Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV dominate streaming media device market in the U.S. with 86% of sales, according to a new report by Parks Associates. The analysts believe that “this market concentration will force new entrants to develop unique solutions in order to have an impact in this expanding ecosystem” and we’re sure we’re going to see such a “unique solution” on Sept. 9th.

“Roku continues to lead streaming media device sales in the U.S. with 34% of units sold in 2014. Google is second with 23%, and new entrant Amazon overtook Apple for third place,” said Barbara Kraus, Director of Research, Parks Associates.

The Streaming Media Device Landscape reports that nearly 20% of U.S. broadband households own at least one streaming media player, such as a Roku 3, Amazon Fire TV, or Apple TV. Eight percent own at least one streaming stick, such as a Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV Stick, or Roku’s HDMI Streaming Stick, while 2% own both form factors.

Roku devices are the most used among U.S. broadband households that own a streaming media device at 37%, followed by Google Chromecast at 19%, Apple TV at 17%, and Amazon Fire TV devices at 14%

The report estimates that 86 million streaming media devices will be sold globally in 2019.

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At the I/O developers conference yesterday, Google unveiled their vision of the set-top box, called Android TV. Packing much more than just screen mirroring as in Chromecast, the Android TV sounds better than the recently announced Amazon Fire TV. However, for Apple TV Hacks followers, most of the features on Android TV would seem like deja vu.

The Android TV will be built on the latest version of Android, dubbed “L” and will focus mainly on entertainment and gaming. The featured movies and TV shows from Google Play will be available right from the home screen and users can even voice search to find their favorite content from different sources including GooglePlay Store and other installed third party apps, like Netflix and Hulu.

The Android TV also supports games from GooglePlay, which can be enjoyed using a controller, plus it brings Chromecast-like capabilities to “AirPlay Mirror” any Android screen to HDTV.

Google has also partnered with television makers like Sony and Sharp to built Android TV right into their television sets, starting 2015.

That is a really compelling list of features and probably the best set-top box offering we’ve seen. However, Apple is yet to show their hand. The current Apple TV model, the 3rd generation one, is over two years old now and the kind of speculations we’ve been hearing during this time is overwhelming. If rumors are to be believed, the Apple TV 4 will be a revolutionary new take on televisions, scheduled be launched sometime in Q4 this year, or early next year.

The next Apple TV is speculated to sport an iOS 8 based firmware, a completely revamped interface, a developer SDK for custom apps, a separate App Store, support for third party channels, ability to play games, compatibility with MFi controllers and more. Besides, iOS 8 features like Continuity, iCloud Family sharing and peer-to-peer AirPlay are getting integrated into Apple TV.

The Android TV is set to be launched “this fall” along with the official L release. And from the looks, it would give just enough time for Apple to reveal what they’ve been working on for the past 2 years. Just wait a couple more months and hopefully, we’ll have a worthy Apple TV 4 vs Android TV clash to look forward to and decide the fate of our living rooms.

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I’ve just found a new device family reference in Siri’s ressources in iOS 7.1… New #AppleTV or #iWatch ? pic.twitter.com/Ak1PVuBmqc

— UNiCORN (@bp_unicorn) April 19, 2014

Later, 9to5Mac took a deeper look and found that both 7.1 and 7.1.1 has these references but not 7.0.6. They’ve confirmed that the number 3 is indeed referring to the Apple TV family and not any new devices, as evident from its previous references and Apple’s official documentation.

“As shown by Apple’s documentation, ’1′ and ’2′ represent the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad families. The ’3′ represents the Apple TV family. The Apple TV has been given the ’3′ designation ever since Apple TV became based off iOS. The Lowtide application uses the ’3′ identifier for instance, as do current Apple TV apps.”

Due to the absence of a built-in microphone on the current generations of Apple TV devices, it is unlikely that Siri will be making its way to them. But with the rumors of Apple TV 4 floating around, claiming a completely redesigned interface, support for games, third party channels and more, it is safe to conclude that the next Apple TV will be seeing Siri’s voice navigation functionality too.

Besides, with Amazon Fire TV promoting its voice-search feature as a major selling point, it is unlikely that Apple TV 4 won’t have a worthy answer to it.

Read more about Apple TV 4 and leran how to get Amazon Fire TV-style voice search on Apple TV.

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So Amazon has finally dropped the curtains on its set-top box, the Fire TV, which comes as a direct competitor to the Apple TV. One of the major features boasted by Amazon is its voice search function. You’ll be surprised to know that you can get the voice search feature on your Apple TV, right now.

This is not a voice search feature which is built right into the hardware remote. Instead, it is a cheeky way to use Apple’s official Remote app for iOS. So if you have an iPhone or iPad or iPod touch, you can voice search for anything you want.

How to?

Step 1 – Get the free Remote app from the App Store.

Step 2 – Switch on your Apple TV and turn on Wi-Fi on your iOS device.

Step 3 – Sign in with your Apple ID and turn on Home Sharing on the Remote app.

Step 4 – The app will automatically detect your Apple TV. Tap on the icon to connect.

Step 5 – Now you can use the Remote app to control your Apple TV.

Step 6 – Go to the Search bar in TV Shows, Movies or iTunes Library section like you normally do and you’ll see that a search bar appears on the app. Instead of typing in the titles, tap on the Mic icon on the virtual keyboard which will bring up a wavering interface of Apple’s built-in dictation function.

Step 7 – Speak out your favorite TV show or movie name, press search and the app will voice search it for you.

Yes, some might consider this as a unconventional or non-systematic method but it does indeed work great for the function. It is also worth noting that the voice search feature on Amazon Fire TV only works within the Amazon Instant Video app and not others like Netflix.

Also read: How to watch Amazon Prime Instant Video on Apple TV

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Amazon has finally released their home TV set-top device, the Fire TV. With the same price and a similar form factor to the Apple TV, Amazon has joined Roku in their fight for the living room. But how does their offering stack up, and should Apple be worried?

The Specs

Apple’s current offering uses the A5 processor, the same chip in the iPhone 4S, a single-core processor with 512MB RAM. Amazon’s entry is built around a quad-core chip with 2GB of RAM. Clearly, the age of the Apple TV is showing, so from a capabilities and performance perspective, Amazon has the clear edge here. In practice, however, there are minimal expected differences is audio/video content performance, as both devices support 1080p and surround-sound audio. Amazon has raised the stakes a bit with their direct support of on-device games, where the additional CPU and GPU performance can be a major benefit.

A remote is included that stylistically, and thankfully, borrows heavily much more from Apple TV or Roku than the earlier Google TV offerings (remember the Sony remote?). It is much more substantial than the Apple remote, which may help keep it from getting lost in the sofa cushions on a daily basis (a real issue I have with the Apple TV remote). The remote has one additional very interesting feature…

Voice Search

By holding a button on the remote, you can activate Fire TV’s voice search function. Rather than having a remote with a full keyboard, making text entry easy but everything else difficult. Apple’s approach has as many tradeoffs, with general usage easy for a child to do but text entry frustratingly difficult. By integrating voice search directly into the remote, the Amazon approach has another clear leg up on the competition.

Games

Home gaming is in a very interesting state right now. With Sony and Microsoft releasing their fourth-generation home gaming consoles, the high end has never had the level of performance and capability as is available today. Nintendo has fumbled with their Wii-U product, and is struggling to find their feet. And now Amazon has entered the fray by providing a set-top box for a price the fraction of the Sony and Microsoft offerings, with a dedicated gaming controller available for under $40.

The hardware capabilities of the Fire TV, while significant for a streaming device, pale in comparison to the high-end offerings from MS and Sony. And with 8GB of storage on the Fire TV, it is unlikely that a truly immersive gaming experience is in the cards for this device. The ability to play Android games is the true unknown here, and could make the Fire TV a very compelling platform for low-end home gaming. Amazon is also creating their own games, starting with “Sev Zero,” from Amazon Game Studios.

Again, Amazon has a lead over Apple with their current offerings. The ability to play games natively on the device, and to provide an App Store for the games, is not something that Apple has done yet (however, the Apple TV 4 is rumored to come with its own App Store). We don’t yet know how the games or platform will be received, but for the Android gaming community, this has the potential to open up a new market for their enjoyment.

The Real Key: Content

Here is what the whole device market comes down to at its core: content. There are three different models being used for content today.

Roku has taken the most agnostic approach, by primarily relying on third-party content providers. While Roku does offer “M-Go” for direct movies, their primary focus is on providing as many different sources of content as possible, and they currently have over 1,000 “channels” available.

Apple has, unsurprisingly, focused on iTunes as their primary content delivery mechanism. As more and more content types moved to the cloud, the Apple TV became a more capable device, allowing any past purchases of movies, TV shows, and music, to be available at any time without requiring a local computer or copy of iTunes running. Apple has been slowly adding support for additional “channels,” but are nowhere near the 1,000 mark of Roku.

Apple has also opened up the Apple TV to some competitors in the content space, allowing Netflix and Hulu on the device, but Amazon Prime Instant Video is still absent. It is unknown if the absence of Amazon Prime is due to Apple, Amazon, or neither pushing for support.

Amazon is clearly positioning the Fire TV as an Amazon-service preferred device. While their current website and promotional materials list “Netflix” before “Prime Instant Video” in their list of content providers, this is likely due to the current marketshare of Netflix rather than an indication of Amazon’s future plans.

Both Netflix and Amazon have been heavily fighting for both exclusive content deals and original content over the past several months. With the success of Netflix’s “Hose of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black”, they have matured from a replacement for syndicated reruns to a potential legitimate competitor for HBO or Showtime. Likewise, Amazon’s recent success with “Alpha House” has encouraged them to make further investments in original content.

By owning the end-user device responsible for delivering their new content, Amazon has something that has never existed before in the video entertainment space – a true end-to-end experience. In the past, the content providers were reliant on the cable company for the set-top box, and Netflix has relied on third-party devices for the TV interface as well. This certainly has advantages for Amazon over Netflix.

Where Next?

The danger here is one of a new generation of incompatible formats and choices that hinder the end-user experience rather than foster it. Apple’s “walled garden” approach to content and applications means that long-term iTunes customers need to purchase their hardware to access their content, a story that has been consistent from the original iPod. Apple has been opening up access since the introduction of the iPhone SDK in February of 2008, allowing competing content providers to support Apple devices, but never allowing competing devices to access Apple/iTunes content.

Amazon has provide Prime streaming support on Roku, and will obviously provide it on Fire TV, but they have not made it available (or not been allowed to make it available) on the Apple TV. This only hurts the customer, and hopefully will be a short-term problem. With the technology available today, there is no reason the TV devices from every vendor shouldn’t support the top streaming services.

Apple certainly has a vested interest in not opening up their content libraries to other hardware providers, but hopefully Apple and Amazon can come to an agreement that is in the best interest of their mutual customers regarding streaming services.

Amazon has raised the bar in several areas, and are showing some real advancement in terms of the “living room experience.” Apple TV is sorely overdue for an update, and it will be interesting to see Apple’s response.

Also read: 

• Will Apple TV 4 come with Comcast subscriptions?
• Opinion: How Apple can improve the TV experience without the “TV”
• Opinion: Where is Apple taking the TV in 2014?

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