Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Amazon to introduce its best-selling Fire TV family of devices in Japan

  • The Amazon Fire TV streaming box comes packed with 4K Ultra HD, a quad core processor, dedicated GPU, best-in-class Wi-Fi, and expandable storage with microSD—all for ¥12,980
  • Fire TV Stick is the most powerful streaming media stick with a dual-core processor and dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi—all for ¥4,980
  • Say it, watch it—use voice search that actually works to instantly find movies, TV shows, and more
  • All the content—choose from tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes to stream on your HDTV
  • Plus, Fire TV comes with access to games like Final Fantasy VI, Crossy Road, and Pac-Man 256
  • For three days only: as a thank you to Prime members, Fire TV Stick is just ¥1,980

TOKYO, 2015-9-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Today, Amazon is excited to introduce its best-selling Fire TV family of devices in Japan—Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, small devices that plug into your HDTV for easy and instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows from Hulu, Prime Video, GYAO!, Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube.com, Niconico, Video Market, and more. Customers around the world are selecting Fire TV as the #1 streaming option in the living room because it offers great selection, the most convenience, and the best prices.

“Tiny devices, high performance, tons of TV shows and movies, incredible prices—customers around the world love Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, and we’re thrilled to introduce them in Japan,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “With voice search that actually works, Fire TV is a simple and easy way to make your TV more exciting—watch popular Japanese and US movies and TV shows from Prime Video, Hulu, GYAO!, Netflix, YouTube.com, and more.”

Fire TV devices are designed to be a simple and easy way to access all of your favorite movies, TV shows, and online videos in your living room. With movies and videos from Hulu, Prime Video, GYAO!, Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube.com, and more, you get instant access to a vast selection of videos so you don’t have to go to the video store—start streaming instantly. Voice search that actually works means no more typing on an alphabet grid to find the movie you want to watch. Amazon’s exclusive ASAP feature predicts the shows you’ll want to watch and gets them ready to stream instantly. With this vast selection and exclusive features, Fire TV is a perfect way to make your TV more exciting.

Amazon Fire TV—Tiny Box, Huge Performance—¥12,980
The new Amazon Fire TV is a small yet powerful box that plugs into your HDTV and delivers fast access to movies, TV shows, songs, games, and more.

Built for Speed
Fire TV features a 64-bit, quad-core processor and a dedicated graphics engine for lightning-fast graphics and excellent fluidity. Fire TV comes with 2GB of memory, so content loads faster and games run smoother.

True-to-Life Picture Quality with 4K Ultra HD
4K Ultra HD is the next generation of entertainment and delivers a more realistic entertainment experience with 4x the resolution of 1080p. Amazon Fire TV is the only streaming media player available with support for 4K Ultra HD content. With 4K support for Prime Video, Amazon Video, and Netflix, Fire TV also provides access to more 4K Ultra HD movies than any other device.

Better HD Video Quality for More Customers
The new Amazon Fire TV is built to support High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). In the coming months, the new Amazon Fire TV will deliver more 1080p high-definition streams from Amazon Video than ever before with HEVC—even if you don’t own a 4K TV. HEVC is roughly 2x more efficient at encoding video than the current industry standard, H.264, so less bandwidth is needed to deliver high-quality video streams. As a result, the majority of Fire TV customers will now get to experience high-quality, 1080p TV shows and movies from Amazon Video.

Audio from Dolby, the Standard in Home Audio
With Dolby Audio, enjoy rich, cinematic surround sound via HDMI to your TV or AV receiver. Plus, Dolby enhances the Bluetooth headphone support on Fire TV, so you get Dolby’s virtual surround sound, consistent quality, and enhanced volume leveling while listening to your favorite movie or TV show with headphones.

Powerful Wi-Fi Performance
Fire TV features the latest standard in Wi-Fi technology—802.11ac, dual-antenna, dual-band with MIMO—which gives you faster throughput and longer range for better performance, even if your router is located in another part of the house.

Designed to Disappear
Fire TV is designed to disappear. It is 17.8 mm thin and 115 mm wide, so it is easy to hide. Fire TV has a fan-less design and no hard drive, so it is silent even when running the most demanding applications.

Expandable microSD Storage
In addition to the 8GB of on-device storage, Fire TV offers expandable storage via microSD card slot for up to 128GB of additional storage for downloaded apps and games.

Amazon Fire TV Game Controller
You can play fun casual or high intensity games on Fire TV using the included remote control. You can also choose to play games with the Fire TV Game Controller, which enables more high-intensity and complex gaming. Simple and comfortable to use for hours, the Fire game controller features an ergonomic design, an audio jack for Dolby-enhanced private listening, and instant voice search with a built-in microphone. Plus, the new Game Controller gives you up to 90 hours of battery life on just one set of AA batteries without headphones.

Fire TV Stick—Most Powerful Streaming Stick
Amazon today also introduced Fire TV Stick in Japan, the fastest-selling Amazon device ever. Fire TV Stick is available in two configurations—a powerful, low cost option for ¥4,980 and an incredibly convenient voice search option for ¥6,480.

Tiny Device, Simple Remote
Fire TV Stick is incredibly small—roughly the size of a pack of gum—and can disappear behind your TV. The new Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote brings together the portability of the Fire TV Stick, the simple design of the Fire TV Stick Voice Remote, and the convenience of voice search.

Powerful Performance
Fire TV Stick is the most powerful streaming media stick. Fire TV Stick has a dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, Dolby Audio, 8GB on-device storage and better Wi-Fi performance than any other streaming media stick.

Connect to Your Hotel or Dorm Room Wi-Fi
Take your favorite movies, TV shows, games, and more with you away from home—Fire TV Stick is the only streaming media stick to enable you to connect to Wi-Fi that requires web authentication—this includes Wi-Fi at most major hotels, as well as some universities.

Features of the Fire TV Family
Say It, Watch It with Voice Search that Actually Works
Simply speak the name of a movie, TV show, actor, director, or genre into the Fire TV Voice Remote and you’re done. No more hunting and pecking in an alphabet grid to find your favorite TV shows and movies.

Instant Streaming with ASAP
You shouldn’t have to wait 10 seconds for a video to buffer after you press “Play”—it should start immediately. Based on your Watchlist and recommendations, the new ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction) feature predicts which movies and TV episodes you’ll want to watch and prepares them for playback before you even hit play. This feature is smart—it is personalized based on your viewing habits and adapts as those habits change. The caching predictions get better over time, so ASAP will continuously improve as you use Fire TV.

Simple and Easy to Use
Fire TV comes automatically pre-registered, so you can immediately get started. No complicated set-up, no hassle—just plug it in and start watching. Fire TV features an intuitive user interface that is easily navigated with a simple remote control. All of your previously purchased movies and TV shows from Amazon, as well as personalized recommendations and your Watchlist, will be there waiting for you when you turn on Fire TV.

Easiest Way to Get Customer Service with Mayday Screen Sharing
Mayday Screen Sharing brings Mayday-powered customer service to the Fire TV streaming box, delivering 24×7, 365 days-a-year technical assistance—for free. When you call customer service by phone, the Amazon expert can remotely connect to your Fire TV—with your permission—to answer any questions you may have or to help troubleshoot. They can draw on the screen, walk you through how to do something, or do it for you—whatever works best.

Photos on your big-screen
Fire TV makes it easy to view your photos and personal videos on your TV. You can set up and play slide shows, find specific photos, and choose your favorite album for the screen-saver on Fire TV. Photos or videos you take on your phone or tablet can be automatically uploaded to Amazon Cloud Drive, so they appear on your Fire TV within seconds.

Music in Your Living Room
With Fire TV devices, you can listen to music from Amazon Music. When you purchase music from Amazon, it will be stored automatically in the Music tab on Fire TV, and available on your phone or tablet.

Fling TV Shows and Movies and Display Mirroring
Fling services like YouTube or Netflix from your Android phone or iPhone. Or, share whatever is on your small screen—including movies and TV shows, music, and photos—with everyone in your living room using display mirroring, which includes support for Fire OS and Android.

Whispersync
Amazon’s Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your video and music library across all of your devices. Start watching a movie on your Fire tablet or iPhone, and when you get home, pick up where you left off on your Fire TV. For games that support Whispersync, your place in the game will also sync across devices so you can always pick up where you left off.

All the Content
Prime Video
Prime members in Japan now have unlimited 24×7 streaming video at no additional cost to their Prime membership—¥3,900, the equivalent of ¥325 per month. With access to Prime Video, Prime members can now instantly watch thousands of popular Japanese and U.S. movies and TV shows, popular anime, fan-favorite music concerts and variety shows and more.

Movies and TV Shows from Hulu, GYAO!, Netflix and More
Fire TV comes with instant access to popular Japanese and international video services, including Hulu, GYAO!, Netflix, YouTube.com, Niconico, Video Market, and more.

High-Quality, Low-Cost Games
Fire TV offers easy access to fun casual games for the entire family, including popular games like Final Fantasy VI, Crossy Road, and Pac-Man 256. Games on Fire TV are inexpensive too—many are free or just several hundred Yen.

The Fire Family—Pricing and Availability
Amazon Fire TV is available for pre-order starting today for ¥12,980 and will start shipping October 28.

Fire TV Stick is available for pre-order starting today for ¥4,980 and Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote is available for pre-order starting today for ¥6,480—they will start shipping October 28.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

EPR Retail News