# Alexa coming to the FireTV



## VondaZ

Just saw this on AFTVnews. I find this very exciting - especially the possibility that it may be coming to existing units as well as the expected new units.

ETA: Forgot the link:
http://www.aftvnews.com/exclusive-amazons-alexa-voice-assistant-coming-to-amazon-fire-tv/


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## NogDog

What would be cool would be if my Echo interfaced with my AFTV, so that, e.g., I could say, "Alexa, watch 'The Blacklist'."


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## VondaZ

Rumor has it there will be some kind of announcement tomorrow.

http://www.aftvnews.com/new-amazon-fire-tv-to-be-revealed-tomorrow-september-17th-and-arriving-september-30th/


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## Sandpiper

Got e-mail from Amazon today to pre-order new Fire TV.  I have the old one.  My guess is no upgrade to old.  I pre-ordered.  Release date is October 5.


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## VondaZ

Sandpiper said:


> My guess is no upgrade to old. I pre-ordered. Release date is October 5.


According to AFTVNews, all Gen 1 Fire TVs will be receiving the Fire OS5 upgrade, which will include the Alexa features: 
http://www.aftvnews.com/fire-os-5-with-alexa-coming-to-1st-gen-fire-tv-and-fire-tv-stick-in-october/

Given that, I think the major differences will be 4K support, faster processor (likely needed for 4K video), the new WiFi based remote, and the slot for a microSD card. Since I don't have a 4K TV, I don't feel the need to upgrade at this time.


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## Andra

DH has preordered the new Fire TV for the living room.  The existing first-generation Fire TV will go upstairs in my office, replacing the Fire TV Stick that's in there.  The Fire TV Stick will go in the travel bag.


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## NogDog

VondaZ said:


> According to AFTVNews, all Gen 1 Fire TVs will be receiving the Fire OS5 upgrade, which will include the Alexa features:
> http://www.aftvnews.com/fire-os-5-with-alexa-coming-to-1st-gen-fire-tv-and-fire-tv-stick-in-october/
> 
> Given that, I think the major differences will be 4K support, faster processor (likely needed for 4K video), the new WiFi based remote, and the slot for a microSD card. Since I don't have a 4K TV, I don't feel the need to upgrade at this time.


Sweet. 

(And I have no intention of investing in a 4K TV. Maybe if I were going to get one of those huge screens -- and was printing my own money -- but a regular HD 40" screen is fine for now.  )


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## Atunah

NogDog said:


> Sweet.
> 
> (And I have no intention of investing in a 4K TV. Maybe if I were going to get one of those huge screens -- and was printing my own money -- but a regular HD 40" screen is fine for now.  )


We ended up with a 4K in February, because our HDTV blew up after around 8-10 years of use. It literally started smoking out the back. . 
At the time we had bought that one for a bargain of $1400 at the time. Hubby goes out on a weekend to buy a TV and comes back with a bit larger, half the price of the old one TV. I didn't even know what 4K was. Walmart to the rescue. It cost just a tad more than a regular HD TV of the same size. Its not a big brand like Samsung or such, its a Vizio and it works great.

Amazon 4K looks pretty awesome. I know Netflix has some stuff on 4K, but we don't subscribe to that part of Netlfix, just the regular. Offerings are still pretty limited overall, but in our case price wasn't much difference and we needed a TV. And of course the man of the house saw 4K on the box and gadgetitis took over. 

It better last at least 8-10 like the last one, although I have my doubts as stuff seems to last shorter and shorter times.

I am keeping my eye on the Fire TV. Our Roku seems to be acting up more and more. But, I must know if one particular channel is on FIre TV. Its called "Tagesschau". I must watch that every day as its the evening news I grew up with in Germany. Can someone that has a FireTV box check that for me please?


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## D/W

Atunah said:


> I am keeping my eye on the Fire TV. Our Roku seems to be acting up more and more. But, I must know if one particular channel is on FIre TV. Its called "Tagesschau". I must watch that every day as its the evening news I grew up with in Germany. Can someone that has a FireTV box check that for me please?


There is a free Tagesschau app in Amazon's Appstore.  The product page says it does work with Fire TV Voice Remote.


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## Atunah

DreamWeaver said:


> There is a free Tagesschau app in Amazon's Appstore.  The product page says it does work with Fire TV Voice Remote.


Yay thanks. I forget german if I don't watch this each day. And its endless amusement to my husband when he attempts to pronounce the really long titles politicians have there.


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## Atunah

DreamWeaver said:


> My mother was from the Netherlands. It was always interesting to listen to her converse with relatives when they visited. Unfortunately, I get tongue-tied when I attempt to speak the few Dutch and German words I know.
> 
> I ordered a Fire TV Stick with voice remote, but it won't be arriving until late October. I'm really looking forward to it!


My husband doesn't speak a lick of german, but he managed to pick up some words here and there and make sense of them. Like compound words. And those long titles. He can say words and he asks me what it is. After a while he figures out how to phonetically say it. Its not really very useful around here, but its fun in any case. 

Its like me when I listen to some nordic languages. I don't speak them or understand the, but with some of them, if I try not to think too hard and just listen, I can actually pick up some stuff probably because of what the languages are based on. As soon as I try to hard, its gone again.

Hope you enjoy your stick when it gets there. I am really curious how the voice stuff works and how Alexa will work. I assume those are 2 different things?


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## VondaZ

Atunah said:


> It cost just a tad more than a regular HD TV of the same size. Its not a big brand like Samsung or such, its a Vizio and it works great.


We have a Vizio in the bedroom and it has been very reliable and good quality for a lower-priced TV. I like Vizio.

Samsung, for all its name and reputation, can be a piece of crap. They have problems across the board with their TVs (all the models but not every unit) where suddenly after it is out of warranty, the TV will just stop displaying anything. It will work for a while, then black screen. Sometimes it won't turn on. Later it will turn on, work for a while, then black screen.

It turns out, they use parts with faulty capacitors that break after the TV is out of warranty. They were sued for this before and settled in 2012 (lame settlement that added 18 months of warranty to older TVs made thru 200, but somehow, they continue to produce TVs with these faulty parts. The message boards are filled with people with newer models of Samsung TVs having these issues still. My husband had to buy a new power board, take apart the TV, replace the board (easier than replacing a capacitor and the board is only $30) and put it back together. Then he bought a backup power board and motherboard in case anything else blows on this TV in a few years and the boards are no longer available.

So don't lament not getting a Samsung as it is a lottery whether their TVs will remain reliable after a few years of use. My husband regrets not getting another Vizio - although now we have learned a lot about fixing televisions. It is amazing how cheap it is to replace both a power board and a motherboard (the major components of a TV besides the display itself) - only $70 on those crazy high end expensive devices.


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## Atunah

VondaZ said:


> We have a Vizio in the bedroom and it has been very reliable and good quality for a lower-priced TV. I like Vizio.
> 
> Samsung, for all its name and reputation, can be a piece of crap. They have problems across the board with their TVs (all the models but not every unit) where suddenly after it is out of warranty, the TV will just stop displaying anything. It will work for a while, then black screen. Sometimes it won't turn on. Later it will turn on, work for a while, then black screen.
> 
> It turns out, they use parts with faulty capacitors that break after the TV is out of warranty. They were sued for this before and settled in 2012 (lame settlement that added 18 months of warranty to older TVs made thru 200, but somehow, they continue to produce TVs with these faulty parts. The message boards are filled with people with newer models of Samsung TVs having these issues still. My husband had to buy a new power board, take apart the TV, replace the board (easier than replacing a capacitor and the board is only $30) and put it back together. Then he bought a backup power board and motherboard in case anything else blows on this TV in a few years and the boards are no longer available.
> 
> So don't lament not getting a Samsung as it is a lottery whether their TVs will remain reliable after a few years of use. My husband regrets not getting another Vizio - although now we have learned a lot about fixing televisions. It is amazing how cheap it is to replace both a power board and a motherboard (the major components of a TV besides the display itself) - only $70 on those crazy high end expensive devices.


We are pretty much price shoppers for things like TV. I look at the cheapest brands and then compare them. The TV that died was a Phillips, also at the time the cheapest. Not sure what died on it, it kept turning off and then it kept smelling like burned electronics for weeks and then smoke came out. . Probably a hair ball. 

No clue how to work on TV's though.


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