Amazon has long been rumored to be working on a set top box to compete against Roku and Apple TV.
Up until now, those reports were based purely on speculation and heresay from Amazon insiders.
Today saw the reveal of the rumored box’s controller via Anatel, a Brazilian regulation agency not unlike the US’s FCC.
The link for the site above is rather finicky and may not work, but it is legitimate. The site is Portuguese and government run in Brazil.
Another way to access the site is to go here and type ‘Amazon’ in the field that says Nome Fabricante. You are then brought to a list of products Brazil has approved from Amazon. Click on the icon under the column Arquivo in the row for item #4018137031. There will be error messages, but it will eventually open a popup with not only the product’s images, but the manual and certificate as well.
Unlike the Roku or the Apple TV, Amazon’s controller doesn’t resemble a classic TV remote but rather looks to emulate the controller for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 with some Android inspired modifications.
Along the bottom of the device is an array of media control buttons (rewind, play/pause, fast forward) while the face features the return, home and menu buttons found on most Android smart phones.
The rest of the buttons are the same as those found on the Xbox 360, including shoulder buttons, triggers, dual analog sticks, D-pad and A,B,X,Y buttons.
What is special about this controller is the addition of a button for Amazon’s GameCircle, a service listing leaderboards, achievements and cloud save files.
It would appear, based on the evidence, that Amazon has positioned its box as a full-fledged game console similar to the Ouya, rather than as a simple media box.
Given that Amazon has its Prime service, it is expected that the box will be integrated with it. It is also expected that Amazon will run a modified version of Android, not unlike its Kindle Fire tablets.
The controller also implements Bluetooth and runs off of two AA batteries.
Amazon’s box was supposedly going to launch for the holiday season in 2013 but was delayed. It is expected to launch any time now.