Increasingly these capabilities are built directly into TV sets, so they can connect wirelessly to a home network, stream video and run apps like a smartphone. It may come to be a standard TV feature, similar to the way Wi-Fi is now built into PCs.

These systems are mostly used to stream video from Netflix, which is used by 46 percent of the U.S. homes with broadband, according to a survey by research firm Parks Associates.

Amazon entered the fray in 2011 when it began offering a Netflix-like batch of second-run movies and TV shows to its Prime subscribers.

Usage has more than tripled over the past three years, with 18 percent of broadband homes now streaming Prime video, according to Parks.

From the article, "Fire TV has limitations but is appealing overall" by Brier Dudley.

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