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Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show
- niftich 9y agoLast time [1] we speculated, some saying it's a straight tit for tat [2], others, like me [3], saying it can be because Amazon half-assed the implementation after getting no help from Google. At least this time, we know the real reason. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15348063 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15348063 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15348063#15349384 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15348063#15349384 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15348063#15349084 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15348063#15349084
- AmIFirstToThink 9y agoWhen was Amazon Prime Video available on non-Amazon Android devices? Why did Amazon pulled chromecast from the Amazon stores? Casting is an open API with many device and app manufactures supporting it. Same goes for YouTube. I don't buy the argument that Amazon couldn't make YouTube app work on their devices. Amazon sells things from other vendors for most of the things that they sell under Amazon brand. They stopping sell of Chromecast was clearly anti-competitive practice. This was a miscalculation on Amazon's part. Or they both are playing smoke and mirrors game for the regulators to crack down on, enforce competition, claim victory, meanwhile forgetting about the real important stuff that these companies get away with.
- inthewoods 9y agoThe big winner in this would seem, to me, to be Roku - one of those rare cases where being independent actually helps.
- chrisper 9y agoSadly not available outside of the US.
- sapphire_tomb 9y agoUK here. I have several Roku devices.
- chrisper 9y agoHmm. Did you buy it officially or did you import it?
- dhoulb 9y agoIt’s 100% available in the UK. Bought one officially from Amazon. Not imported.
- kawsper 9y agoIt did not use to be 100% available, Roku denied for a long time ship their Roku Streaming Stick 3600 to the UK. So you had to find a person that had bought it in the US, or trick them into sending it to you. When I asked support about it they said "The 3600R is not supported in the UK, so I'm afraid it will not work", however it is now selling on Amazon. Some believed that it was because of Sky having a deal with Roku (Sky has invested in Roku), and because of that they wanted to brand their own Rokus, or something like that. I am glad that they have since come to their senses and agreed to sell Rokus in the UK.
- tym0 9y agoI know it is at least available in the UK and France.
- lixardz 9y agoroku is freaking terrible. have you even used one? compared to the seamlessness that chromecast plus the price, why would you use anything else.
- syshum 9y ago>>seamlessness that chromecast how is it seamless, I want a independent device to watch videos on, not a device that have to connect with my phone, tablet or pc then "cast" video to it. I want a self contained video streaming device with its own physical remote, processor and OS that does not need anything else but a internet connection Roku and FireTV are different classes of Devices than a ChromeCast
- kenning 9y agoThe cool thing about chromecast is that you can drag and drop a video file into chrome and it will play on your tv. I don't want to see ads on youtube, so instead of using the built in chromecast support i just stream the window to my tv with ublock origin installed -- no ads. That's actually all i want, a wireless hdmi cable. But I'm in a tiny minority.
- syshum 9y ago>>I don't want to see ads on youtube That is what a PiHole is for ;)
- kenning 9y agoholy shit this is awesome, thank you
- fahayekwasright 9y agoHave you heard of YouTube Red?
- lixardz 9y agoyou're in like .01% of the population that wants that. the menu's and remote with the roku are horrendous, everything about a roku is terrible. You have log into an account within the 'roku os'. you also have to have the remote on you. I almost always have my phone on me. I'm already signed into all the apps that i want, with a much easier to use keyboard for searching. i tap a button on my screen and it's playing on my tv. The entire experience is 'seamless' just because you like to have 47 extra steps to watch a video doesn't mean that anyone else would like that. Roku is for people who don't know better or are technologically challenged. I mean, if you compared it to the appletv Roku is probably good?
- jitix 9y agoOr nvidia. Shield tv is awesome. They inked out separate deal with amazon for prime video and other amazon stuff on android.
- GabrielF00 9y agoIs there precedent for a company restricting access to its website by a competitor's device for competitive reasons?
- spydum 9y agolike how you can't view amazon prime videos from android tablets (or at least, certain versions iirc.. amazon yanked it's apk from play store. i dont recall why, but some people simply side-loaded from amazon store).
- GabrielF00 9y agoThat's an app. Apps are inherently* limited to a particular OS. I'm asking if a company has restricted a website for competitive reasons. *Not counting something like phone gap.
- astr0n0m3r 9y agoI think you recall incorrectly. There's an Amazon Prime Video app in the Play Store.
- lsaferite 9y agoNow. For a period of time Amazon removed it though.
- dominotw 9y agochormecast only works in chorme. amazon video doesn't support chromecast.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- foolrush 9y agoApple Trailers on Android?
- 9y ago
- bitsoda 9y agoYou know what, good for Google. I hate to sound like a child, but Amazon fired the first salvo by dropping the Chromecast a few years back. This move only seems fair.
- RIMR 9y agoAmazon removing the Chromecast from their store was, if anything, verification at the Fire TV was not a product that could succeed on its own. I love my Chromecast and I buy new models directly from Google, because no matter what Amazon says I know the difference between Google's product, and Amazon's copycat version of it.
- dazc 9y agoWell, for me at least, amazon's copycat worked first time out of the box. Chromecast, alas, turned out to be an expensive plastic brick.
- ct0 9y agothank goodness that samsung TV's can play from both sources
- organsnyder 9y agoWhat issues did you encounter? And how can you call a $35 device "expensive"?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- quotha 9y agoBut how exactly can you pull a website off, i mean it is a web site..
- jerf 9y agoUser-agent tracking will work just fine. In a more non-corporate environment this would be the beginning of an arms race to try to figure out how to fiddle with headers to either block or not block the device, but since we're discussing corporate behemoths with legal teams larger than most companies, it'll stop here, because no legal team would sign off on the idea of fraudulently identifying yourself in a header in order to obtain services from a hostile competitor.
- mulmen 9y agoCan't I do this with my own home router? Or is this why Google pushed so hard for TLS everywhere?
- bitmapbrother 9y agoIt's really an app on the device that uses the YouTube HTML5 API. If you violate their TOS they can prevent access to those API's anytime they want.
- quotha 9y agoOkay, but how is Amazon violating TOS; they are using it the way it is meant to be used.
- bitmapbrother 9y agoThe first version was a tour de force in TOS violations. It was such an abuse that I'm surprised Amazon were brazen enough to release it considering Google would drop the hammer once they saw it. I guess they thought they could do whatever they wanted with other companies properties. I don't know if the revised version violates the TOS, but I'm guessing it's compliant. This seems to be all about reciprocity with Google which I'm all for. At the end of the day, it's their API and they can determine you can and cannot use it. If Amazon wants to play games by banning Google from their ubiquitous store then Google can do the same with their properties.
- oh-kumudo 9y agoMonopoly in action? Anyone familiar with the business here, how is this going to play?
- 627467 9y agoTech Corps. coming of age. I'm looking forward to the next Google.
- otakucode 9y agoWhy is this Google's call to make? I thought YouTube was a web site/service and the web was open?
- ucaetano 9y agoThis is an App, not a website. You're still free to browse YT on a Fire TV, but Amazon decided not to include a browser to prevent you from doing so.
- gitgud 9y agoYouTube is a commercial product. It's Google's choice to make YouTube free to view. Couldn't they block anything they want? - Client app implementations - Specific countries - Specific browsers - Specific users Is this correct?
- joekrill 9y agoThey were probably actively preventing them from releasing a YouTube TV app for the FireTV as well, I'm guessing. I'd love to switch to YouTube TV (I've had MANY problems with PlayStation Vue, and Sling is decent, but missing some channels). They don't have a FireTV app, though. But frankly I'm ready to simply ditch my FireTV because of that alone. Throw in the fact that my FireTV is covered with ads now and it's kind of a no-brainer.
- peatmoss 9y agoI watch the PBS NewsHour on Youtube on the FireTV because it tends to be available sooner than on the PBS app. After the last round of updates, I've gotten a lot of video stuttering in YouTube, such that restarting the FireTV is the only way to fix it. That, and the UI of the FireTV got way harder / less-logical to use a few months back (along with the ads). Beyond the recent junking up of the UI and Youtube hiccuping, I'm getting really, really tired of the Google / Apple / Amazon / content / platform / device wars.
- dhoulb 9y agoThat’s a really great point! YouTube is probably the best placed brand in the whole market to offer a true OTT cable replacement. And Amazon wants to own that market with Channels. Amazon would do anything to kill YouTube’s chances of making that happen, so I guess Google is firing some early warning shots! I had been wondering why they were both so uppity about £30 dongles, but if they’re pre-competing for the £1000 a year cable market then it makes absolute sense!
- tzakrajs 9y agoThey probably want more control over the implementation of Youtube. Maybe it's not a good experience on the Fire TV and Echo Show.
- now_l93 9y agoThat's not why. See the article. Google has stated this is because amazon doesn't sell certain google products through their store, and doesn't allow prime video on the chromecast.
- sharemywin 9y agoI've been looking for a tablet for my kids without that filth finally a solution. it's sucks I have to make a deal with the prime devil to get it.
- lostmsu 9y agoNow we have a new motto: "Don't be Google" (or Amazon).
- AmIFirstToThink 9y agoIf Facebook really supported Net Neutrality, it would do the same i.e. block the service for to the ISPs that create tiered internet. Given Facebook is responsible for creating tiered internet (Facebook only mobile phones in South Asian countries), you can imagine how they are going to react to changed rules. Question is would Google and Netflix and others including Amazon, team up to deny services to the first ISP that offers tiered internet in the USA. Given how YouTube/Echo/Chromecast is playing out, Google and Amazon may simply choose to use ISP last-mile fast-lanes in the wars against one another than stand with the end users to enforce NN. If you look at market caps of Amazon and Google vs. Comcast/Charter you can see what they would consider as threat (Google vs Amazon) and what as just pieces on the chessboard (ISPs).