Amazon expected to launch FireTube TV box before Christmas

Amazon has always been dead-set on becoming the number one content provider, after taking over the book market, the e-commerce giant has tried to push movies, games, TV shows and other content on the Kindle Fire more than a normal platform.

This has proven to be a success, with sales on the average Kindle Fire surpassing most Android devices, especially in terms of books and movies. The usage of Kindle Fire tablets has also surpassed most tablets, with the iPad and Nexus 7 the only two competitors.

Amazon wants to take the next step in media, adding a TV box to their list of products. This means Amazon will have the Kindle for books, Kindle Fire for apps and content and the FireTube for TV and streaming.

According to recent reports on the FireTube, it will be a mix of the Apple TV and Chromecast. We do not believe it will use the Chromecast feature, allowing users to stream Chrome tabs through WiFi onto the TV, but it may come with the same Chromecast design.

FireTube will grab content from all types of providers and the current deals Amazon has on the Amazon Prime Instant may elapse onto apps on FireTube. We will also see Netflix and other providers step in to add their applications, for more support.

All this is getting prepared as we speak and Amazon has a target to get the FireTube out before Christmas this year. A big ask, but if we believe reports, Amazon has been working on this TV box for some time, before the Chromecast was around.

The question is will the FireTube only show TV shows and movies or will we see a gaming console similar to the Ouya TV. Amazon has been expanding their social video games in the past few months and we may see it turn into a small gaming console.

This would be a big move by Amazon, entwining TV and games into one box, similar to the Xbox One or PS4. It would also push Apple to do the same with Apple TV or risk getting overlapped by products that do both TV and video games.