Amazon in collaboration with Seiki, Westinghouse Electronics, and Element Electronics has launched a range of smart televisions. These TVs comes with Amazon’s voice-based virtual assistant Alexa. The all new range of 4K Ultra HD Smart TVs featuring the Fire TV experience and support for Alexa as a voice remote will be available later this year on Amazon.com and other authorized dealerships.
Dish Network has also collaborated with Amazon to bring its Hopper DVR with Alexa Voice Remote support. Amazon Fire TVs will be available in 43, 50, 55, and 65-inch screen sizes with a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels. The retail price for the different Fire TV models will also be announced closer to its availability.
The new Fire TV Edition TVs will offer a vast selection of streaming and over-the-air content which will also include access to over 7,000 channels, apps, Alexa skills and live TV broadcasts when used with a separate HD antenna.
With Alexa voice remote, users can crawl through content and launch any app with their voice. Using the voice command, one can play music, search content, and control smart home devices like Belkin WeMo, Philips Hue, Wink, and Samsung SmartThings. These televisions will also come with on-screen guide to make browsing the content easy.
The Amazon Fire TV edition will sports 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Other features include Bluetooth, WiFi, Ethernet connectivity, etc.
Here’s what Marc Whitten, Vice President (Amazon Fire TV), said- “Teaming up with brands including Seiki, Westinghouse, and Element on a new range of smart TVs allows Amazon to deliver an experience that’s familiar and easy to use. Fire TV Edition offers access to a great selection of streaming and over-the-air TV and movies, Alexa for easy voice search and content control, and the many other features and experiences customers have come to expect from the best-selling line of Amazon Fire TV products.”
Dish users will also be able to navigate search and play TV content on a broadband-connected Hopper DVR through Alexa Voice Remote. Dish claims to be the first “TV provider to announce direct compatibility with Amazon Alexa.” One can watch voice-controlled TV by connecting the Hopper DVR with Amazon Echo or Amazon Echo Dot. According to the Dish Network, Alexa Voice Remote integration will be available on Hopper DVR in the first half of the year.
