A device that is very likely a new Amazon Fire TV Stick 2 has just received FCC approval. As with all Amazon hardware, the FCC filing is done using a shell company, but there are clear indicators that this is undoubtedly an Amazon device. The product carries FCC ID 2AE6S-0948, model number LY73PR, and is described as an “HDMI Digital Media Receiver.” It is very likely a new Fire TV Stick, and not a new Fire TV, because of the long rectangular shape, a USB cable being used to power the device, and the mention of an HDMI extender being used during testing. A confidentiality request is keeping the most revealing documents offline, but the available documents tell us the new Fire TV Stick 2 will have dual-band 802.11ac WiFi capabilities, which is a bump up from the existing models 802.11n WiFi radio.

It does not appear the new Fire TV Stick will have 4K capabilities, but it’s not out of the question. I’m basing this on the fact that a 1920×1200 monitor and 720p MPEG4 video was used during testing. Usually, a 4K monitor is used to test 4K capable devices, which is what was the case with the Fire TV 2’s FCC filing.

Another interesting tidbit of information from the FCC documents is the use of a Bluetooth game controller during testing. The current Fire TV Game Controller uses WiFi-direct instead of Bluetooth, so it seems likely that a new game controller will also be released. The FCC documents do not mention the model number of the game controller, which is usually an indication that it was provided with the device being tested. In contrast, Bluetooth headphones were also used to test the Fire TV Stick 2, but the model number of a Sony headset is listed.

The FCC documents do not mention a microSD card, so it does not seem like the Fire TV Stick 2 will inherit the Fire TV 2’s expandable storage, but again, it isn’t out of the question. If a microSD card slot is present in a device, it’s usually, but not always, mentioned in the FCC documents.

When the Fire TV 2 first appeared in the FCC, it was announced by Amazon about a week later. That doesn’t mean the same timeline will be followed this year, but I’d say it’s likely we’ll see the introduction of a Fire TV Stick 2 later this month.

ShareTweetShare+1