The biggest E-Commerce company Amazon is now officially in the TV business. Amazon is working with other companies in a “Fire TV Edition” collaboration to offer its popular streaming software to other TV manufactures.
Amazon and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) are in a partnership with Fire TV to announcing more Fire TV sets from Toshiba and Pioneer. Toshiba’s models, coming in spring 2022 and will be available in large format sizes (55”, 65”, & 75”) and will include motion procession and local dimming, will integrate far-field voice natively through 4-array microphones.
Customers will also benefit from Alexa’s hands-free capabilities on the Toshiba series, which will allow them to communicate with Alexa from across the room. View and control connected devices, get personalized content recommendations, watch the latest entertainment on your favorite apps on your biggest screen, and more with Alexa.
The Pioneer smart TV with Fire TV series is a new addition to the Fire TV family of devices, offering a spectacular 4K Ultra HD watching experience with perfect clarity, contrasts, and colors in 43” and 50” models. Picture-in-picture capabilities and High Dynamic Range specifications such as HDR10 and Dolby Vision will be available on the Pioneer series.
The series has DTS Virtual X, which allows for multi-room music and surround-sound experiences. Customers can use their voice to find and view over one million movies and TV episodes from major applications, as well as change picture and sound settings across the series, with the integrated Voice Remote with Alexa.
Amazon and Best Buy will carry Pioneer’s 43-inch and 50-inch sets at a low price. In the United States and Canada, the 43” will begin shipping in late September, while the 50” will begin shipping in early November. (Those who remember the Pioneer Kuro plasma from many years ago may find it difficult to accept that this is mere “Pioneer” in branding.)