> So you can buy used or refurbished phones from some third party retailer, great, but you cannot buy a Pixel or Chromecast or Google Home.
New nexus devices are still for sale.
> Also, is it Google preventing Amazon from getting Prime onto their devices? I've always been under the impression this was Amazon's choice, as it helps them move more Fire sticks.
Correct, Google requires Play Services nowadays for Chromecast. Amazon Prime Video and Netflix both used to support Chromecast on Kindle devices and elsewhere, Google disabled that functionality, and Amazon removed it elsewhere. Fire sticks are sold at a loss.
So you can buy used or refurbished phones from some third party retailer, great, but you cannot buy a Pixel or Chromecast or Google Home.
Also, is it Google preventing Amazon from getting Prime onto their devices? I've always been under the impression this was Amazon's choice, as it helps them move more Fire sticks.
> The situation on Android might be different; at one point I certainly could cast from Netflix to Chromecast on my Kindle Fire (even though no Google Play Services existed) although from looking around on Google a bit that appears to no longer be the case.
Correct. Google removed that ability, and Amazon won’t support Chromecast until Google adds it back.
> I'm sorry - is amazon prime available on my chromecast now and I've missed it?
It used to be (well, Amazon Prime itself not, but they were working on it, and the Netflix app on Kindles did support it), until Google started constantly changing the (proprietary) protocol to prevent anyone else from implementing it.
Currently, the only way to stream to Chromecast is with Google’s proprietary library, which they only license under the Android OEM terms (meaning you have to ship ALL Google apps, set them as defaults, and can’t run your own App Store).
This has also completely killed all open source projects that tried to support the Chromecast protocol.
> Good on Amazon for continuing to improve! FireTV launched April 2014 New FireTV to ship October 2015
Sure, a year and a half later they release a more featureful, more expensive, variant on the product they initially released. Good for them, but...
> versus Google Chromecast which was amazing when launched in July 2013. But absolutely ZERO improvements in OVER 2 years. :(
Chromecast launched July 2013, true; it was (and is) a ~$35 media stick. And November 2014 -- a little under a year and a half later -- Google released a more featureful product that subsumed the basic functions of the Chromecast, had more onboard capability for apps, etc., and included a game controller, the $99 (now $79), Android TV based Nexus Player.
So, I don't think its really fair to say Google hasn't done anything here. Amazon's path isn't all that different from Google's.
Amazon removing the Chromecast from their store was, if anything, verification at the Fire TV was not a product that could succeed on its own.
I love my Chromecast and I buy new models directly from Google, because no matter what Amazon says I know the difference between Google's product, and Amazon's copycat version of it.
> Now, we wanted to Chromecast it, and Amazon (to the best of my knowledge) does not allow you to do that, presumably because they want you to buy their Fire TV instead.
It works on a phone or tablet if you cast the whole screen. Might work on a laptop the same way.
Edit: I did some googling and it appears that amazon pulled both Apple TV and Chromecast because they didn't offer Amazon Prime. Which is clearly abuse of their position in the market to me but I'm just a layperson.
Then int 2017 they were slated to come back but now in 2018 I can't find chromecasts anymore. Only peripherals for it and clones.
Edit: Lol I just noticed they're selling the "fire tv stick" instead. What a stupid name.
> How come Amazon video isn't available on Apple TV or Chromecast?
In the case of Chromecast, because Amazon hasn't built an app that uses the Chromecast API, because -- the same as the move here -- Amazon wants to use its position to promote and sell its own hardware that competes with Chromecast.
Its not like Google prevents Amazon from using the Chromecast SDK the same as anyone else.
That's not why. See the article. Google has stated this is because amazon doesn't sell certain google products through their store, and doesn't allow prime video on the chromecast.
> I'm both a subscriber of HBO and of Prime, and I'll actually be using this. You see, I have a Roku...
I'm in a similar situation, but I use a Chromecast instead of a Roku. Why oh why Amazon doesn't implement Chromecast support baffles me so much. I would spend a good amount of money on their streaming content that way. Instead, my money goes into the Google Play store.
New nexus devices are still for sale.
> Also, is it Google preventing Amazon from getting Prime onto their devices? I've always been under the impression this was Amazon's choice, as it helps them move more Fire sticks.
Correct, Google requires Play Services nowadays for Chromecast. Amazon Prime Video and Netflix both used to support Chromecast on Kindle devices and elsewhere, Google disabled that functionality, and Amazon removed it elsewhere. Fire sticks are sold at a loss.
reply