Fire TV has begun to roll out new features and experiences, including the all-new Smart Home Dashboard and Alexa Shortcut Panel, and Alexa Home Theater for Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Fire TV Omni Series, Fire TV 4-Series televisions.
Airplay 2 and HomeKit are now available on the Omni Series and 4-Series, too. These features will be rolling out over the coming weeks.
Some of those new Fire TV Includes:
- All-new Smart Home Dashboard: Now users can view and control connected devices throughout your home. Just say, “Alexa, show me my smart home dashboard” and Fire TV will display any smart lights, plugs, and switches you’ve connected, which you can check the state of (on/off) and control with the remote. A new row is specifically dedicated to smart cameras as well, which you can view feeds of. Users can also check smart devices you’ve favorited from the Alexa companion app. Early next year, support for smart home Groups and Thermostats will be added.
- Alexa Shortcut Panel: With the remote, a simple press of the Alexa button will now slide out a shortcut panel at the bottom of the screen for quick access to smart home controls, weather, news, and users’ video library. Alexa Shortcut Panel will be available broadly on Fire TV devices in the United States.
- Alexa Home Theater for Fire TV Omni Series, Fire TV 4-Series, and 4K Fire TV Stick 4K Max: Wirelessly connect Echo speakers like Echo Studio for Dolby Atmos audio, or other Echo smart speakers for immersive sound. With Fire TV Omni Series and 4-Series televisions, audio will output when streaming on Fire TV and across any compatible device that’s connected, including cable boxes, gaming consoles, and antenna sources. Fire TV Stick 4K Max can now do the same, so long as it’s plugged into your TV’s HDMI eARC port, which means you can broadcast audio to Echo speakers, even when users are enjoying content on inputs other than Fire TV. Set-up instructions are here.
- Airplay 2 and HomeKit on Fire TV Omni Series and 4-Series TVs: Fire TV Omni Series and 4-Series users can stream, share, and control content from iPhone, iPad and Mac right to their Fire TV, including videos, photos, music or podcasts. HomeKit lets you use Siri for TV controls like turning power on/off or changing volume.
- Zoom Video Communications for Fire TV Omni Series (Coming Soon): In the coming weeks, users will be able to place and receive Zoom Meetings from the biggest screen in your home. After downloading the Zoom app through Fire TV, simply plug a compatible 720p-1080p webcam into the USB port and say, “Alexa, find Zoom.” Once everything is set up, join a meeting using your remote, or simply say, “Alexa, join my Zoom meeting.”
These features will be rolling out to customers over the coming weeks. The all-new Smart Home Dashboard will be available in the US and Canada, while Alexa Shortcut Panel will be available in the U.S.
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