Amazon’s Alexa voice-controlled assistant will soon be able to play a bigger role in the home, provided you use Amazon Fire TV set top devices.
On Tuesday, Amazon said that Fire TV boxes and plug-in Fire TV Sticks, can now be paired with Amazon Echo connected home speakers, thus making Alexa, the smart software that runs Echo, your TV’s boss.
To be clear, users could already activate Fire TV using voice commands, but they had to actually pick up a voice-activated remote to do so. Now they don’t even have to make that minimal effort, and can instead speak directly to any Echo device within earshot.
You can say: “Alexa turn on the TV,” or “Alexa, show me comedies on Fire TV.” Alexa can also stop, pause, and fast forward through shows on command.
People who have one Echo can “pair” it with their Fire TV after asking Alexa a question that includes Fire TV. People who have more than one must use their Alexa mobile app to connect the correct Echo to their TV.
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The wireless technology to enable this, Amazon (AMZN) “far-field control,” is now available in the U.S. On all versions of the Fire TV set top box and Fire TV stick.
Amazon also said consumers will soon be able to view and control live video feeds from smart security cameras that work with Alexa from their Fire TV.
Related: Amazon Already Established in Your Home, Is Gunning for your Phone
According to research firm eMarketer, Amazon Fire came in third after Roku and Google Chromecast on a list of most-used set-top devices. Fire TV had nearly 36 million people using it at least once monthly compared to 39 million for Roku, and 37 million for Chromecast. Apple (AAPL) TV came in fourth with 22 million monthly users.
Amazon, Apple, Google (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT) are battling each other for dominance in the emerging connected home market where Amazon is pushing the Echo/Alexa combination, Google has Google Home, and Microsoft’s Invoke and Apple HomePod are due this fall.
People use these smart home devices to order take-out food, check account balances, create shopping lists, and control their other connected home devices. Amazon’s Echo has been a surprise hit in this realm, and the company is working to consolidate its leading position while the others rush to catch up.