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Amazon Unleashes Fire Stick and Fire TVs With Alexa Plus Capability

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Amazon unveiled a new Fire TV 4K Stick Select featuring the new Vega OS, as well as three new Fire TV OS televisions, at an event in New York. All of the devices are designed to be used with Alexa Plus, the next version of Alexa.

The televisions incorporate the latest versions of the Omni series QLED TV, the 4K 4-Series and a new 2-Series, and all include onboard presence sensors.

Fire TV Stick 4K

The Fire TV 4K Select starts at $40 Joseph Maldonado/CNET

Amazon says the new Fire TV Stick 4K Select runs on the new Vega OS, which will also appear on new Echo speakers. It's designed from the ground up to hit a sub-$40 price.

Aidan Marcuss, Amazon's VP of Fire TV, told CNET that Fire TV OS devices will be separate from Vega OS models and not upgradeable, but the two systems will coexist.

"It's gonna be the same Fire TV experience: Regardless of the OS they're on, they should get the same experience, they should be able to use it the same way," Marcuss said.

He added that even though there wasn't going to be a "convergence to one OS" that Fire TV would still receive support and updates.

Omnipresence, I mean, Omnisense

The new Omni TV will be 60% brighter than the previous generation, have double the number of local dimming zones and a 40% faster processor. The Omni TV has a built-in RGB light sensor to adjust the screen brightness according to the lighting in the room. It's available in sizes between 50 inches and 75 inches and starts at $480.

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