Sling TV app hits Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick
The latest platform to support the $20 per month Sling TV service is Amazon's Fire TV, and Sling and Amazon are running a free hardware promotion to sweeten the deal.
- Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
Sling TV officially launched Monday to Roku, Android, iOS and computers, and four days later the service has come to a whole new TV-based platform: Amazon Fire TV.
The app is available now on both the $99 Fire TV box , and the $40 Fire TV Stick , providing a big-screen alternative to Roku for people interested in trying the Internet TV service.
The $50 Roku Streaming Stick was previously the least expensive TV-based device you could buy that allowed access to Sling TV, but that honor is now bestowed upon the Fire TV stick. At least until the promised support for the $35 Chromecast appears.
Speaking of cheap, both Amazon and Roku have competing promotions going on right now. Prepay for three months of Sling TV ($60) and you can choose between a free stick (Fire TV Stick or Roku Streaming Stick) or a $50 box (Fire TV or Roku 3).
Me, I'd take the Roku 3 deal, but all of the devices have their merits.
Sling TV's blog post also mentions a "special Amazon offer for Sling TV" for people who download the app to their Fire TV devices. I did so, and it appears that the offer is a free 14-day trial of the service. Other devices offer a seven-day free trial.
I expect the Fire TV apps, both stick and box, to perform just as smoothly as the Roku 3 -- and better than the sluggish performance of Sling on the Roku Stick -- but I won't know until I complete hands-on testing of the app on both Amazon devices later today.
In the meantime if you have any questions, let me know in comments.