This is indeed a disturbing universe. Amazon and Google appeared to have buried the hatchet, with news that YouTube will come to Amazon’s Fire TV product .. and something perhaps a little more surprising than that.
In a quiet press announcement overnight, Amazon and Google made a joint press release announcing the cessation of hostilities, but the biggest surprise probably isn’t the YouTube side of the announcement, and is the side where Amazon’s Prime Video service will get Chromecast and Android TV support.
You might find this surprising, if only because Amazon Prime TV has appeared on a small handful of Android TV devices in the past (think Sony TVs) but this will see it available more widely. From the announcement:
Chromecast and Chromecast built-in users, along with Android TV users, will have easy access to the Prime Video catalog including the latest seasons of Amazon Originals like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Hanna, Homecoming,Bosch, Catastrophe and The Grand Tour, along with Amazon Original movies like Donald Glover’s Guava Island, and Academy Award-nominated films like The Big Sick and Cold War.
Prime Video offers users exclusive features like X-Ray as well as access to 4K titles included with Prime at no additional cost. With Prime Video users can also rent or purchase titles or choose from more than 150 Prime Video Channels including Showtime, HBO, CBS All-Access, Cinemax and STARZ.
From a household that watches The Grand Tour religiously each week, this is a great change of circumstances, and when GT4 launches towards the end of this year, we’re looking forward to watching Clarkson, Hammond and May’s adventures using the new Chromecast support.
One thing is for sure – this announcement is well overdue. The feud between Amazon and Google is old news, and the only losers were the consumers who pay good money for their respective services. Let’s get this done, guys.
