NASA, Starz HD, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Science, Bite TV, Bravo, CBS, ABC, ABC Family, NHK World, SYFY, TLC, BBC HD, iTV 2, iTV 3,GM Channel, Fox 2 Detroit, Film HD, icefilms, 1channel, ..........
I definitely don't want the adult channels on it but I do want live TV which I'm still trying to get my PVR running. I'm probably not doing something right. I will keep trying.
Also I read somewhere that the new Amazon fire TVs you can't jailbreak or put XBMC on it? If that's the case where's the best place to buy another one that I can customize before they become too scarce?
Thanks in advance again
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Click to collapse
The fire TV should ALWAYS be able to have XBMC put on it, no need to worry.
As far as all those channels you'll just have to do a search for those (i.e. "XBMC Discovery", XBMC "TNT", etc.) ustvnow.com gives you 6 channels free and if you want more there's a minimal charge. There's a repo(sitory) named Superrepo which when installed gives you hundreds of possible addons, I'd be surprised if you don't find everything you need in there.
bought mine at staples yesterday and it was still running the old firmware.
dcmtnbkr said:
bought mine at staples yesterday and it was still running the old firmware.
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What's that matter? Are you saying that because with new firmware you cannot load all the add-ons? Just curious...
User "wqwrqrfq" stated that you should always be able to load XBMC and add-ons.
One question for everyone... How long should it take to load certain Channels? By the way am I calling whatever each connection or option you can select right? Are they called something else? Just want to make sure I'm referring to it right. Also originally I had my Amazon TV connected on Wi-Fi but I know wire would be better. I connected by way of ethernet but it still takes A minute or more sometimes to load. Is that normal? Is that because of processing power from the Amazon TV or connection speed? I get about 30 to 40 Mb per second on my Internet connection.
thanks in advance
superfly611 said:
What's that matter? Are you saying that because with new firmware you cannot load all the add-ons? Just curious...
User "wqwrqrfq" stated that you should always be able to load XBMC and add-ons.
One question for everyone... How long should it take to load certain Channels? By the way am I calling whatever each connection or option you can select right? Are they called something else? Just want to make sure I'm referring to it right. Also originally I had my Amazon TV connected on Wi-Fi but I know wire would be better. I connected by way of ethernet but it still takes A minute or more sometimes to load. Is that normal? Is that because of processing power from the Amazon TV or connection speed? I get about 30 to 40 Mb per second on my Internet connection.
thanks in advance
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Thought someone had asked above where you could still buy one that can be rooted.
Oh okay. you don't have to root the Amazon fire tv to put XBMC on it right? What is the benefit of rooting it?
Change launchers, remove crap, edit system files, install google play store, etc
You can install most apks by sideloading via abd and the ip address. It plays emulators surprising well.
Hello Guys,
I've recently bought a Fire TV box with the original intention of using it to replace my HTPC in the bedroom to run my XBMC and also as a player for my Netflix streaming. It's been running KODI flawlessly. Interestingly, I've been an Amazon customer for close to a decade, yet have never considered joining their Prime membership. After owning the FTV, I looked more into it and finally decided to cancel my Netflix subscription and signed up for Amazon Prime; I figure all the perks included in it is worth the whole deal. Anyways, I've been tinkering around with the Prime Instant Video (PIV) on the FTV the last couple days and notice some inconsistencies between the video libraries in the Amazon page on my browser versus the accessible titles on the FTV app itself. So my question is....are we able to search/browse the whole PIV library from the FTV as we could from the browser? The GUI of the FTV seems to only list out some featured movies or tv shows.
I haven't noticed any differences to be honest. If I see something while browsing online, I use the search function to find it on my FTV later. Or, just add it to my watchlist while in my browser and it shows up on FTV watchlist.
I'm in the UK though, so maybe in your region it's different. If you have any examples, I can check mine to see if it's the same issue. I know Hulu in the US have different streaming rights depending on the platform/app, so may well be the case with Amazon as well, but I would be surprised.
Got here in germany also different lists on the browser and in the AFTV GUI. You have to use the search function to search through the complete list.
esc0rpi0n said:
Got here in germany also different lists on the browser and in the AFTV GUI. You have to use the search function to search through the complete list.
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Thanks. I guess the best method to use is either to search it or just view it on the computer when I have time and save it in the favorites list. Have a good weekend!
HELP: kodi stuck in "working" when trying to generate list of movies or tv shows
Hi all,
I'm rather new to Kodi and my amazon fire TV. It came pre installed with everything so I never had to tamper with it until now.
About a week ago I noticed that when I go into for example 1channel -> movies or TV shows , then try to go into one of the sub categories such as "date released", "date added", or when I do a "search", that it would just be stuck with the logo "working" on the bottom right corner of the screen.
Now the shows that I've added to my Favorite list still works. When I go into them the links show up, and it streams.
I've tried searching for this on Google but didn't come up with much. I decided to update Kodi to 15.2 via the FIle Manager method (so I don't have to use a computer), Kodi is now updated but the issue didn't go away.
This problem doesn't just exist with 1channel, but also icefilms, phoenix, xkmovies etc.
Please helppppppp!!
A couple of things... Restart your fire TV (hold down the home button and play/pause button for 10 seconds), then try. If it doesn't fix the problem update whatever video addon you're trying to use. This is probably what's wrong - or the site which supports said plugin is currently down.
And most importantly, don't ask questions about piracy apps on this forum. It's against the rules. Ask them on the forums which support the video addons you want to use.
This ^
We allow general Kodi discussion, as it has legitimate and legal uses. But discussing add one that pirate TV and movies is not allowed on XDA.
Thread closed.
Darth
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