The Amazon, Google, and Samsung Big Fall Devices Event – Is It gonna be a Great Refocus Moment for the Hardware Division?
This is what Samsung is doing with its TVs, packing Thread and Zigbee radios and Matter controller capabilities into its fanciest 2023 models, with this likely to permeate through the rest of its lines in 2024. Apple is also doing it. The Apple TV streaming device is already an all-in-one TV and smart home device. As for Google… well, as always, Google is still playing catch-up.
Samsung is probably the closest with its SmartThings interface, but it’s unwieldy to navigate compared to a smartphone or tablet. Apple’s new tvOS update makes the Apple TV interface more useful for smart home control — giving you quick access to scenes and cameras on the big screen. You can use voice control for live camera views on your television with the help of a new device from Google; it’s all there.
That could be about to change. Amazon has its big fall devices event tomorrow. Yes, there’ll probably be new Kindles; personally, I’d like to see a new smart speaker (the flagship Echo fourth-gen is very long in the tooth), and I’m sure we’ll see some minor Fire TV Stick upgrades. But instead of also hoisting a bunch of new random gadgets at us that maybe make it to the next holiday buying season (I’m looking at you, Halo Rise), I’m hoping this event will be a big reset and refocus moment for Amazon’s hardware division.
Of course, all of this could be largely moot if Amazon is ever able to achieve its much-touted goal of the “ambient home” — one that responds intuitively and proactively to the needs and wants of its occupants with little to no input or direction from us humans.
During his presentation, Rausch demoed a smarter, more comprehensive Alexa voice experience coming to Fire TV products that’s based on Amazon’s new LLM Alexa model. The software update will give search more power, with the ability to get recommendations based on your conversation. A new row will put recent watched shows and movies front and center.
That last part is the key. People will pay money for a device to watch TV shows and movies. It is not easy to convince a non-techie family member that they need to pay over a hundred dollars for an accessory that may or may not show them their video doorbell. I have tried.
The Fire TV Stick Max: Enhancing the Smart Home Using AI, Wi-Fi 6E, Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR 10 Plus
Artificial intelligence can help the smart home, making it easier to use, more intuitive, and able to interpret context. Context is king in the smart home — a home that turns on your lights at 3AM because it’s dark outside isn’t smart.
The standard Fire TV Stick 4K is 30 percent more powerful than the previous model, offers Wi-Fi 6, and 4K streaming along with broad HDR support for Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10 Plus. The Max builds on top of that with Wi-Fi 6E and twice the storage (now 16GB) than the prior version. For a difference of just $10, I’m not sure who wouldn’t opt for the Max over the regular stick, but not everyone needs those frills for all of their TVs, I suppose.
Rausch also announced a new $119.99 Fire TV Soundbar that will be compatible with the company’s existing streamers and Fire TV-branded televisions. It looks like this is being positioned as a solution that anyone who wants to step up from their TV’s built in speakers can use, since he didn’t make a big claim about sound quality. The Fire TV Soundbar is available beginning today.
The new Fire TV Stick 4K Max will also be getting the “ambient experience” first seen on the company’s Fire TV televisions, which displays artwork and widgets and basically converts the TV screen into a smart display whenever you’re not actively using it. Later this year, customers will be able to create generative backgrounds with the help of AI:
Customers can use their voice in the creation of artwork. This free feature, which will begin rolling out to customers in the U.S. by the end of this year, allows customers to easily generate a personalized background by giving Alexa an imagination-driven prompt, such as, “Alexa, create an image of cherry blossoms in the snow,” and watch as that prompt is translated into a unique display on the Fire TV screen.