The Nvidia Shield TV streaming media player is much loved by enthusiasts, and rightfully so. The original version was released over ten years ago and remains a very capable device today, thanks to its overpowered hardware for the time and ongoing software updates that are still going strong to this...
Amazon has ditched Android for all future Fire TV Stick models and switched to its inferior in-house Vega operating system, which has caused many customers to abandon the platform entirely in favor of Android TV and Google TV devices.
Fake (left) and Real (right) Onn 4K Plus box. If you search for popular streaming devices like the Fire TV Stick, Onn 4K Plus, or Xiaomi TV Box S on Chinese retail sites like Alibaba or AliExpress, you'll find hundreds of generic-looking sticks and boxes capitalizing on name-brand recognition.
Amazon is dropping the Fire TV name for its line of smart televisions. The company's entire lineup of Amazon-made televisions has been rebranded under a new name.
HBO Max has updated its Fire TV app to no longer support devices running Fire OS 5. The company's support page was recently updated to list Fire OS 6 as the minimum supported Fire TV operating system version.
With this week's disappointing release of the new Fire TV Stick HD, Amazon's second streaming device to run its Vega operating system, the future of Android-based Fire TVs is looking bleak.
One area where many Google TV streaming devices fall short is support for lossless audio passthrough, such as Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, and DTS:X surround sound. This is especially true for budget-friendly devices, such as Walmart's existing Onn streamers, none of which support lossless audio formats.
New details and images of Walmart's upcoming 2nd-gen Onn 4K Pro leaked a few days ago, and now it looks like that won't be Walmart's only new 4K Google TV device this year.
The next flagship Google TV streaming device from Walmart's Onn brand leaked last month, and now new images of the device have emerged. Android TV Guide posted on Reddit several line drawings of the new Onn model, and it closely resembles the shape of the Google TV Streamer.
The Tivo Stream 4K has recently received a surprising OS update from Android 10 to Android 12. Given that the device is nearly six years old and Tivo has stopped making hardware to focus on its smart TV OS, this would normally be reason to celebrate.
Downloader version 2.0 has been released! It's available now in the Amazon Appstore for Fire TVs and Fire Tablets, and the Google Play Store for Google TV, Android TV, and Android mobile devices. Marking the biggest update yet for streaming devices, version 2.
Walmart has had a tremendous amount of success with its Onn streaming devices running Google TV, to the point that they've become hard to find in stock and are selling for above list price on sites like eBay.
Amazon has started rolling out its new 2026 Fire TV interface redesign to select Fire TV models and will be rolling it out to many more devices this spring. This is the first major UI update since 2020 and only the third time the Fire TV interface has been overhauled in its 12-year existence.
Note: This photo has been edited to remove a vertical red line that was partially covering the device. A pair of new FCC submissions appear to be Walmart's next two Onn streaming devices, as spotted by Android TV Guide over on Reddit.
Google TV recently revamped its home screen tabs by trimming things down. It looks like Google is now testing out new tabs to fill in the empty space it gained in the last update. A user on Reddit has spotted new Free and Shop tabs appear on their Google TV Streamer.
Google announced last year that sideloaded apps on Android devices will require a new verification process, or the app would be blocked from installing.
Amazon has emailed owners of the Fire TV Blaster informing them that their device will stop working in the coming weeks. This Fire TV accessory enabled Fire TV Stick owners to add hands-free voice control to their home theater when paired with an Echo smart speaker.
Walmart's Onn 4K Plus is a streaming device powerhouse that outperforms all mainstream Android-based streamers, apart from the much more expensive Shield TVs and Fire TV Cube.
Last month, Amazon announced plans to identify and blacklist Fire TV apps that provide access to unlicensed or pirated content. Earlier this month, users began seeing warning messages about an upcoming ban when launching these apps.
Amazon revealed last month that it would begin actively removing apps from Fire TV devices that it believes contain unlicensed pirated content. The app blocking process was said to start with a warning message, which has now begun appearing on Fire TVs when a blacklisted app is launched.