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Amazon’s long-rumored Roku-like TV box to launch next month?

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Image: digitaltrends.com

Amazon’s TV box, which the company is believed to have been working on for around a year, is to be launched next month, according to unnamed content distribution sources cited by re/code. It had originally been expected to be launched in time for last year’s holiday sales.

People I’ve talked to who are partnering with Amazon believe the company is aiming for a March rollout […]

Sources tell me Amazon’s box will be powered by Google’s Android operating system, which is also not a surprise — Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets use a “forked” version of Android … 

The box is expected to provide access to Amazon Instant Video and Amazon’s own music catalog, but there are also strong rumors that the device will double as a games console.

The launch may cause Roku some concern: a strong marketing push by Amazon could see it do for TV box sales what Kindle did for ebook readers.

It’s not known what Amazon plans to charge for its box, but it has been suggested that the company may even make the hardware free to Amazon Prime members as a vehicle for selling content. A free offer might also be used as a way to lessen the blow of increases in the annual subscription cost of Prime membership, hinted at in the company’s recent quarterly earnings call.

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