Amazon has launched a news app for Fire TV, making it easier for its home entertainment customers to watch news broadcasts from a variety of sources. Simply called the News app on Fire TV, this new offering joins the previously launched news aggregator on Plex and similar offerings from competing companies. The News app is free for Amazon's Fire TV users.
YouTube TV is getting a pretty major expansion today, as it's coming to a wide array of Amazon Fire TV devices. With the regular NFL season in the midst of its 4th week and both the NBA and NHL regular seasons about to begin, this is a big move for YouTube TV, as Amazon's Fire TV devices are some of the more popular streaming devices around.
It might not be a known fact but Amazon is actually an Android manufacturer. Not the traditional kind but its Fire line of devices, particularly the tablets, are based on a Google-less form of Android. Unlike other OEMs, though, it sells its Fire hardware almost at a loss. That's because it has a different strategy, one that focuses more on services and features for those services, as demonstrated by the new Live tab for Fire TV.
Amazon has announced the first Fire TV Edition smart TV that features Dolby Vision HDR, offering consumers what Amazon calls 'ultra-vivid' image quality. As with existing Fire TV Edition smart TVs, the new 4K model offers the Fire TV experience without the need for a separate stick or box, as well as integration with over-the-air television.
For years now, Google and Amazon have been embroiled in a feud that saw the services of one company removed from the platforms of the other. Back at the beginning of last year, for example, Google decided to block devices like Fire TV and Echo Show from accessing YouTube. Amazon, meanwhile, has restricted its Prime Video app on Chromecast and Android TV. It was a particularly petty retail war that ultimately gave consumers fewer options, but today, it seems to be coming to an end.
Amazon released Fire OS update 6.2.6.3 this week for its Fire TV Stick 4K. The new version began rolling out to devices yesterday, though the update didn't specify any features or changes that it was bringing. Now that users have had time to explore the update, one big addition is apparent: the arrival of support for Miracast screen mirroring.
Amazon is currently developing its own video news app, according to a new leak, that would enable Fire TV device owners to access both live and on-demand news broadcasts. The app would be compatible with the larger Amazon ecosystem, assuming the report is correct, eventually supporting Alexa and devices through which the personal assistant is accessible.
Premium network Epix has a streaming service option for viewers who don't have a traditional television plan but want access to the network's content. Called Epix Now, this service provides on-demand access to movies and the network's original shows via supported streaming devices, which now includes Roku and Fire TV. The service was already available on mobile and Apple TV.
Apple Music is now available on Amazon Fire TV, enabling customers to play music through their television using voice commands. The new support has arrived in the Apple Music skill, which has already been available for Echo device owners to utilize. In addition to the new Fire TV support, Apple Music will also soon arrive for Echo and Fire TV device owners located in the UK.
Shouting at the TV has never been so useful, since smart assistants like Amazon's Alexa took up occupancy in streaming adapters such as the Fire TV. That's why we're such big fans of Amazon's latest Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote, which not only supports voice control but now has those all-important TV controls too.
Amazon's Fire TV Recast may be among the newest of the cable-cutting DVRs, but a pre-Black Friday deal is already making it even more affordable. Part of the retailer's week-long Black Friday promotions, the unassuming Alexa-compatible box could well be the gift that gets friends and relatives to consider cutting their expensive cable TV once and for all.
Today we're having a peek at all the already-released so-called Black Friday deals coming from Amazon. These items and likely more will be announced and pushed in a big way by Amazon and their associated brands and such in the next week. Today we're seeing what's going on so far - up until the day, when we'll have the rest, more than likely.