Channels for FireTV

#1

So I just saw it was released but might be beta, what’s the deal with it?

http://www.aftvnews.com/channels-app-arrives-on-the-fire-tv-and-fire-tv-stick-for-hdhomerun-viewing/#comment-518970

#2

If we didn’t tweet it, it didn’t happen, lol.

Sorry everyone for the excitement. Channels for Fire TV was made public on Amazon’s store by mistake today. It’s very very early in development and still just experiment for now. We’re just noodling to see how well and how far we can get Channels to work on Fire TV.

Channels for Fire TV has been queued for removal, but Amazon said it could take up to two business days for it to be removed.

We’ve always try to be sure to set expectations well for all of you so that you’re well informed and never disappointed. Sorry to make it look like Channels was available on another platform when it in fact wasn’t. But we are checking out different platforms to see if it’s within our means to release on them. We’re always trying to do something to make being a Channels user easier and more worthwhile.

As you know, we develop and operate pretty out in the open. You can follow the development of the things we’ve been working on, and even join betas (including Fire TV), right here on our community site.

Thanks! And sorry for the confusion.

#3

OK so how do I sign up the the FireTV beta, I didn’t see it? I already have Channels for the AppleTV. I don’t however use the DVR function.

#4

The FireTV app is currently only available to DVR subscribers, as it requires the DVR server to function.

#5

Well I hope that changes soon please.

#6

In our tests, the FireTV is not good to playing streams directly from the HDHR, because the hardware decoder is missing a deinterlacer. This makes the video quality look quite bad and is unwatchable in our opinion. We have tried many different software decoding and software deinterlacing techniques, but the hardware is not fast enough for it. That’s why we have decided to use the DVR to deinterlace and transcode the video first before sending it to the FireTV. The DVR also provides guide data, tuner sharing, combines multiple HDHR units together, and exposes several APIs that make writing the FireTV app a lot easier.