Video streaming — and general technology — giant Amazon has announced a cool new update to its base-level Fire TV stick, which allows viewers to stream their favorite films and TV shows in 1080p, and retails for $40.
Starting now, the base model Fire TV stick comes with the Alexa voice remote that the company released alongside the Fire TV Stick 4K, allowing buyers to search for their favorite content with their voice, rather than having to navigate menus by hand.
The update also means that the Fire TV stick gets Bluetooth and multidirectional infrared support — as these are what powers the voice remote, and weren’t previously standard on the most basic Fire TV Stick.
In addition, the updated Fire TV Stick comes with IMDb’s Freedive movie service pre-installed, which will allow viewers to immediately dig into a well of complimentary content. That said, we expect that nearly all buyers will be purchasing one because they already have a Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu subscription that they’d like to bring to their big screen.
To go along with the new bundle, standalone Alexa voice remotes are also now getting a 50-percent price cut, down to $15 per unit from their original $30 per unit price point, making this a great time for those interested in adding voice search to their Fire TV interface.
We’ve been fans of the Fire TV interface for years now, and are particularly enthralled by the high-end Fire TV Cube, which we have called our favorite streaming device on the market. Frankly, if you can add voice search to your current streaming interface, we highly recommend it. Having the ability to quickly and easily find content with your voice is very nice, especially given how many streaming services people often subscribe to in the modern era.
Those interested in learning more about the Amazon Fire TV Stick can check out the company’s website. Looking for great content to watch on your new streaming stick? Be sure to check out our list of the best movies available on Amazon right now, as well as our list of what’s new on the on-demand streaming service.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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