Back in 2021, Amazon announced that Sling TV would be coming to Echo Show devices. About a year ago, Sling TV arrived on the Echo Show 15 but the smaller Echo Show models didn’t receive support for the streaming service. That changes today because Sling TV has now arrived on Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 10 devices. Say “Alexa, open Sling TV” to strat streaming channels. You cn also jump directly to a channel by saying “Alexa, watch [Channel Name] on Sling.”
Amazon never really reveals the internal components of its Echo Show devices, as it does for Fire TVs and Fire tablets. There’s little reason to since app development for its smart speakers is nonexistent. That has changed this week with the announcement that the Fire TV UI and, more importantly, Fire TV apps, will soon be coming to the Echo Show 15. As a result, Amazon has now published the full device specs of the Echo Show 15 and it turns out that it’s a beast of a device and practically identical to a 3rd-gen Fire TV Cube under the hood. Read more ›
Amazon has announced that the Echo Show 15 will soon gain a full-fledged Fire TV interface with a free update. The Echo Show 15 has always had the ability to stream video from a limited number of services, such as Netflix and most recently with the newest addition of Sling TV compatibility, but essentially turning it into a Fire TV will unlock many more services and capabilities. It will presumably also, for the first time, bring the Amazon Appstore to an Echo Show device. Read more ›
Sling TV has announced that the internet TV service is now available on the Echo Show 15. The streaming service’s arival on Echo Show devices was promised back in September of last year, when the Echo Show 15 was announced. Amazon said, at the time, that Sling TV would eventually be available on all Echo Show models, but only the Echo Show 15 is supported at this time. To use the service, simply say “Alexa, open Sling TV” to get started. Once set up, you’ll be able to say “Alexa, tune to [CHANNEL NAME] on Sling TV” to watch a specific channel. Sling TV joins a number of streaming services to add support for the Echo Show, including Netflix, Hulu, Tubi, and others. To see all the video streaming options on an Echo Show, say “Alexa, open Video Home” or swipe down from the top of the screen and select the Video shortcut icon
During the reveal of the Echo Show 15 yesterday, Amazon announced that subscribers to Sling TV would soon be able to watch the streaming service on Echo Show devices. Amazon confirmed that all Echo Show models would be able to access the streaming service but has not provided a timeframe for when support would arrive. Read more ›
Amazon’s all-new Echo Show 10, announced last fall, is finally available to pre-order. The $249.99 flagship smart display features a motor in the base that allows the screen to automatically face you when you interact with it. During a video call, for instance, the Echo Show 10 uses its camera and microphone to keep you in view, which is a nice feature to have now that Echo Shows support group calling and Zoom calls. It also keeps you centered on the screen while a video is playing, such as through its recently added Netflix support. The Echo Show 10 will ship on February 25. You can get $100 off if you order two and use promocode SHOW102PACK at checkout.
Amazon says that group calling is now available for audio calls through an Echo or video calls through an Echo Show. The feature supports up to 7 participants and is available in Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the US, and the UK. You can go into the Alexa app to create a group containing multiple contacts and then call that group at once by saying “Alexa, call [group name].” Read more ›
Amazon has launched a Live Translation feature for Alexa that will translate between two languages in real-time. The feature uses an Amazon Echo or Echo Show to translate conversations between English and French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Read more ›
Netflix has officially arrived on Amazon Echo Show smart displays. The integration was announced a few months ago and now all Echo Show models can stream Netflix directly. The service works on the 1st-gen Echo Show, 2nd-gen Echo Show, Echo Show 5, and Echo Show 8. The Echo Spot is the only Echo model with a screen that is not supported, which is no surprise considering its screen is so small. Read more ›
As you may or may not know, the Amazon Echo Show line of smart displays run an OS based on Android. Despite my hopes and dreams, modding an Echo Show to do more than what it was originally intended to hasn’t been possible because the device is pretty locked down. A reader of AFTVnews by the name of Wilson C. just stumbled on a way to bring up Android’s default file manager and browser internal files on an Echo Show. Even though I haven’t thought of any use for this new peek behind the curtain of the Echo Show, here are instructions for how to do it, in hopes that someone else might think of something interesting to do with the information. Read more ›
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