Lilbits 328: Amazon Fire DVR?

Amazon Fire TV devices let you stream internet video on a TV… and if you buy an Amazon Fire TV Edition smart television you can even use Amazon’s interface to watch live television.

But Amazon’s Fire TV ecosystem doesn’t currently support recording TV shows you want to watch later. That may be changing. According to Bloomberg, Amazon is working on a new device code-named “Frank” that will connect to a Fire TV device wirelessly and allow you to save programs to physical storage so you can watch later.

Frank is still in the development phase, and it’s possible that it could be scrapped rather than launched as a public project.  And as noted by AFTV News, there’s also no word on what kind of technology the digital video recorder (DVR) would use to capture videos, so it’s unclear if we’re talking about a system that just plugs into an antenna to record live, over-the-air broadcasts or something that can record shows from your cable or satellite service.

Anyway, if Frank launches, it would be Amazon’s first foray into the DVR space… and it’d certainly make the platform more useful for some users.

• Amazon Is Planning Live TV Recorder, Challenging TiVo (Bloomberg)
  Amazon may be working on a DVR that would let Fire TV users record and save live TV.
• Samsung Odyssey+ headset with SteamVR compatibility allegedly spotted on the FCC website (91mobiles)
  Samsung Odyssey+ VR headset for Windows Mixed Reality leaked ahead of launch by FCC documents, will support SteamVR and feature an updated design for better comfort
• OnePlus 6T will launch with T-Mobile, the first US carrier partner (CNET)
  OnePlus 6T coming in October, will be available from AT&T in the US, but an unlocked version will also be available for AT&T or T-Mobile
• Streaming support spec for hearing aids on Android (Android Developers)
  Google partners with GN Hearing to create open source specification for hearing aid streaming on future versions of Android
• The Samsung Note 9 Shows How Important Smartphone Cooling Has Become (Gizmodo)
  There’ve been multiple phones with liquid cooling and other fancy heat dissipation features announced recently. According to Gizmodo, it makes a difference.
• Google Goggles is dead, now prompts users to install Lens (Android Police)
  Google Goggles is dead, long live Google Lens
• Introduction to Crostini – Applications (Linuxium)
  Detailed look at the process for installing, managing, removing apps on a Chromebook, covering Chrome OS apps, Android apps, and Linux apps (and even Windows apps, thanks to WINE)