Dear Sonos users-
If you desire additional controllers for your Sonos system Amazon may have just the ticket. They just began taking orders for a $49 Android-based controller. It could be a perfect solution for downloading and using the Sonos app. See Amazon's info here:
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Amazon expects to put new tablets and Fire TVs under the Christmas tree with the launch of a $49.99 tablet, a new kids' tablet with a price cut, and two new Fire HD tablet sizes at 8 and 10.1 inches.
The 10.1-inch model is the company’s largest screen tablet to date.
On top of that, the company unveiled two new Fire TV cord-cutting streaming-media players, both the first with 4K Ultra HD streaming. And it added the Alexa voice assistant to the Fire TVs and a new Fire TV Stick.
Here are the details:
Amazon's Fire TV with voice remote
Fire TV Trio
Three new Fire TVs include a new Fire TV Stick, a Fire TV set-top box that adds 4K Ultra HD streaming, and the first gaming-oriented set-top-box package with included game controller. It also streams 4K.
All are the first with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant to scour the web for information and streaming songs and deliver a natural-language response. The Fire TV devices continue to offer voice control via an app or voice-enabled remote, but Alexa will be extended next year to such functions as finding and playing TV shows and movies, navigating Amazon Fire TV, launch apps, and the like.
The Fire TV Stick is available with standard remote at $39.99 like before, but a $49.99 version now comes with voice-control remote, previously sold separately at $29.99, It is available for pre-order today (Sept. 17) and ships Oct. 22. Like its predecessor, it comes with 1GB RAM, dual-core processor, and 8GB of storage.
The Fire TV set-top box with 4K 30 fps streaming is available for pre-order today at $99 and ships Oct. 5. It retains its predecessor’s $99 price point but adds 4K streaming of content from Netflix, Amazon Video and Prime Video, enabling it to access more 4k content than any other streaming-media player, the company contended.
It also features 75 percent more processing power than the predecesor, which ran up to 1.7GHz. The new model runs at 2x2GHz plus 2x1.6GHz.
The new models also offers twice the graphics performance and adds expandable microSD storage up to 128GB to complement 8GB of embedded storage. The original 1080p model launched in early 2014 lacked memory-card slots, came with only 8GB of embedded storage, but was later updated with a firmware upgrade to add USB storage.
The new model also steps up to add Wi-Fi 802.11ac and the more efficient HEVC video codec, reducing the home-network bandwidth needed to stream HEVC-encoded HD content.
RAM remains the same at 8GB.
The Amazon Fire TV Gaming Edition is available for pre-at $139 and will start shipping Oct. 5. It combines the new 4K Fire TV with a new game controller, a 32GB MicroSD card, and two included games: “Shovel Knight” and “Disney's Ducktales.”
Amazon Fire TV Gaming edition
The new game controller, also sold separately, features new ergonomic design, a headphone jack and microphone to access Alexa voice search.
The streaming-media players access such video services as Netflix, Amazon Video, HBO Now, Hulu and WatchESPN; access to streaming-audio services; and can download and play games, the company said. The settop box versions play high-performance games, while the Stick plays casual games, the company said.
$49.99 Fire Tablet
Amazon's $49.99 Fire tablet
Amazon’s current opening-price tablet is the $99 6-inch Fire tablet, which isn’t getting an upgrade, but the company is reducing its opening price for a tablet to $49.99 with the launch of the 7-inch Fire with 1024x600 IPS display with 171 PPI, quad-core 1.3GHz processor, 1GB RAM, front- and rear-facing cameras with 2-megapixel and VGA resolution, 8GB embedded memory, up to 128GB of expandable storage, Wi-Fi b/g/n/, and battery delivering seven hours of activity.. A buy-five-get-one-free six-pack costs $249. The new model is available for preorder and ships Sept. 30.
Its new Fire OS 5 includes an updated user interface said to replicate the look and feel of a magazine plus “hundreds of new and upgraded features and platform updates,” the company said.