Amazon's Fire TV is in the news once again, and this time it's (thankfully) not about Google removing more content from the streaming platform. Instead, Amazon is finally bringing live television programming to it.
If you're subscribed to Amazon Channels (more on this in a bit), you'll see a new row on your home screen that's titled "On Now." This is where you'll see a list of any shows that are on the air at that given moment, and clicking on a program will let you start watching it instantly.
Clicking the Options button on your Fire TV remote will bring up a more traditional guide to view what's airing now and what'll be on later in the day, and you can browse upcoming content up to two weeks into the future. Channels are presented vertically, and you can favorite your top ones so that they appear above everything else.
And, of course, you can control all of this with Alexa. Just say, "Alexa, tune to HBO" or "Alexa, go to the Channel Guide," and you can go through all your content without having to mash away at buttons on your remote.
As mentioned above, this live programming is powered by Amazon Channels. Amazon Channels is reserved for Prime subscribers, and it allows you to sign up for and watch services such as HBO, Starz, CBS All Access, Showtime, and others right within your Amazon account. It's an odd take on live Internet-based TV streaming, but with these new features rolling out to the Fire TV, it's possible Amazon will start building it up into a more viable competitor to the likes of YouTube TV, Sling TV, etc.
Firefox now available on Fire TV with support for YouTube
