David Farnor | On 17, Sep 2015

Amazon claims to have the fastest growing library of content on Fire TV than any other streaming media player.

Amazon’s little black box, which first launched last year, is a strong competitor in the set top box market, thanks to its unique ability to offer both Netflix and Amazon Prime on your telly. But the race to connect non-Smart TV sets to the Internet is heating up, with boxes and sticks from Roku and Google also proving highly popular.

Amazon’s comments arrive hot on the heels of the launch of the new Apple TV, which introduces a long-awaited app store to the streaming media device, opening up the platform to other apps and content. The online retail giant, though, is keen to keep its nose ahead of the iTunes-offering rival.

Since April 2014, Amazon says its Fire TV selection of apps, games and channels has multiplied 17 times, with HBO NOW – previously an exclusive to Apple TV – recently added to the Fire platform. FOX NOW, FXNOW, Poker Central, and Turner Classic Movies will be coming soon.

However, a closer look at Amazon’s growing library reveals that things are not as diverse as they might appear: YouTube MCN Fullscreen, for example, which accounts for 50,000 channels on the site, has begun launching individual apps for each of its creators – with at least 675 apps to their name now on the Fire TV platform.

Either way, the comments apply primarily to the US version of Amazon’s Fire TV, but they highlight just how fierce the competition has now become between streaming devices. Consumers now face a choice between lots of similar-looking gadgets, but, whether it’s Amazon’s Instant Video, Apple’s iTunes Store or Google with its in-built Play Store, the chosen device can significantly encourage sales of digital media through a particular online store.

“Selection for Fire TV is growing incredibly quickly—it has the largest and fastest growing selection of any streaming media player,” said Steve Rabuchin, Vice President of Amazon Appstore, in a statement.

“We’re energized by how many of our customers are discovering new content, and by how excited developers are with such a new platform.”

Amazon has also highlighted its universal search across multiple services, such as HBO Go, Showtime and Hulu – again, US-specific libraries – in response to Apple’s introduction of a similar, Siri-based voice search.

“The way people watch TV is changing, but one thing that hasn’t changed is enjoying entertainment in the living room,” added Michael Paull, Vice President of Digital Video at Amazon. “Customers love Amazon Video on Fire TV, streaming more hours of movies & TV shows including our award-winning Amazon Original Series like Transparent and Tumble Leaf per month on Fire TV than on any other living room device.”

Update

To top it all off, Amazon has since launched a brand new Fire TV box supporting 4k streaming.

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