Amazon Fire TV Cube

Amazon Fire TV Cube – an Alexa aimed at the living room

If you have an Amazon speaker then it usually will find itself placed in a kitchen or a bedroom. The Amazon Fire TV Cube is something that is aimed at the living room by allowing interaction with your TV using just your voice. The Fire TV Cube is aimed at interacting with your other entertainment gear and is designed to replace all the remotes that clutter up your table by utilizing Alexa voice commands.

Think of it as a combination between the Fire TV and an Echo Dot. The Cube has all the 4K HDR video and Dolby Atmos audio capabilities of the Fire TV, hands-free Alexa built-in, as well as an HDMI output to feed your TV, and an included Ethernet adapter. The infrared blasters allow the Cube to send signals to your other AV equipment, whether that be a TV, cable box, or even an AV receiver or soundbar. If you’re wondering how the Cube is different from other Alexa devices then you’ll be like every other consumer.

The devices are very similar, except the Cube has infrared control.

That’s what allows it to interact with non-smart devices that aren’t Alexa aware. The infrared is built into the Cube itself as well as a separate included module that can reach equipment that is perhaps in a closed cabinet. Saying “Alexa, turn on the TV” for example will do just that or even “Alexa, let’s party” will cause music to start playing on a sound-bar instead of through the integrated speaker as it would in the case of an Echo Dot for example.

Other commands that work, after you say the “Alexa” keyword:

 “Turn on/off the TV”
“Turn up/down the volume” or “Mute”
 “Home” or “Go home” returns to Fire TV home page
 “Launch Netflix” or “Launch Hulu” to launch apps
 “Play ‘Transparent'” or “Play ‘Sneaky Pete'”
 “Show dramas” or “Show recent movies”
“Pause,” “Stop,” “Play,” “Rewind” and “Fast-forward”
 “Go down” or “Scroll down” navigates through the page

 The Fire TV Cube was originally rumored in September 2017 and officially revealed on Thursday. Amazon says it will ship June 21 and will cost $120 but Prime members can order one now starting at $90.