This week Amazon Fire TV devices were updated with a feature that ties the whole house together. Users of any one of several Fire TV devices now have the ability to run picture-in-picture with compatible smart home and doorbell cameras. This system works with Ring doorbell cameras as well as compatible systems from Ring, Nest, Wyze, Logitech, and others.
If you're one of the many people who have been less than thrilled with the Fire TV interface, good news: Amazon is rolling out the update we were promised months ago, one that reduces the clutter and wasted space while making it easier to find the apps and shows you like the most. The bad news? The new UI is first arriving on only a couple of devices.
In October 2019, Amazon introduced a free news channel for its Fire TV platform that enables users to get access to the latest news content. The channel has seen some updates in the months since, including the relatively recent addition of Black News Channel. With the latest update, some users can now access their local news stations.
This week Warner Media announced they'd be bringing HBO Max to a whole bunch of Amazon devices. Included in the mix are not only Amazon Fire tablets, but Amazon Fire TV streaming devices and Fire TV Edition smart TVs, too. This expansion to Amazon devices should be a massive win for HBO and the HBO Max brand as the world launches into the holiday gift-giving season 2020.
Amazon announced today that it's expanding Alexa hands-free support on Fire TV devices. Fire TV has offered Alexa compatibility for a number of years now, but today, Alexa users are getting a few new tricks. Not only are they getting more options for voice navigation, but Amazon says they'll be getting an "Echo Show-like experience" as well.
Home entertainment company Roku has announced that its 'The Roku Channel' streaming app is now available on Fire TV devices, a somewhat surprising expansion of the app that was originally limited to only Roku devices. Roku first expanded the streaming platform to desktop and mobile browsers, and most recently it launched a standalone Roku Channel app for iOS and Android. This time around, you can download the app through the Amazon App Store for Fire TV.
It's difficult to deny the value proposition that is the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite. It's a smart TV stick that plugs in to your television via an HDMI port to deliver smart TV content. That includes access to free video apps like YouTube, and subscription video apps like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Prime Video.
The 'Live' Section on Amazon Fire TV has been updated to include additional streaming services, namely OTT options like Sling TV, YouTube TV, and Hulu Live TV. Through this portal, users are able to find apps that provide access to live television content, building upon the on-demand services that largely dominate the streaming market. It may be a few days before users see all three services.
HBO Max may be launching today, but there's bad news if you're using two of the most popular platforms for streaming TV and movies at home. Those with an Amazon Fire TV device or TV, or a Roku device or TV, are discovering today that they're not invited to the HBO Max party.
On Tuesday, Amazon announced that it is adding a 'Free' section to the top bar on the Fire TV interface, making it easy for users to find free content from a variety of sources. The content featured in the new menu is curated, according to Amazon, which says that users will find a mixture of movies, TV shows, news, and other ad-supported streaming options.
The NCAA has announced that its March Madness app, which enables basketball fans to watch their favorite games over the Internet, has released one of its best features for the Fire TV and Android TV platforms. With this new feature, fans can watch two different games at the same time, something that was previously limited to only the Apple TV version of the streaming app.
In late 2019, Hulu decided to split their app into two versions. They called these versions "Classic Hulu app" and "the latest Hulu app" in support documentation. Every device Hulu supports for the "latest" Hulu app will have access for years to come, more than likely. This includes Apple TV (4th gen and later), Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 (not including live programming), Nintendo Switch, Windows 10 devices, Echo Show, Chromecast, and a variety of others. What we're interested in here is the latest guidance from Hulu on devices on which "New" Hulu will and will not work.