Amazon has a new Alexa-enabled Fire TV Cube in store, arriving as its latest and most capable streaming box.
The Amazon Fire TV Cube will stream 4K content to your TV, and control playback and volume through voice commands, just as expected. What makes it different from other Amazon products of this kind is its ability to control the TV itself, as well as other set-top devices such as sound bars and cable boxes.
Fire TV Cube Features
The trick is that the Fire TV Cube employs multi-directional IR sensors, HDMI CEC, and cloud-based features, allowing for extra functionality. Rather than enabling users to handle just menus and content through voice commands, the Fire TV Cube can control virtually anything related to the home entertainment system.
It can turn on the TV and start playing a specific show on Netflix, adjust the volume, switch to another input, change the channel, turn off the TV, and so on. Users can rely on Alexa to pick up commands from across the room, even if the TV's speakers are located close to the Fire TV Cube.
"We believe voice makes it easier for customers to control their entertainment systems and watch the TV and movies they care about," says Marc Whitten, Amazon Fire TV vice president.
The executive adds that Alexa is gradually becoming smarter, which means that the Fire TV Cube will also evolve and improve with time.
Fire TV Cube Compatibility
The new Amazon Fire TV Cube will play nice with a number of popular set-top boxes from various providers such as DirecTV, Dish, and Comcast, aiming to cover more than 90 percent of cable subscribers in the United States, according to Amazon.
At the same time, it also works well with a slew of apps such as Netflix, Showtime, ESPN, and more. That's nothing new or surprising, as the vast majority of Alexa-enabled streaming devices already do that. The novelty here is that the Fire TV Cube can control more home entertainment devices just as easily, via voice commands.
At the same time, the Fire TV Cube also borrows features from Amazon Echo smart speakers, meaning that there's, even more, it can do.
Amazon Fire TV Cube Pricing And Availability
The new Fire TV Cube is now available for pre-order on Amazon's website, with shipments set to commence on June 21. The device typically costs $119.99, but Prime Members who order on June 8 at the latest can get it for just $89.99, which translates to savings of $30.
