New Amazon Fire TV dongle brings 4K HDR and Alexa on board

One of the newest devices out of Amazon’s stable brings with it some pretty big features. The new Fire TV dongle comes with 4K HDR support and Alexa built in. It’s a square Chromecast-like device but comes with a remote control that you can speak to for voice control. It’s easy to get the Fire TV to work with your TV sets. All you need to do is plug it into your HDMI port and it can then let you stream HDR content up to 4K at 60 frames per second. If you have a killer speaker or soundbar setup going, this device supports Dolby Atmos audio as well. The Fire TV dongle is launching in the US on October 25^th for US$69.99 (approx. CA$87).

Source: Android Authority

Sony Xperia XZ1 starts shipping on Amazon in the US with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box

A Google Pixel isn’t the first Android-powered device to ship Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box, the honor this year goes to a Sony. Yes, Sony’s newest device launched at IFA in Berlin, the Xperia XZ1 has started shipping on Amazon in the US with Android 8.0 out of the box. The phone comes with a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 64GB internal storage, 2,700mAh battery, and 19-megapixel rear and 13-megapixel front shooters. This device is also Netflix HDR-compatible. It’s not a cheap phone, though. It retails for US$699.99 (around CA$865) and comes in Moonlit Blue, Venus Pink, Warm Silver, and Black.

Source: Android Police

Shopping list app Out of Milk gets Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support

If you use shopping list app Out of Milk, you might like the new features. The app now supports both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. You will need to follow these instructions for Google Assistant on Google Home and this one for Amazon Alexa and you need to have an account created on the Out of Milk app or website to access the Out of Milk Voice assistant. Once you have that up and running though, you can do things like add and remove items from a list, include the quantity, add multiple items to a list, check which list you’re working on, and read off items on a list or off all the lists.

Source: Android Police

Two new Amazon Fire TV devices are reportedly headed our way

A new report from AFTVnews claims we’re getting more Amazon Fire TV options this year. There will be two new devices, supposedly, and one is coming next month. Both devices will have 4K HDR video support at 60 frames per second. The “mid-tier model,” which looks like a square Google Chromecast is the one we’re expecting in October and will reportedly be priced within the US$60 to $80 range.

Meanwhile, the more exciting model, which is expected to come out later this year or early in 2018, is considered the high-end Fire TV. It’ll reportedly have far-field microphones and an integrated speaker, meaning it might be able to support remote voice commands. With an LED light bar, it might mean this model gets Alexa support. The estimated price for this model is over $100.