HBO GO has been all over the news this week!
First, an entrepreneurial Game of Thrones fan launched a website imploring HBO to make the HBO GO app -- and with it, its library of shows and movies both new and old -- available to those who did not have a cable subscription; then, HBO responded on its Twitter account, declaring that HBO GO would remain accessible only for those who subscribed to HBO via cable or dish.
Then, on Wednesday, Amazon and HBO announced that Kindle Fire owners can now download the HBO GO app from the Amazon Store onto their tablets, marking the first time that HBO GO is available for an Android tablet and continuing HBO's push to disseminate its content on multiple platforms (if, that is, you're a subscriber).
Though HBO GO has been available as an app on Android smartphones, the iPhone, and the iPad for quite some time now, the HBO GO app for the Kindle Fire is the first HBO GO app that is optimized for a tablet running Google's Android OS. Amazon's Kindle Fire runs a heavily-customized, basically-unrecognizable form of Android, yes -- but it is still classified by most as an Android tablet.
It's a darn successful Android tablet, too. Though Amazon has not released sales numbers, the Kindle Fire is likely the best-selling Android tablet to date, with analysts estimating earlier this year that Amazon has sold at least six million units since its late 2012 release.
Since then, sales have slumped, apparently, perhaps due to the release of the new iPad and the continued availability of the iPad 2 at a lower price. Still, at $199, we found the Kindle Fire to be an inexpensive, functional tablet, ideal for on-the-go media consumption, and it seems that consumers have agreed, given the huge ownership numbers. A recent study by comScore showed the Kindle Fire owned over 50 percent of the Android tablet market share, beating out the Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom by wide margins.
It makes sense, then, that HBO would choose the Kindle Fire as its first Android tablet for the HBO GO app (even if HBO President Eric Kessler has expressed skepticism of the small screen viewing experience before). And if you're one of the six million (or so) Kindle Fire owners who also has an HBO subscription, you can grab your HBO GO app for the Fire right now.
The HBO GO app for the Kindle Fire is free in the Amazon Appstore.