Pretty soon, Alexa will get better about finding movies and shows with whatever scraps of information are floating around in your head–and yes, it’s all thanks to the magic of AI. (These days, when is it not?)
As expected, Amazon had a couple of new Fire TV sticks to show off during its big fall hardware presentation on Wednesday, along with a budget soundbar that can boost the audio of most Fire TV devices.
But during Amazon’s demo on Wednesday, the company also showed off how its new LLM (large language model) could turbo-charge Alexa’s Fire TV search capabilities, helping it dig up relevant movies and TV shows with far more casual queries than were previously possible.
For example, an Amazon Fire TV exec demonstrated how Alexa on a Fire TV device could answer queries such as “show action movies for me,” and then answer follow ups (minus the wake word) such as “show me the ones I don’t have to pay for” and “show me ones I haven’t seen yet.”
The show stopper was this query: “Search for that comedy by, you know, the guy who played the lawyer in Breaking Bad,” and Alexa quickly called up the TV series Lucky Hank starring Better Call Saul actor Bob Odenkirk.
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Alexa also served up some titles related to Better Call Saul–not that tall of a task–but then narrowed the list using the question, “which of these should have won an Oscar but didn’t?”
It was an impressive display, but will Amazon’s new LLM model for Alexa truly transform the clunky, frustrating experience of searching for videos to watch? We’ll find out once Amazon launches a preview, in the near future (we’re told).
Meanwhile, there was also new Fire TV hardware to talk about, including a second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max that (according to Amazon) is the first of its kind to boast Wi-Fi 6E support.
Available for pre-order now for $59.99 and slated to ship on September 27, the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max will also come with 16GB of storage, double the size of its predecessor.
Even better, the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max will be the first Fire TV stick to offer Amazon’s Fire TV Ambient Experience, which turns your blank TV screen into a quasi-smart display, complete with customizable widgets such as the weather and your calendar.
The Ambient Display can also show off works of art, along with family photos.
Naturally, generative AI made another appearance with the Fire TV Ambient Display, with an exec showing off the ability to transform snapshots from suggestions to Alexa, such as “make this photo watercolor style.” It’s a feature that’ll arrive as an update next year to any Fire TV devices that supports Ambient Display functionality.
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Also getting updated is the Fire TV Stick 4K, which lacks Ambient Display abilities but will get a 30-percent speed boost and Wi-Fi 6 support. The second-gen Fire TV Stick 4K costs $49.99 and can be pre-ordered now.
Finally, Amazon unveiled a budget 24-inch soundbar with Bluetooth, which includes support for Dolby Audio and virtualized 3D audio courtesy of DTS Virtual:X
Equipped with stereo speakers, plus HDMI and optical ports, the Fire TV Soundbar is available now for $119.99.
Updated shortly after publication with additional details.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer, TechHive
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he has covered everything from smart speakers and soundbars to smart lights and security cameras. Ben's articles have also appeared in PC Magazine, TIME, Wired, CNET, Men's Fitness, Mobile Magazine, and more. Ben holds a master's degree in English literature.