The Fire TV should be at the heart of Amazon’s smart home

They accidental the bosom of immoderate location is the kitchen, and portion bully successful theory, we each cognize that successful astir American homes, it’s the country with the biggest TV wherever everyone hangs out. In my decade-plus of covering the astute home, it’s baffled maine that nary institution has truly embraced the TV arsenic a cardinal hub for the astute home. 

Yes, you tin navigate 3 menus down connected a Fire TV-enabled tv and crook a astute airy off, and your Apple TV oregon Google Chromecast volition fto you presumption a information camera livestream if you cognize the nonstop incantation to summon it. But to date, the narration betwixt the astute TV and the astute location has been much parasitic than symbiotic. 

That could beryllium astir to change. Amazon has its large autumn devices lawsuit tomorrow. Yes, there’ll astir apt beryllium caller Kindles; personally, I’d similar to spot a caller astute talker (the flagship Echo fourth-gen is precise agelong successful the tooth), and I’m definite we’ll spot immoderate insignificant Fire TV Stick upgrades. But alternatively of besides hoisting a clump of caller random gadgets astatine america that maybe marque it to the adjacent vacation buying play (I’m looking astatine you, Halo Rise), I’m hoping this lawsuit volition beryllium a large reset and refocus infinitesimal for Amazon’s hardware division.

Chastened by layoffs, immense losses, and the departure of longtime commander-in-chief Dave Limp, the aboriginal has been looking bleak for Amazon’s devices and services division. Today, that aboriginal apt hinges connected 2 things: generative AI and a large displacement successful its hardware focus.

With rumors that Limp’s successor volition beryllium nary different than Microsoft’s hardware whisperer Panos Panay, we tin anticipation for immoderate shiny caller surfaces for Alexa successful the coming years. But the existent hardware play needs to displacement distant from the “throw everything astatine the partition and spot what sticks” attack to find a tighter focus. The evident spot to bash this is by bringing its Alexa and Fire TV part and its devices and services part into person alignment.

This week's lawsuit astatine its shiny caller office successful Arlington, Virginia, is simply a premier accidental for Amazon to amusement it genuinely understands its astute location mission. One mode to bash that is for Amazon to absorption little connected a myriad of astute displays and much connected that elephantine astute show successful our surviving room: the TV.  

The astute location has stagnated due to the fact that it’s excessively analyzable — yes, even successful the (not so) aureate property of Matter. For the mean consumer, who is Amazon’s breadstuff and butter, it’s conscionable not compelling. But marque it each truly casual to usage from your TV, and that’s a full different shot game. 

Roku has seen this imaginable with its smart location hardware play — repackaging Wyze cameras and gadgets but integrating them neatly into its TV OS. It’s a earthy measurement for Amazon to crook the TV into the hub of its astute location ecosystem, and possibly adjacent bundle immoderate astute location services into your Prime subscription. We each signed up for escaped delivery, but present we’re hooked connected an all-you-can-eat buffet of Good Omens and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan; who’s to accidental determination aren’t immoderate compelling astute location services we’d beryllium blessed to bundle, too?

The Amazon Fire TV Cube is already halfway to this astute location hub vision. A hybrid Echo talker and Fire TV, it’s the lone TV streaming container with hands-free dependable control, allowing you to crook connected your surviving country lights from your TV without having to property a button. Add a Thread vigor and Zigbee enactment connected apical of its almighty processor and connectivity options (Wi-Fi 6, Sidewalk, Bluetooth LE, and ethernet), and the Cube becomes an all-in-one astute location hub that runs your TV. 

That past portion is the key. People are prepared to walk wealth connected a instrumentality for streaming TV shows and movies. It’s a harder merchantability to person a non-techie household subordinate that it’s worthy handing implicit $130 oregon truthful for an Echo Show 8 that tin (sometimes) show you your video doorbell. (Believe me, I’ve tried). 

Smart displays simply aren’t compelling enough. They’re not precise bully astute location controllers, and their arsenic susceptible astute talker siblings dependable amended and outgo less. If Amazon leans into its TV hardware arsenic a show to enactment its astute location platform, it could commencement to determination the needle for astute location adoption successful the close direction. The Fire TV Cube is the precocious end, but ideate a Fire TV Stick oregon the inexpensive Fire TV Omnis with Thread and Zigbee astute location hardware built in. 

This is what Samsung is doing with its TVs, packing Thread and Zigbee radios and Matter controller capabilities into its fanciest 2023 models, with this apt to permeate done the remainder of its lines successful 2024. Apple’s doing it, too. Its Apple TV streaming device is already an all-in-one TV / astute location device. As for Google… well, arsenic always, Google is inactive playing catch-up. 

Yet, ultimately, what’s holding the TV backmost arsenic a astute location interface is software. Noone has successfully turned the biggest astute show successful our homes into a usable astute location controller, and really, they should. 

Samsung is astir apt the closest with its SmartThings interface, but it’s unwieldy to navigate compared to a smartphone oregon tablet. Apple’s caller tvOS update makes the Apple TV interface much utile for astute location power — giving you speedy entree to scenes and cameras connected the large screen. Google’s Chromecast besides lets you telephone up unrecorded camera views connected your TV; although, there’s nary UI for this; it’s each dependable control. 

Amazon’s Smart Home Dashboard for Fire TV (launched successful 2021) is usable but successful request of a implicit overhaul. My 65-inch TV tin intelligibly acceptable much than 8 icons connected the screen... . Amazon has the hardware it needs (more than it needs!). Now, it needs to absorption connected the software. The Alexa app connected the telephone is inactive a blistery mess, and the idiosyncratic interface connected its astute displays is overmuch much astir showing; there’s precise small doing. A sleek, streamlined easy-to-use astute location UI connected a astute TV (without rows of ads) is thing I cognize I’d use.

Of course, each of this could beryllium mostly moot if Amazon is ever capable to execute its much-touted extremity of the “ambient home” — 1 that responds intuitively and proactively to the needs and wants of its occupants with small to nary input oregon absorption from america humans. 

In this world, we wouldn’t request astute displays littered each implicit our houses oregon a powerful, intuitive interface successful our surviving room. One cardinal encephalon moving your home, intelligently responding to your needs and wants, and controlling your connected devices without you having to deliberation astir it seems to beryllium wherever Amazon is headed. “Our North Star is the Star Trek Computer,” Limp told maine earlier this year, earlier the quality of his departure.

With 90 percent of Alexa routines having nary enactment by the customer, the leap doesn’t look arsenic far-fetched arsenic it erstwhile was, particularly with the caller supercharged AI. “With the emergence of generative AI and Large Language Models, [creating the Star Trek Computer] present seems similar a precise tractable problem,” helium told me. “It present feels similar we person the tools to get there.” While Limp is out, his rumored replacement, Microsoft’s Panay, is likewise AI-savvy and improbable to determination distant from this vision, which has been astatine the halfway of Alexa since time one.

Generative AI has the imaginable to lick galore of the complexities of the astute home, making it easier to use, much intuitive, and, crucially, capable to construe context. Context is king successful the astute location — a location that turns connected your lights astatine 3AM due to the fact that it’s acheronian extracurricular isn’t smart. 

If Amazon is to fulfill its ambitions to make a “dramatically antithetic experience” successful its ambient astute location with generative AI, it volition inactive request hardware to powerfulness that experience. And present is wherever the TV makes sense. While astute displays seemed similar the solution for Amazon (which wanted to determination distant from a astute location that’s tally from your phone, seeing arsenic it’s the lone large astute location ecosystem that doesn’t marque one), they don’t supply capable value. Almost everyone has a TV. 

A Fire TV Cube-style streaming instrumentality / astute talker combined with a almighty astute location hub channeled done your house’s largest “smart display” could beryllium a compelling bundle — and 1 that would let Amazon’s adjunct to flex immoderate AI superpowers the institution has planned.

Crucially, this wouldn’t beryllium thing conscionable for the aboriginal adopters. For the immense bulk of American consumers, the TV is that trusted instrumentality that could supply a brushed landing for the leap to the astute home. Here’s hoping we spot a imaginativeness of that aboriginal astatine tomorrow’s Amazon event.