Fire OS
Information has been leaked from internal sources that Amazon is developing a "Vega" environment based on the Linux kernel, which they plan to use on Fire TV boxes, smart displays, and other Amazon consumer devices instead of Fire OS firmware.
And is that Amazon has been using "forked" versions of Android for its products for years, currently the current version of Fire OS 7 is based on Android 9. But the company apparently plans to replace them with a new web-oriented "Vega" operating system, starting with the new Fire TV devices and is planned to The first devices based on the new system go on sale next year.
From Fire Tablet to Fire TV and more, Amazon has built much of its hardwaree on the back of Android, in particular using AOSP to "fork" the operating system to not use Google services and highly customize the platform.
And while apps can be shared between an Amazon tablet and any other Android device, the software is visually very different, plus Amazon generally lags behind when it comes to Android releases, as even newer tablets from Amazon still run Android 11.
The development of the new operating system, known internally as Vega, seems quite advanced. The system has already been tested on Fire TV streaming adapters and Amazon has informed select partners of its plans to transition to a new app framework in the near future. A source with knowledge of the company's plans suggested it could start shipping Vega on select Fire TV devices next year.
Apparently, this situation, together with the overhead of using a complete operating system designed for smartphones, in a product as simple as a smart screen, prompted Amazon to move to an internal operating system called “Vega.”
An Lowpass reveals Amazon's plans to move to Vega on "all of its new devices" eventually, starting with future Fire TV releases. The web-oriented, Linux-based operating system would replace Android on Amazon TVs and rely on React Native to develop Javascript applications. These applications would work on the new "Vega" operating system, as well as other devices.
Vega is a web operating system for smart home devices and more. Amazon devices, such as its Fire TV devices and televisions, Echo Show smart displays, and Fire tablets, have been using a forked version of Android known as Fire OS.
It is mentioned that Amazon, has been working on this effort since approximately 2017, with "hundreds of people" working on the development and "most" of the work already done. “Vega” is apparently already being tested on Fire TV devices, and plans are apparently in the works. Amazon plans to start shipping new devices with the new operating system early next year.
It's unclear if this change applies to Amazon's Fire tablets, which rely more on native Android apps, but it would certainly make sense for it to apply to Amazon's Echo smart displays. Apparently it could also be used for in-car entertainment systems.
At the current stage of development, The development of the operating system is almost complete and the main efforts are focused on preparing the SDK for application development.
The user environment in Vega is built on the basis of web technologies and for the development of applications it is proposed to use JavaScript and the React Native framework.
The choice of the framework is due to its versatility and development support for different platforms, including Android, which will simplify the creation of applications that can be adapted to work in the old and new Fire TV environment. It is worth mentioning that this is not the first Linux distribution from Amazon, which already supplies the Amazon Linux distribution for its cloud systems, built on the basis of Fedora packages.
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