Jin Lee/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesAmazon executive Peter Larson with the Fire TV. The Fire TV from Amazon.com (AMZN) raises the bar for set-top devices in new and unusual ways. Wednesday's debut came with plenty of positive surprises -- and a negative, the price. Amazon has historically priced its products at the low end of the spectrum, something that it learned quickly after introducing the Kindle e-reader at $399 in 2007 before getting aggressive with price cuts. Fire TV hit the market at $99, and while that may seem reasonable compared to what streaming devices were fetching just a few years ago, it's nowhere close to being one of the cheaper Web-savvy boxes for video buffs. Google's (GOOG) Chromecast turned heads at $35 last year, and entry-level Roku players can be had for less than $50. Apple (AAPL) is at the high end of the range at $99, but even Amazon.com itself is selling them for less than $93 these days. Apple, Roku, and Google have each reportedly sold millions of their devices that use Wi-Fi connectivity to stream Internet videos on TV screens. Can Amazon make a difference as the most expensive option in a crowded playing field?
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