It’s been expected for a while now, but according to a new report, Amazon is set to do away with the Android foundation for its Fire TV streaming devices, with the replacement launching later this year.
First reported in 2023, Amazon has been working in the background on a new “Vega OS” that would eventually replace Android on some of the company’s key products, including Fire TV. News on the matter has been quiet for some time now, but work has continued on behind the scenes.
Now, Lowpass reports that Amazon is planning to introduce its new Fire TV platform later this year, with Android left by the wayside.
The report claims that Amazon will release its “first TV streaming device powered by its still-unannounced Vega OS later this year.” Apparently, that device was supposed to launch in late 2024. Vega OS requires all new apps to be written for the platform, which has left Amazon “courting major publishers” to ensure important apps are in place.
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Amazon finished coating the operating system and then they found out that it wouldn't fit under several of the bridges that they needed it to go under so they had to be expensive retrofits modifications and so forth.
If I ever heard of a billionaire's folly this is one. What are they going to do make all the applications for all of the streaming services for the Lenox OS that's their particular version?
About the one thing I could say that's positive about Amazon's streaming devices it's that they run Android which means I can side load and use a lot of other applications make the product absolutely useful.
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This news comes not long after documentation from Amazon surfaced which pointed to a new Android-based Fire OS update for TVs. That documentation led many to believe that Amazon wouldn’t be proceeding with its plans for Vega OS, but this latest report cites further job listings as well as information about apps that have been built by major publishers all for this new platform.
It remains to be seen how the switch to Vega OS will be handled, but it’s hard to imagine it would impact existing products as swapping out an operating system on a product that customers actively use isn’t a particularly easy feat. As such, it stands to reason that continued updates for existing devices could necessitate a newer Android version, while newer hardware makes the jump to Vega OS, but things are still pretty unclear at the moment. Smart TVs running Fire TV also add another set of possibilities here.
More on Android on TVs:
- Amazon Fire TV update removes the ability to hide apps from homescreen
- Nvidia rolling out another new Shield TV update with these fixes
- Walmart’s next Google TV box leaks as a Chromecast replacement with 16GB storage
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