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Kindlevision? Amazon reportedly developing set-top tellybox
Hey guys, maybe we could do watches too!
Amazon will be the latest tech biz to release a set-top TV box later this year, according to the rumour mill, incorporating its video-on-demand services.
The box will plug into users' tellies and bring along the LoveFilm and Instant Video services already available on connected TVs, Xboxes and Playstations, sources whispered to Bloomberg Businessweek.
Amazon's video content services are already competing against Netflix. Packaging them into a set-top box will pitch them against other telly boxes like Apple TV, Roku, the Boxee Cloud DVR and YouView-style offerings, as well as gaming-first boxes from Microsoft and Sony that aspire to be all-round entertainment platforms.
The warehouse retailer's box is reportedly being developed in California by Malachy Moynihan, a former veep of emerging video products at Cisco who also spent nine years at Apple in the 1980s and 1990s.
Moynihan's team includes Andy Goodman, a former top engineer at TiVo and Chris Coley, a former hardware architect at ReplayTV, an early DVR company.
Tech firms have been casting about for other bits of gear to add to their product lines now that mobile devices are nearing saturation points, with glasses, watches, cars and tellies all possibilities for branded makeovers.
A set-top box makes a bit more sense for Amazon than most, however, since it has already ploughed plenty of money into video content - including commissioning its own pilots and getting exclusive rights to popular shows like Downton Abbey.
Amazon had not returned a request for comment at the time of publication. ®