Amazon Echo Show displays have long been able to stream videos, but the Echo Show 15 is about to get a new trick: the ability to act as a Fire TV device, albeit with some limitations.
Announced during Amazon’s annual hardware event Wednesday, the upcoming Fire TV functionality for the wall-mountable Echo Show 15 will allow users to access most–but not all–of the video-streaming services accessible through the Fire TV interface, including channel content from the likes of Paramount+ and Showtime.
If you want to watch YouTube or Google’s live-TV streaming service YouTube TV on an Echo Show 15, however, you’ll still need to go through the clunky process of using the onboard Silk browser. Apple TV won’t be available at launch either, and it won’t be possible to use Amazon’s Luna cloud-gaming service on Fire TV running on an Echo Show 15.
Slated to arrive in the “coming months,” the free update will let you summon the Fire TV interface on an Echo Show 15, which you’ll be able to navigate via the touchscreen, Alexa voice commands, or by pairing a Fire TV voice remote.
You’ll also be able to ask Alexa to stream specific programs; for example, you’ll be able to say “Alexa, play The Rings of Power,” or “Alexa, play Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.”
You’ll be able to resize a Fire TV window and display video programming next to other elements of the Echo Show 15’s user interface, including sticky notes, to-do lists, and even a live feed from a security camera in picture-in-picture mode.
Amazon
Echo Show devices have long been able to stream videos, but only through individually supported services such as Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix.
The Echo Show 15 was first unveiled at last year’s Amazon hardware event, and it currently stands as the largest Echo Show device, as well as the only one that can be hung on a wall.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
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 covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.