What is a Firestick?

Television has been a part of human life for a long time now. Starting from having only one channel on TV to the emergence of multiple channels under the banner of multiple broadcasters the evolution of television has also been fascinating. But, with time now the taste of the viewers is changing. They want more than a conventional television watching experience. To satisfy that demand Amazon firestick was introduced in the market in 2014. It provides the show binging experience using mobile phones on a big screen.

Basic Explanation

Amazon firestick is a small device that looks like a pen drive that plugs into a TVs HDMI port. It can be used to stream online content over Wifi such as Netflix, Youtube, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO, Pandora, and many more online streaming platforms. The viewers can watch whatever content they want whenever they want to watch as opposed to convention television watching. Read on to know how to jailbreak a firestick.

A remote control is also provided along with the firestick. In the new version, the firestick works with voice commands by using Alexa Virtual Assistance. The firestick has officially transformed a conventional television to smart TV.

The Amazon firestick was introduced in 2014 in competition with Google Chrome cast and Roku. The newest version of the firestick includes updated hardware along with Alexa Virtual Assistant and 4K HD video.
Evolution of Amazon firestick

Like any other device, Amazon firestick has also gone through its due evolution. It has got updated, modified and new features have been added and some obsolete features have been removed. So let us find out the versions of amazon fire TV. The Amazon firestick was introduced in 2014 in competition with Google Chrome cast and Roku. The newest version of the firestick include updated hardware along with Alexa Virtual Assistant and 4K HD video.

First version of firestick

• Broadcom BCM 28145
• Dual-Core 1.2 GHz processor
• 1 GB RAM
• 8 GB storage
• 802.1 n Wifi
• Bluetooth 3.0

Second version of firestick

• Mediatek 8127D
• Quad-core ARM
• 1.3 GHz processor
• 1 GB RAM
• 8 GB storage
• 802.11 ac Wifi
• Bluetooth 4.1

Video output resolution for both first and second version is HD quality that is, 720p or 1080p.

Third version of Firestick

• 1.7 GHz quad-core processor
• 4K Ultra High Definition Video Resolution

Cost of Amazon firestick

The new amazon fire TV stick launched in India will come with a price tag of approximately Rs. 5999. It will have the Alexa voice remote as a stand alone remote for existing amazon fire TV stick users at Rs. 1999. The new model supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Also there is Alexa integration to let you speak with voice assistant directly using new voice remote that comes along with new fire TV stick model. The Alexa Virtual Voice Assistant can also control your TV through dedicated buttons.

Amazon firestick installation

Let’s first understand how to install the amazon firestick and how to use the Alexa virtual Assistance
USB micro cord and power adapter that is provided along with the set while buying an amazon fire TV stick is not necessary to be used along with the set up while installation but these devices will help in getting a faster performance.

If we want to change our traditional TV watching experience to modern show binging and try to enter into the world of smart TV installing Amazon Firestick is a must. Amazon firestick is a small device that looks like a pen drive that plugs into a TV HDMI port. It can be used to stream online content over Wifi such as Netflix, Youtube, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO, Pandora, and many more online streaming platforms. The viewers can watch whatever content they want whenever they want to watch as opposed to convention television watching.

The steps for setting up an Amazon Fire TV stick in-home is as follows

• Plug the USB micro cable into the power adapter
• Plug the other end into the Fire TV stick
• Plug the Fire TV stick into an HDMI port in your TV
• Press Home button on your remote
• Press play or pause button on your remote
• Select your language
• Select your Wifi network
• enter your password and select Connect
• Select Register or Create an account
• Enter your Amazon Login Id and click Next. If you selected Create an account then you have to go through that process of creating an account and then you can login
• Enter your Password and click Sign in.
• Amazon Fire TV stick has two factor authentication enabled confirmation system. The confirmation code will come to your registered phone number which you have to type in the given space.
• Confirm your account through your email and phone number
• Select Yes or No for storing password
• Opt-in or out of parental control
• Sign up for Prime or decline
• Select choose apps to walk through Amazon app downloads. If you are not interested in choosing apps then click No Thanks and skip past
• Select the popular services, channels and online streaming platforms that you want
• Select TV apps that you want
• Select the sports apps that you want
• Select the featured services that you want
• Click play to enable the featured service
• Click Download apps to download the required app needed by you

And this is how you install an amazon fire TV stick

Is there a monthly fee for Amazon fire TV Stick?

There is no monthly fee for using Amazon fire TV stick. However, to use the apps or online streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney, HBO, and others you have to pay the necessary amount.

Channels Available on firestick

Traditional TV channels cannot be seen on Amazon TV firestick but the TV shows, movies and web series or TV series or some sports available on online streaming platforms can be watched anytime according to your wishes provided you have got the subscription to that channel.

How to jailbreak a firestick?

Amazon TV firestick is an incredible device that transforms a television into a smart TV. But one drawback of the firestick is that for each and every online streaming platform that you subscribe to, you have to pay separately for each one of them and as a result, it can cost a lot at the end of the month.

To make this process more economical, the process of jailbreaking comes to play. Jailbreak allows you to access third-party streaming apps that give access to all your favorite movies, web series, TV shows, sports, and many other things. The important thing to understand here is that jailbreaking is completely legal.

However streaming pirated contents using amazon firestick is illegal even if you have gone through the process of jailbreaking amazon firestick.

Jailbreaking is neither easy nor hard. So let us see the steps to jailbeak an amazon fire TV stick

Setting up the firestick for jailbreaking

Tweak a setting on fire TV stick or cube to allow the jailbreaking. Remember it is not infiltrating. For this process, you need an amazon TV firestick. The remote control provided along with the firestick and good internet connection.

• Click on the Settings button( available on menu bar far right on top)
• Click on My Fire TV(or Device for old)
• Click on developer option on the next screen
• Enable or switch on the apps from unknown sources
• Click Turn On when prompted.

What is the basic difference between jailbreaking and non-jailbreaking?

The basic difference between jailbreaking and non-jailbreaking is in case of a jailbroken amazon fire TV stick the media server software KODI.

Like all other amazon devices the amazon TV firesticks also allow you to see the history of what you have watched for a couple of months. So, all the TV shows, movies, and web series or TV series or some sports you want to watch again or all the shows that you are embarrassed to have seen and you do not want other people to know about it, you can go through all of them.

So, let us learn the steps to review history

• Log into your amazon account by going to the website www.amazon.com.
• Click on Accounts and Lists button in the top right-hand corner of the webpage.
• Click on prime video, then click on watch history to see your past viewings.

Reason to review History

All the TV shows, movies and web series or TV series or some sports you want to watch again or all the TV shows, movies and web series or TV series or some sports that you are embarrassed to have seen and you do not want other people to know about it, you can go through all of them and make the necessary amendments by deleting the TV shows, movies and web series or TV series or some sports that you do not want to be there.

How to clear your cache in amazon firestick

• Go to settings and then click Applications.
• Click on Manage Installed Applications on the sub-menu.
• Select an app and then clear cache option.
• Repeat the same for each app to clear the cache of the apps you are using.

How is the Amazon TV firestick worth buying?

So, at the end of the day this is a question we need to ask, how is the Amazon TV firestick worth buying or how is it better than traditional TV watching experience. The answer is very simple. The viewers can watch whatever content they want whenever they want to watch as opposed to convention television watching.

While most people focus on the features of Amazon Fire TV Stick and the related Prime video platform, in reality, the intriguing elements are behind the scene.

From a business model perspective we note the following things

• Retail model: Direct sales of physical components through amazon’s own online retail platform and through other retailers. Prices of the consumable items too are in the same range as their competitor’s pricing. With this, the content likely comes at a higher margin than the hardware.
• Partnering Model: The integration of Fire TV components into TV hardware is a partnering model for the purpose of gaining a larger installed base and hence the viewing experience can be spread to a wide variety of viewers.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, amazon TV firestick is a really helpful and useful device. It feels like taking your traditional TV and converting it into a modern device where you can watch the TV shows, movies and web series or TV series or some sports of your choice at any time you want. This is the key feature that is making amazon TV firestick popular as days are passing by.

Maybe one day all we will have around the globe is only smart TV and thus the television watching experience will be completely modernized. Like any other new innovations people had and still have certain inhibitions or uncertainty regarding buying such a device that has just been launched. But with the passing time such inhibitions will definitely blow away as people cannot ignore the fact that it allows one to watch any TV shows, movies and web series or TV series or some sports of your choice at any time you want.

A remote control is also provided with it which works using buttons and also in the new versions Alexa Virtual Assistance is incorporated into the remote control. So, I guess Amazon TV firestick is worth buying as it provides a lot of advantages and a great viewing experience at a really reasonable cost.