If you haven’t noticed, Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has steadily made major inroads in the devices segment with its voice-controlled smart speakers, Kindle e-books, not to mention the Fire TV Stick, an amazing piece of technology that lets a user stream new movies, TV shows, music and more online on the TV screen.
Recently, this Jeff Bezos firm launched a new variant of its highly popular streaming media stick, Fire TV Stick, with Alexa Voice Remote and TV Control. Essentially, this means that customers can now find their favourite movies and TV shows on Amazon Prime Video or launch their favourite apps by just asking Alexa. The Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote is priced at `3,999.
Additionally, existing Fire TV Stick customers can purchase the all-new Alexa Voice Remote (with TV control) separately for `1,999 to have the convenience of controlling TV functions from FTV remote itself. “Fire TV Stick has truly bought back entertainment into the living room,” says Jayshree Gururaj, director, Amazon Devices. The new development is that Amazon has made Alexa an integral part of this viewing experience. Amazon officials inform that the Alexa Voice Remote incorporates a significant customer feedback to include TV controls and avoid fumbling for multiple remotes.
Strictly from a user point of view, the all-new Alexa Voice Remote on Fire TV Stick lets you control your complete entertainment experience and helps you quickly find the content you want, using your voice. For instance, just say, ‘Alexa, find comedies’, or ‘Alexa, play Mirzapur.’ The Alexa experience on Fire TV is also getting smarter with new Alexa skills and voice functionality. This means that you can view live camera feeds, check sports scores, order food, book a cab and stream millions of songs using your remote. Fire TV Stick is easy to set up and comes pre-registered to your Amazon account so you can just plug it in to your HDTV and enjoy favourite titles and personalised recommendations.
What’s more, with far-field technology customers can also pair any Echo device (smart speaker) with Fire TV Stick to control their entertainment experience hands-free. Here again, just ask Echo to play and search for movies and TV shows, launch apps (for example, Netflix, Hotstar, Voot, SonyLiv, Zee5, and more), and control playback on your Fire TV without lifting a finger; for example, ‘Alexa, forward 10 minutes’ or ‘Alexa, Play Tiger Zinda Hai on Fire TV’. It’s that simple.
With the Fire TV Stick, customer can continue to enjoy their favourites from Prime Video, Hotstar, Netflix, Sony LIV, Zee5, Voot and others. The Firefox or Silk browsers help customers visit millions of websites like YouTube, Facebook and Reddit. Customers can also listen to songs, playlists, live radio stations, and podcasts through services such as Amazon Prime Music, Saavn, Gaana and TuneIn. Just ask, ‘Alexa, play Arijit Singh songs’ on your Alexa Voice Remote.
Combining Bluetooth, multidirectional infrared technology and powered by Amazon’s proprietary cloud-based service, the all-new Alexa Voice Remote allows you to power on and control volume on your compatible TV with a single remote. The device (Alexa Voice Remote) is compatible with all Fire TV devices available in India and can control power and volume on thousands of TVs.
Estimated street price: Rs 3,999
