First tablets... now this! With e-commerce titan Amazon.com (AMZN 3.43%) entering the set-top box space recently with its Amazon Fire TV, the number of fronts in which it competes with tech behemoth Apple (AAPL -0.35%) is now greater than ever.
To be sure, Apple and Amazon aren't the only tech giants that see these set-top boxes, or similar plug-ins, as an emerging opportunity. For instance, we've seen other names, like Google, also garner impressive reviews with its Chromecast dongle, among others. However, when considering the almost uncanny similarity between Amazon's Fire TV and Apple's Apple TV (price, look, etc,), it's certainly fair to argue that the two devices are the most "pure play" competitors for one another.
Apple's coming trump card?
In keeping with the rest of its traditional update cycle, Apple is expected to upgrade Apple TV at some point later this year, and one recent report suggested that Apple has a potential trick up its sleeve that could leave Amazon's Fire TV eating its dust -- motion sensing.
Motion sensing has been part of the discussion about Apple's possible TV innovations for some time now. (iRing, anybody?) However, between the growing competition in this space and some of Apple's recent acquisition history, the timing now seems more plausible than ever for Apple to bring this advanced functionality to market, which tech and telecom analyst Andrew Tonner breaks down in the video below.
