Google Glass

Google Glass is Not T approved! What more can I say other than the fact that these are just not a finished product yet. The cool factor and also being a Google shareholder prompted us to pick up a pair of these to try out. After a computer required setup of the glasses T tried them on for size and gave the picture taking and gaming features a try using voice, movement, and swipes on the side of the glasses. The games were pretty basic and T didn't play any of them more than once or twice. He thought they were cool to wear initially, but after about 10 minutes the novelty wore off and he was back to his iPad :-) It might be time to sell our google shares now that they have split and their recent offerings products wise have not had success.

Amazon Fire TV

The Amazon FireTV arrived without much fanfare from reviewers online who seemed to think that their "late to the streaming party" device was entering the space too far behind AppleTV and Roku without any key features to differentiate itself and make a significant impact. I have news for you, T likes the Fire TV more than the AppleTV and the reasons why he likes it more gives us insight into the future development of streaming devices.  If you want specs and how it compares technically to its main competitors AppleTV or Roku please read one of the thousands of reviews or blogs out there by the so called tech experts, geeks, or full time bloggers who repeat the press release and what everybody else is saying. I will be focussed on how my son T sees, uses, and likes the device and what it means for the future of both tech development and how we might be able to capitalize through stock investments.

   

T Playing Fire TV with the Nyko Controller

The big difference between his "old" AppleTV and the new FireTV that T likes so much is the gaming! He immediately took to playing the kids geared games like Monsters U and Minion Mayhem, but soon realized there were more fun games he had never played before under the free games category! A few games into our initial exploring we quickly realized that there was a serious need for a gaming controller if T wanted to take his gaming to another level. Although T prefers the size and feel of the FireTV remote over the AppleTV remote for normal use, it became difficult to play fast paced games on the Fire TV remote. A quick search on Amazon revealed that all three known compatible gaming controllers for the Fire TV were all back ordered, another indication that this will be a key feature to customers to its base. We ended up ordering the Nyko play pad pro instead of the actual Fire TV controller since it was about half the price. Being a long time gamer myself from C64, Atari, Nintendo, and so on I find it fascinating watching my 5 year old son discover and learn video games before my eyes. So far the games have been easy to learn and play for him, but still entertaining enough for me to play with him as well.

Fire TV remote fits his hand so well!

Another key difference T seems to like about the Fire TV over the Apple TV is the speed. If you want to know the processor speeds and wifi stuff check out the other "pro" reviews, all T knows is the Fire TV starts video streams a little quicker than the Apple TV and as you know generation Z wants it as quickly as possible. T is a serious Netflix junkie and having to wait for buffering on Apple TV is a thing of the past with the new Fire TV.


T also watched the Amazon Dash promo video (you have seen it right?) and wants to know when we are getting the "magic wand" to order his favorite snacks! This all translates to AMZN being a bargain if you can pick some up at the $300 level its at currently. I personally sold 300 and 275 puts with May and July expirations when we first started playing with the Fire TV.

Fire TV remote vs Apple TV remote