The Amazon Fire TV Stick finally available in France: The 7 key points!

Amazon Fire TV Basic Edition
Amazon Fire TV Basic Edition

Since 2014, many users have taken advantage of the Amazon Fire TV range to connect their TV. But in France, we had to wait until November 2017 to take advantage of a product specially designed for the forgotten countries : the Fire TV Stick Basic Edition.

In short:

(1) For what uses the Fire TV Stick Basic Edition of Amazon is perfect in France?

  • Watch HD movies/Unlimited series on Netflix or Amazon prime Video (free for Prime subscribers)
  • Watch the videos on Youtube
  • Watch the French TV live/replay with Molotov (new to 8/12/2017)
  • Listen to your  Spotify, Deezer or Amazon music library
  • Watch your own photos/videos stored on Amazon photos
  • Play beautiful “Casual games” 2d on big screen

(2) What makes Amazon’s Fire TV Stick Basic Edition really unique?

  • A “Big USB key” format as discreet and easy to install as the Google Chromecast
  • Unlike Chromecast, you don’t need a phone to navigate because of the remote control
  • A simple interface designed precisely for the remote control
  • A choice of over 4000 applications and games
  • A very good integration with the Amazon Ecosystem (Alexa, Fire tablets, Amazon Video, Amazon Music ...)

(3) where the Fire TV Stick Basic Edition of Amazon is available in France?

Amazon Fire TV Basic Edition
Amazon Fire TV Basic Edition

If you are interested in the details:

(4) What are the differences with the other Amazon Fire TV?

The Amazon Fire TV Stick Basic Edition actually results from the combination of 2 pre-existing products:
-The stick is the 2nd generation Fire TV Stick, launched in the fall of 2016 and quite efficient
-The remote control, meanwhile, comes from the first generation Fire TV Stick of 2014, without the voice recognition Alexa since it does not yet understand French.

It is for now the only Fire TV product available in France but this should change in 2018!

(5) Does the Fire TV Stick Basic Edition of Amazon have weak points?

  • The Fire TV Stick Basic Edition is, of course, only HD (1080p), no 4K
  • For political reasons, no access to content from the Google Play store or the iTunes movies store
  • The catalogue of applications in French is obviously reduced
  • In fact, some applications are missing for the time being like myCanal or Kodi
  • No Ethernet plug, it needs a good WiFi connection

(6) What are the good surprises of the Fire TV Stick Basic Edition?

But what’s Prime? An Amazon offer that allows you to enjoy:

  • Free shipping in 1 or 2 days on Amazon.fr
  • Access to unlimited movies and series on primevideo.com
  • Free and unlimited storage of your photos
  • Free loan of a Kindle EBook per month

* The trick is therefore

  1. To test free Prime on 30 days-for the 18-24 years, this is here to test for free Prime over 6 months
  2. To buy during this time the Fire TV Stick Basic Edition at €39.99

(7) What are the alternatives, less than €100, to the Fire TV Stick Basic Edition?

Edit of 8/12/2017: Availability of Molotov for the Fire TV

The Apple TV 4K in 7 questions and some revelations

Apple TV 4K
The Apple TV 4K and the new version of the touch remote control

After more than a year of rumors, the Apple TV 4K is now available! Let’s take a look at this new product in 7 questions and few revelations.

In short :

1) For what uses is the Apple TV 4K perfect ?

In France :

  • Watch Netflix movies/series, CanalPlay in 4K HDR
  • Watch myCanal, the live/replay of Canal+ in 4K HDR
  • Watch french TV/TNT programs live and in replay with Molotov and other channel’s apps (BFMTV, Eurosport…)
  • Buy/rent movies/series in HD or 4K HDR on iTunes
  • Listen to your iTunes music library
  • Look at your photos/videos stored in iCloud
  • Mirror your Mac, iPad or iPhone screen
  • Play beautiful 2D and 3D “casual games

2) What makes the Apple TV 4K really unique?

  • A really simple and fluid interface designed for touch remote control
  • A really quick and easy installation
  • A great choice of over 8000 applications and games designed for the big screen
  • Very good integration with the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, Mac, iTunes, Apple, Music, iCloud)
  • The Siri voice command designed for music and movies/series (in France, Siri search across iTunes, Netflix, myCanal and OCS)
  • It’s also a hub for the Homekit home automation system, compatible with Philips, Logitech, Netamo products…

3) Where the Apple TV 4K available ?

In France :

Apple TV 4K
The interface of the Apple TV 4K

 

If you’re interested in the details :

4) What are the differences with the previous model of Apple TV?

  • The ability to decode the 4K in HDR video at 60 frames per second
  • A much more powerful processor (A10X Fusion, like the iPad Pro 2017)
  • A faster ethernet port (Gigabit)
  • A faster wifi (simultaneous dual band)
  • 5.0 Bluetooth support
  • A quiet fan
  • An easier to use and more accurate remote
  • One port less, but we don’t care, it was only intended for maintenance

5) What are the good surprises for the Apple TV 4K ?

  • Support for 2 HDR modes, the classic HDR10 but also the much better Dolby Vision
  • The imminent availability of an Apple TV app mixing programs from iTunes, Molotov.tv, MyCanal, OCS
  • The imminent availability of an Amazon Premium Video app
  • Movies in 4K at the same price as those in HD on iTunes (unlike other platforms)
  • Your old iTunes HD purchases made available for free in 4K
  • The supplied USB cable to recharge the remote

Apple TV 4K
Apple TV 4K

6) What are the Apple TV 4K little known weak points?

  • For now, the Apple TV 4K only reads Youtube 4K videos in HD
  • The touch remote control is sometimes difficult to use in the dark
  • Still no support for Dolby Atmos (but it should happen soon)
  • For iTunes, Disney and Marvel have not yet planned to make their movies available in 4K HDR
  • The HDMI cable is not provided (but this one is perfect in any situation for HD, 4K HDR and 3D)

7) What are the alternatives to the Apple TV 4K ?

Media Player: The biggest player may be not who you think

In the USA, Roku is the major player in market share. Amazon is second with its FireTV, followed by Google with the Chromecast range and Apple with the Apple TV.

But everything will be different soon with the new models coming for christmas by Apple, Amazon and Roku. Stay tuned !

source: Parks Associates