Amazon could be working on a DVR box to record live TV
And it might be called Frank
Amazon already makes several devices to plug into the back of your TV set, but there's apparently another one on the way: a DVR device for recording live TV that will let you catch up on your favorite shows whenever you've got time.
Bloomberg reports that the device, codenamed Frank, will have local storage space as well as connecting to streaming players including the Amazon Fire TV. The same wireless tech that's built into the Amazon Echo range of speakers will also be built into whatever Frank turns out to be, according to an inside source.
As well as recording shows and movies, the upcoming box will also be able to then send that content to smartphones and other devices, the report says – putting it in competition with the likes of Sling TV and TiVo.
Fire TV or not Fire TV?
In what is already a very crowded space, the Amazon Frank would be another box for getting content up on your big screen. Whether it would also have the same apps and capabilities as a Fire TV device remains to be seen.
With many apps and services now streaming content straight from the cloud, we'll have to wait and see how much appetite there is for a new device that saves video to a disk instead. YouTube TV, for example, includes a DVR component for saving shows, but works entirely in the cloud with no extra hardware required.
The insider source also told Bloomberg that an update is on the way for the Fire TV Stick, though there aren't any more details on that just yet. It sounds as though Amazon is far from finished when it comes to invading your living room.
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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.