What Amazon is adding to Fire TV
Amazon has announced a dedicated Alexa+ hub for Fire TV, alongside plans to add the assistant to its existing mobile app for Fire TV. Amazon says the TV changes will begin reaching US users in November (opens in a new tab), while the mobile rollout will begin this year. Alexa+ is currently available throughout the US, with access included in Prime membership.
Amazon lists the second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Fire TV Cube and Amazon Ember TVs for the November rollout, along with televisions featuring built-in Fire TV from partners including Hisense and TCL. The company says the new Fire TV Stick 4K will receive these features early next year, when additional countries will also be added. The mobile app's international expansion is likewise planned for early next year.
Amazon says the TV hub will offer personalized prompts. Recommendations will consider subscriptions, viewing history and context such as awards or events. Threaded chats will allow follow-up questions and a review of earlier suggestions. The hub will also let users resume conversations begun through an Echo device or the Alexa app.
What changes on your phone and in the hubs
Amazon says mobile users will be able to type or speak searches and save recommendations to a watchlist. Sharing an article about films or shows will produce a list of suggestions through Alexa+. Users will also be able to submit photos for related recommendations and streaming availability. Links will open the relevant service's mobile app for playback; the title will then appear under Continue Watching on Fire TV.
The entertainment hubs are getting a rework too. Live content now shows up in the Guides tab and on the home screen, drawing from more than 40 apps. A games hub pulls cloud gaming from Xbox, Luna and NVIDIA GeForce NOW into one place, and a creators hub collects content from creators around the world.
Amazon also plans to launch a redesigned Amazon Music app for Fire TV later this fall. The company says it will include live concerts, music videos and video podcasts, with separate hubs for performances, podcasts and music. Recommendations will reflect listening activity and preferences across Amazon Music devices and platforms.