Along with the announcement of the all-new Fire 7 tablet, Amazon has quietly revealed that the next major version of Fire OS, its in-house flavor of Android, will debut in June on the new tablet, as Liliputing first spotted. Fire OS 8 will be based on Android 11, which is a significant move up from Fire OS 7, which is based on Android 9. Read more ›
Amazon has announced an all-new Fire 7 tablet and an equivalent new Fire 7 Kids tablet. These new tablets are upgraded in many ways compared to the outgoing Fire 7 that was released 3 years ago. THey have faster processors, double the RAM, longer battery life, and, finally, a USB-C port. Read more ›
Hisense is joining Toshiba, Insignia, Pioneer, and Amazon itself with its first-ever Fire TV Smart TV. The new Hisense U6HF Fire TV Smart TV is available in 50-inch and 58-inch sizes, although the larger size won’t be released until sometime this fall, with both sizes being 4K TVs. These new Fire TV Smart TVs are slotting in among the more premium offerings from other manufacturers with features like Dolby Vision, Quantum Dot QLED, Full Array Local Dimming, and a variable refresh rate. Read more ›
Just two weeks after the Mother’s Day sale from the start of the month, Amazon has put all Fire TV models back on sale at the same prices. On the low end is the Fire TV Stick Lite for $19.99 and the Fire TV Stick for $24.99. The main difference between the two is the inclusion of TV power and volume controls on the included Fire TV remote. Moving up into the 4K-capable lineup is the Fire TV Stick 4K for $34.99 and the Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $44.99. While the remotes are the same between the two, you get more power, more RAM, WiFi 6, and the newer Fire OS 7 with the 4K Max. At the top end is the Fire TV Cube for $69.99. All of these prices are as low as you’ll get outside of Prime Day and Black Friday.
A year after the remote was initially released, Roku is now bundling its Voice Remote Pro with the existing Roku Ultra, which was released in 2020. The new bundle costs the same $99.99 price as the old Roku Ultra bundle. Compared to the previous remote that was included with the Roku Ultra, the Voice Remote Pro adds hands-free voice capabilities and a built-in rechargable battery. You can still buy the Voice Remote Pro for $29.99 on its own, but now it also comes with the Roku Ultra.
Earlier this year, Google indicated that Android TV 13, the upcoming version of its TV operating system, would include expanded Picture-in-Picture (PiP) capabilities as one of its main user-facing changes this year. Google expects the new feature to be used by video conferencing apps and security camera feeds. At Google’s annual Google I/O developer conference this week, the new features were demoed for the first time. Read more ›
Amazon has just put its Smart Soap Dispenser on sale for $34.99, which is 36% off its regular price of $54.99. This is the new lowest price that it has ever been. The soap dispenser, which uses any standard liquid soap, has an LED countdown on top that tells you when 20 seconds have passed, which is the CDC’s recommended hand washing time. It also adjusts how much soap is dispensed depending on how far away your hand is from the nozzle, with more soap being dispensed the lower you position your hand. The real smarts come when you pair it with an Echo device. This allows it to launch an Alexa Routine whenever the dispenser is used, which opens it up to an endless number of possible uses.
Sonos announced a new entry-level soundbar, the Sonos Ray, and its own voice assistant for music control. At $279, the Sonos Ray soundbar is far less expensive than the company’s other soundbars, the Beam at $449 and the Arc at $899, but you do give up several features for that savings. The company’s new voice assistant is quite snappy and is coming to all existing Sonos speakers with voice capabilites. Read more ›
Amazon has added a new feature to the Alexa app where you can earn money back on your offline grocery shopping. The feature is integrated into the Alexa app’s shopping list capabilities and allows you to add cashback offers like you would a shopping list item. When you’re done shopping in the real world at any store, you simply scan the barcodes of the qualifying products and submit a photo of your receipt to receive the money as Amazon gift card credit. Read more ›
Amazon is now, oddly, listing the 2020 Chromecast as a pre-order item that will be released on May 13, as spotted by 9to5Google. The model number on Amazon’s page matches the Chromecast with Google TV that was released near the end of 2020, so it raises the question why is Amazon just now listing the old device and, more strangely, taking pre-orders for it, no less. Read more ›
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