GoKawiil
Tech News
Amazon has updated its Fire TV Stick 4K with a redesigned power connector, moving away from the long-criticized Micro USB port. The device also ships with a newly designed remote control.
Amazon announced a major update to its Alexa Plus AI assistant, adding a dedicated hub on Fire TV devices, improved reasoning, and the ability to factor in cultural context and viewing history when answering questions. The assistant will also gain support for follow-up questions and threaded conversations, and will extend to the Fire TV mobile app. Amazon says some features roll out in November, with others arriving in 2024.
Amazon has introduced a new Fire TV Stick 4K alongside a redesigned Fire TV Remote featuring differently shaped, indented buttons meant to be identifiable by touch. The company says the device is 20-40% faster at powering on and loading content than a similarly priced competitor, and it also outperformed three top-selling 4K smart TVs in Amazon's own testing. The updated stick has a slimmer design, supports Direct Power via a TV's USB port, and runs Amazon's Vega operating system with Alexa Plus built in.
Amazon announced that starting in November, US Fire TV users will get a new Alexa+ hub on the TV interface and mobile app, offering personalized suggestions and more complex reasoning about shows, movies and current events. The mobile app will also let Alexa+ build watchlists from shared article links, suggest titles based on uploaded photos, and deep-link directly into streaming apps. Amazon also added live content from over 40 apps and a Games Hub for cloud gaming, with global rollout planned for early next year.
Amazon does not publish an official lifespan for Fire TV Stick devices, but it does commit to providing security updates for a minimum of four years from purchase date, or until a listed support deadline, whichever comes later. Current models like the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and 4K Plus are covered through at least December 2030.
Amazon has increased prices across its device lineup—including Echo, Fire TV, Kindle, and Eero products—by as much as 60%, citing rising memory and storage component costs. The Echo Dot, for instance, jumped overnight from $49.99 to $79.99, a spike confirmed by price-tracking tools like CamelCamelCamel. Amazon says it absorbed these cost increases as long as possible before passing them on to customers, though it plans occasional promotions going forward.