Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Fire TV | |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Amazon.com |
Released | 2014-04-02 (US) |
OS | Fire OS 3.0 "Mojito" (Based on Android) |
CPU | Qualcomm Krait 300, quad-core to 1.7 Ghz |
Storage | 8 GB internal |
RAM | 2 GB RAM |
Display | 1080p |
Graphics | Qualcomm Adreno 320 |
Connectivity | HDMI, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, Wifi (802.11n), 10/100 Ethernet, Optical audio, CEC |
Dimensions | 115 × 115 × 17.5 mm (4.53 × 4.53 × 0.69 in) |
Devices | Android | Amazon Fire TV |
The Amazon Fire TV is an Android-based (Fire OS) set-top-box that contains a very powerful ARM processor (that can even handle some of the more heavy XBMC skins). Fire TV stands above some of the other Android-based offerings due to Amazon's strong product support and because it contains more remote friendly versions of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and other video service clients, making it a good pairing with XBMC.
Builds
Official Builds
XBMC 13 builds for Android (ARM): http://mirrors.xbmc.org/releases/android/arm/
Stable[ish] builds
The following specialized Frodo-based builds are reported to exhibit the fewest issues with hardware video decoding on the Fire TV. They can be installed alongside the below Test build, so you can still help with testing Gotham.
Test builds
Our Android devs are trying to get hardware video decoding working on the Amazon Fire TV. Here's how you can help!
- Download and install the latest fixamcoutput build from http://mirrors.xbmc.org/test-builds/android/arm/
- Open XBMC.
- Play a video, such as this one.
- Plug in a USB keyboard and press O to bring up the codec info screen.
- Record a video with your phone/camera of your TV as it's playing the video and upload it to YouTube.
- Report what happened and the YouTube video URL to this forum thread: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=191109
Installing
General Steps
- Install the Android SDK onto your computer. This contains the ADB tool. https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
- Follow these instructions to connect ADB to your Amazon Fire TV: https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/asb/connect-adb.html
- Follow these instructions to install the XBMC app onto the Fire TV (using the ADB tool): https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/asb/app-install.html
Installing from Windows
Windows specific step-by-step instructions
- Install the Android SDK and ADB Utility
- Download and unzip the Android SDK/ADT Bundle for Windows from https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
- Find the platform-tools folder in the extracted bundle
- Copy the complete path of the platform-tools, and add it to your PATH environmental variable in Windows System Properties
- Enable USB Debugging on the Fire TV
- From the Fire TV Home screen, select Settings
- Go to System -> Developer Options
- Select ADB Debugging to turn it ON
- Connect to the Fire TV via ADB
- From the Fire TV Home screen, select Settings
- Go to System -> About -> Network, and take note of the Fire TV's IP address
- On your PC, open a Command Prompt
- Run the following commands
- >adb kill-server
- >adb start-server
- >adb connect <ip-address-of-fire-tv>
- ADB is connected when the Command Prompt reports the message "connected to <ip-address-of-fire-tv>:<port>"
- Install XBMC via ADB
- Download your desired XBMC APK
- In your Command Prompt, navigate (CD) to the directory with your XBMC APK
- Run the following command
- >adb install <apk-file-name>
- Installation is complete when the Command Prompt reports the message "success"
Launch XBMC on the Fire TV
- From the Fire TV Home screen, select Settings
- Select Applications
- Find and select your XBMC installation (it may be named "XBMC", "SPMC", or "XBMC on OUYA")
- Select Launch Application
Controls
Bluetooth remote
To make the remote work with XBMC's on-screen-keyboard, go to XBMC -> Settings -> System -> Input devices and enable Remote control sends keyboard presses
Note: For slightly improved keymaps for the Fire TV remote, see Alternative keymaps for Fire TV remote.
Button | Global action | Fullscreen video action |
---|---|---|
3 | Directional pad:
|
Directional pad:
|
4 | Select | On-screen-display menu |
6 | Context menu | Playlist |
7 | Fast forward | Fast forward |
8 | Play/pause | Play/pause |
9 | Back | Back out of fullscreen video (does not stop playback) |
10 | Rewind | Rewind |
CEC
People are reporting that the Amazon Fire TV has basic CEC support.
USB
USB port allows for various additional remote types, such as FLIRC, various RF dongles, etc. Most of these devices will show up as a keyboard type input.
- Logitech K520, K700 and K800 and DiNovo mini wireless keyboards are said to work, as reported in the forum http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=191109&pid=1673921#pid1673921 (and the next post).
Other bluetooth devices
It should be possible to pair other bluetooth controllers and remotes to the Fire TV. Most of these devices will show up as a keyboard type input.
Known issues
- Hardware video decoding is semi-working. This is being looked into. Please see the test build section above for how you can help.
Random notes
Feel free to place various notes, tips, and links here. As this section of the wiki gets more organized, those notes will be properly sorted. Consider this like a dumping ground for when you're not sure where to put something.
- The USB port seems to work with keyboards and mice.
Links
- XBMC forum thread about the Amazon Fire TV: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=191109
- Amazon Fire TV product page: http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-CL1130-Fire-TV/dp/B00CX5P8FC
- iFixit teardown: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Amazon+Fire+TV+Teardown/23856
- Supported codecs: https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/asb/media-specs.html
- Wikipedia article on Amazon Fire TV: wikipedia:Amazon Fire TV