AMAZON is reportedly working on a new operating system for its Fire TV Sticks, which could haul in more adverts and kill-off ‘sideloading’.
The new system, that is slated to replace the company’s Fire OS, could land on gadgets as early as next year.
1
It has been nicknamed ‘Vega’, according to a report by LowPass, and is already being tested on Fire Sticks.
It will be a “more web-forward application model” that will help bring more services to the low-cost gadgets, the report noted.
However, industry insiders claimed Amazon is also considering bringing more ads into the system.
Amazon’s plan reportedly involves reaching “hundreds of millions of eyeballs on a wide range of inexpensive devices” in a bid to “monetise those eyeballs with ads and services”.
READ MORE ON FIRE TV STICK’S
Vega OS is also expected to be the death knell for sideloading third-party apps, a practice of downloading unofficial apps from outside of the native Amazon store.
The original Fire OS uses Android open source code – and has done for years.
But that means Amazon is always trailing behind Google’s in-house Android advancements.
Amazon looks set to change that by building its own software and bringing fresher updates to customers on its own terms.
Most read in Tech
In doing so, Amazon will be able to detach itself further from Google, leaving room for new hardware partnerships.
This won’t just be for Fire TV Sticks, but Tablets and Echo products, too.
Onlookers on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) reckon this could be a “game-changer” for app development.
But others are gutted that Vega OS may make sideloading apps “impossible” – even if it can be an unsafe practice.
