Still later was its entry into the world of TV hardware, in the form of Fire TV - an Android box with a remote controller - and Fire TV stick - both launched in 2014. The Fire brand was launched four years later, when Amazon launched its first tablet, Kindle Fire.
The company’s entry into the world of hardware came in 2007, in the form of a reading device called Kindle. Amazon AWS is today the biggest infrastructure-as-a-service provider in the world.
Leveraging its extensive and global network of cables and data centers, it also started the business of leasing IT infrastructure (such as servers) to techies and small and large companies alike. Later, instead of selling the content on discs, it started streaming it over the internet via services like Prime Video and Prime Music. The company started out as an online seller of books in 1994, before expanding to items like CDs and toys.
Given that 35 GB is enough to stream full HD videos for 24 hours at a stretch, it is unlikely that the FUP cap will bother most users at least, on most days.įire TV Hotspot, which is essentially a broadband-content combo, is the latest attempt by the former internet-based bookseller to expand the scope of its services. In other words, there’s a fair usage cap of 35 GB per day on the Amazon Fire TV Hotspot service, post which the speed is reduced to 5 Mbps for the rest of the day. For Rs 400, the customer gets 35 GB of wifi data per day at 30 Mbps, followed by unlimited data at 5 Mbps. Given that Prime membership costs around Rs 100 per month, that makes the bundled connection worth around Rs 400 per month. There is also an ‘80% refund’ option for dissatisfied customers. Including the price of prime membership, the total cost of the Fire TV Hotspot service is just Rs 1,499 for three months, or Rs 500 ($6.74) per month. That said, the bundled broadband connection will not be restricted to Amazon Fire devices, but will be available for use on other devices in the house, such as laptops, and for purposes other than consuming Amazon services, such as work. Given that Amazon’s Fire streaming devices in India do not support wired connections, it is not surprising that the connectivity is being provided wirelessly, via Wifi, and not in the form of a fiber or cable lead. Orange Waves is not a known internet service provider in India, and may have been set up to cater to Amazon’s Fire broadband service - christened ‘Fire TV Hotspot’.
The exact business arrangement between Amazon and Orange Waves Networks is not clear. To be sure, the actual connectivity is being provided by a company known as Orange Waves Networks Ltd, which was registered in the middle of last year with its headquarters in Mumbai. Prime shipping is also included for free. Like in case of Fire TV and Fire media streaming devices, the key selling point of the service will be unlimited access to Amazon’s incredible archives of digital content, including songs, videos and movies. The company started offering Fire TV branded broadband connectivity in the Indian city of Mumbai - making it possibly the only one in the world to get Amazon branded broadband services.
Amazon has expanded its Fire brand of devices and software to the service sector with the launch of its Fire TV Hotspot broadband service in India.