With all the different Amazon Fire TVs, Fire TV Sticks (a.k.a Firesticks), Fire TV Cubes, Fire TV Pendants, Fire TV Edition televisions, and Fire TV Edition soundbars that have been released over the last few years, it’s difficult for some people to figure out exactly which model, version, year, or generation device that they own. This guide will help you easily determine what you have. Read more ›
Plex originally made its name as a great way to consume and organize your own local media through its server capabilities. I, personally, switched from using Kodi to Plex in recent years as the primary way of watching my own media collection for a number of reasons. The days of Plex being a constantly improving hub for your local media might be numbered as the app now has more users watching its ad-supported streaming content than using it to watch local content from a Plex Media Server. While that shift is likely great for Plex as a business, it’s reason enough to be concerned if you enjoy its local media capabilities. Read more ›
Amazon has changed its policy regarding how Fire TV apps interact with other apps. Specifically, Fire TV apps can, allegedly, no longer directly launch movies or TV shows within other Fire TV apps. The practice, known as deep-linking, is important to the convenience of streaming aggregator apps, like Plex, JustWatch, and Reelgood, as it allows users to jump from one app directly to content in another app. According to Plex vice-president of marketing Scott Hancock, who spoke with Jared Newman from TechHive, Amazon asked Plex to remove deep-linking from its app. Read more ›
Over the years, the number of buttons on Fire TV remotes has slowly increased. Among the most recent button additions are channel up and down buttons, which first appeared a few years ago when Amazon updated the remote that ships with Fire TV Smart TVs. Stand-alone Fire TV streaming media players typically haven’t included remotes with channel buttons, that is, until the release of the 3rd-gen Fire TV Cube last year which is the first stand-alone model that includes a remote with channel buttons. Amazon has now made a change that elevates channel buttons on Fire TV remotes to default status. Read more ›
Among the never-ending stream of new gadgets coming out of the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show (CES), I spotted what is clearly an unbranded Fire TV Voice Remote with a built-in solar panel. The prototype remote comes from Ambient Photonics, a relatively young company with ambitions to “bring low light energy harvesting technology to mass scale.” In place of standard AA batteries, the Fire TV remote being demonstrated features a small high-density photovoltaic cell that harvests ambient room light to power the device without the need for replacement batteries or manual charging. Read more ›
The Fire TV line of streaming devices turned eight years old this year. While the platform has improved quite a bit since the first model launched in 2014, Amazon did manage to fit in more new features this year. Here is my list of the best new Fire TV features added in 2022, plus several honorable mentions. While none of these are particularly grand or revolutionary features, they are still certainly nice to have. Read more ›
Amazon has expanded the free ad-supported content that is available on Fire TVs. It has worked with XITE to release a new Music Videos on Fire TV app that will stream an endless supply of music videos with personalized recommendations, playlists, and unlimited skips. Amazon has also added new free news categories, including business, finance, entertainment, gaming, and esports. Read more ›
Amazon is pushing a new software update to the 3rd-gen Fire TV Cube that should make video and audiophiles happy. Software version 7.6.1.3 (PS7613/3686) is currently rolling out to devices with improvements to the Super Resolution Upscaling feature that should make non-4K content look even sharper. The update is also adding a feature that has long been requested by surround sound enthusiasts, which is support for DTS, DTS-HD, and Dolby True HD audio passthrough. Read more ›
Now that the Echo Show 15 can double as a Fire TV and is compatible with the Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote, Amazon is offering owners of the smart display a discount on the Fire TV remote. If you purchase the remote through the Echo Show, you’ll pay just $9.99, which is 66% off the regular price of $29.99. Read more ›
The Fire TV interface for the Echo Show 15 recently started rolling out to devices, turning the smart display into an entertainment powerhouse. While there are many apps already available for the device, a lot of them are missing and not compatible. Of the apps that are available, the majority are not optimized for the device’s touch interface and some are so buggy on the new platform that it renders them unusable. Unfortunately, Amazon has chosen to completely block app sideloading on the Echo Show 15, which is a crucial capability that Fire TV app developers need if they want to fix or improve their apps on the Echo Show 15. Read more ›
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews