Amazon's personal digital assistant, Alexa, is coming to more devices in an over-the-air update.
Owners of the original Fire TV will soon be able to talk to Alexa to ask about the weather, traffic along their daily commute and sports updates, as well as search for and discover new music and audiobooks on Amazon.
Alexa can do even more on Amazon's latest device, the Echo, but that would mean shelling out another $180 when the original Fire TV only costs just $100. The update isn't only coming to the boxy Fire TV. Fire TV Sticks, which can be had for as little as $35, are also expected to get the update.
Aside from bringing the always-on, always-listening Alexa to more Amazon devices, the update will also bring Amazon devices up to Android 5.1 Lollipop. According to AFTV News, the update only applies to those first-generation devices.
"It's unclear if this update will also arrive on 2nd-gen Fire TVs. If you have a 2nd-gen Fire TV that you wish to root, be sure you're blocking updates until we know whether this version is rootable or not," writes AFTV News.
Commentors on the post also shared that older Fire TV Sticks are also receiving the update, along with better support for Amazon's add-on subscription service and a cleaner, more compact "Your Videos" section.
It's important to note that users shouldn't attempt to force the update on their device. There's no way to do so. The most users can do is force an update check by going into "Settings" then "System." From there users head into the "About" section and choose the "Check for System Update" option.
Nonetheless, Amazon will ultimately determine when it is a specific user's turn to receive the update on their device. That won't be too long of a wait anyway as Amazon has already started rolling out the update to Fire TV and Fire TV Stick owners around the country. It will probably take a few more weeks, but the wait will be worth it.
