Amazon announces April 2nd event featuring an update on video

Invitations have been hitting email inboxes today for an Amazon event, even as Microsoft was busy holding its own show. The invitation hints at what is coming, though it does not come right out and say exactly what to expect.

For now we know only one thing, the subject – "Please join us for an update on our video business". The company frequently updates its Prime video library, partnering with an increasing number of studios. These can be a big deal, depending on the movies and TV shows that come along for the ride, but the announcements have always warranted nothing more than a blog post. In other words, this is something bigger.

Rumors have been swirling that Amazon will release its own set-top box, or perhaps even simplify it into a Chromecast-like stick. That seems the most probable option, as it's unlikely an event would be held without a hardware product to unveil.

Amazon has the streaming ecosystem, through Prime, to warrant such a product, and it has proven an ability to produce high-quality, popular devices. We will find out next week -- the event will occur on April 2nd, beginning at 11am ET.