Apple Music has been making big headway in the U.S. in recent years, now ranking as the most popular paid music streaming service in the nation, eclipsing global powerhouse Spotify for the top spot.
On Wednesday, March 13, Apple Music announced it is finally available on Amazon Fire TV devices, rounding out a steady embrace of Amazon’s Alexa platform that began late in 2018.
For a long time, there was a major hole for Apple Music in Amazon’s smart devices. Namely, until November 2018, Apple Music wasn’t compatible with anything inside of Amazon’s ever-growing Alexa ecosystem. That first changed with Apple Music’s adoption of all Echo speakers in November, then with an announcement that the company was working on supporting third-party Alexa devices, and now with the full embrace of Fire TV devices.
It’s worth noting that Spotify and other music streaming services have been fully integrated with Alexa devices for years, making Apple something of a latecomer. Still, it makes sense that Apple would initially be reticent to offer its music streaming service to competitors’ products. After all, Apple makes its own HomePod smart speaker.
But it also makes sense why the company eventually came around to integrating with Amazon’s devices: If someone owned an Amazon Fire TV or Alexa smart speaker before picking their on-demand streaming service of choice, they would be exponentially more likely to subscribe to a competitor.
Using Apple Music on Fire TV is extremely easy. All you have to do is install the Apple Music skill on the Alexa app and you can start asking Alexa to play your favorite music straight from the device; it is even compatible with multi-room playback via the Fire TV Cube. Those who previously enabled the skill to use it with their Echo devices will find that their Fire TV works with Apple Music without them having to enable the skill.
Apple has been opening up to outside device manufacturers as of late. It recently announced that AirPlay 2 will soon be coming Roku devices, likely as a way of drumming up camaraderie between major streaming device companies before it launches its much-anticipated on-demand streaming service later this year.
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.
Technology evolves every day, transforming how we live and work. Our devices are becoming more than tools we use. They are increasingly capable companions that help streamline day-to-day routines and spark creative ideas. If you have been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your tech setup, the Discover Samsung Shopping Event offers an opportunity to explore what connected, AI-powered living can look like.