As we told you before, Amazon has come out with its own version of the Apple TV or Roku. It’s called the Fire TV and it’s an Android-powered black box that allows you to stream content from various sources including Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus and Netflix.

But is it any good? Well, our own Chris Ullrich decided to take it for a spin and made his initial report over at his personal site. As with other times he’s done this in the past, we’re still not sure why he doesn’t just write his review, or whatever, here.

Whatever, he’s the boss. Anyway, check out his thoughts and if you end up getting a Fire TV for yourself, let us know what you think of it in the comments.

In a bid to compete with devices like the Google Chromecast, Roku and mainly the Apple TV, Amazon today announced the Amazon Fire TV. According to chairman Jeff Bezos, the Fire TV “is a tiny box that plugs into your HDTV. It’s the easiest way to enjoy Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, low-cost video rentals, and more. With instant access to over 200,000 TV episodes and movies, plus all your favorite subscriptions and streaming services, you can watch what you want, when you want.”

In addition, if you’re a Prime member “you get unlimited access to thousands of popular movies and TV shows, including exclusives like Downton Abbey, The Americans, Alpha House, and Under the Dome.” All in 1080p, of course.

Bu wait, there’s even more. “Fire TV has voice search that actually works. The old way of searching with a TV remote—scrolling and clicking one letter at a time on an alphabet grid—is painful. With Fire TV you simply speak the title, actor, or genre into the remote and you’re done.”

The internal specs of the Fire TV are impressive as well. The device features a quad-core processor, dedicated GPU, 2 GB of memory, and dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi. It also features a new buffering system which will supposedly help eliminate any streaming lag. Of course, your mileage may vary.

The device also plays games. Titles at launch include Minecraft, The Walking Dead, Monsters University, the Amazon exclusive Sev Zero, and many other free games available to Prime Members.

The Amazon Fire TV is $99.00 and ships today. The optional game controller will set you back another $39.99.

Seasons Greetings! This week’s Christmas pick is the 1990 action sci-fi classic I Come in Peace (a.k.a. Dark Angel). International action star and He-Man type (no pun intended) Dolph Lundgren stars as a Houston, Texas cop who tracks down an alien who is killing people in order to harvest the universe’s most powerful narcotic. You may be saying to yourself “That’s really the plot?” and yes, it is. The film also stars Brian Benben (from the HBO classic comedy series Dream On), Betsy Brantley, Matthias Hues, and Jay Bilas.

Jack Caine (Lundgren) is a cop who disregards proper procedure in order to get the job done. While on a routine drug bust to catch a syndicate of yuppie criminals known as the White Boys, Caine’s partner is killed when he is discovered as a cop while trying to entrap them.

Netflix has had a rather rough year, and today’s news only adds a bit more salt into some open wounds. Just days after their exclusivity deal with up and coming premium movie channel Epix expires, one of their biggest competitors has signed on, greatly enhancing their instant library.

Deadline reports that Epix has just reached a deal with Amazon to provide their content through their Prime Instant Video service:

The arrangement more than doubles Amazon Prime Instant Video’s offerings, and knocks some of the wind out of its chief competitor: Netflix. The streaming video company’s shares were down about 10% shortly after the market opened this morning… “We think customers will really enjoy watching new titles like The Avengers, Iron Man 2 and The Hunger Games on their Kindle Fire, PlayStation 3, Xbox, iPad or any of the other of the Amazon Instant Video compatible devices,” says Amazon VP Bill Carr.

While it doesn’t appear that Netflix will be losing any of this content, it is certainly a blow to see Amazon now offer more and more first run, popular content on their streaming service. It is also said that now that Epix is free from the exclusivity contracts it had with Netflix it is looking at other services to partner with as well. A move that is a boon to the public, but just another body blow to the company that changed how we digest film.

Hot on the virtual heels of Hulu Plus arriving for users of the Apple TV, Amazon today released an app for the iPad which allows users to stream content from its library of movie and TV titles. Curious timing, eh?

The new app is capable of streaming Amazon Prime content for free (with a $79 a year Amazon Prime membership of course) as well as allowing users to download content for later offline viewing. Season Pass is also available for TV programs with episodes available the morning after the show airs on TV.

Here’s a full list of features:

• Stream thousands of titles available from Prime Instant Video at no additional cost with a Prime membership, or watch over 120,000 videos available from the Amazon Instant Video store
• Download purchased and rented videos from Your Video Library
• Shop over 120,000 videos available from the Amazon Instant Video store by visiting Amazon
• Add videos to your Watchlist from a PC, Mac, or Kindle Fire for later viewing on your iPad
• Subscribe to a TV Season Pass by visiting Amazon and episodes will automatically be available on your iPad the day after they air
• Start watching on your iPad, and resume watching right where you left off on a Kindle Fire, PS3, PC, Mac, or hundreds of models of connected TVs and Blu-ray players with Amazon Whispersync.

The new app is available for the iPad over at the iTunes App Store.