Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Amazon to add Hulu Plus, Crackle and Showtime to Fire TV voice search

Mike Flacy
By
AmazonFireTV VoiceSearch
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Detailed with an Amazon press release today, the online retailer will be implementing all content offered by Hulu Plus, Sony’s Crackle and the Showtime Anywhere applications within the Fire TV’s voice search function. While limited support has been offered for some programming on Hulu Plus, Amazon plans to add the full catalog of Hulu’s content into the Fire TV system. In the future, when a user tries a voice search for content like NBC’s Hannibal, they will see options for season 1 streaming for free for all Prime members, season 2 premium purchases on Amazon and the five most recently aired episodes on Hulu Plus.

Of course, Amazon is still missing Netflix as a voice search partner, thus Fire TV owners won’t have any idea if an television show or movie that’s offered for a premium price on Amazon is available at a monthly-subscription price on Netflix. For instance, voice searching the phrase House of Cards only reveals season 1 at a premium cost on Amazon.

Amazon Fire TV
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If the Netflix catalog is implemented into voice search, it’s likely that it could undercut a large chunk of Amazon’s premium content library. This is a competitive advantage offered by Roku at the moment. Roku doesn’t have any reason to promote one service over another, thus includes all popular streaming services in the universal search function.

Recommended Videos

Beyond the additions to voice search, Amazon also indicated that new features are in the pipeline for the Fire TV. A new browsing filter will allow Prime subscribers the ability to view only content that’s included for free with their subscription price. In addition, Amazon will roll out FreeTime support for children and Amazon MP3 support for music streaming in the near future. Finally, Amazon is promising to deliver on a batch of new games on the streaming set top box, some of which will include touchscreen functionality if you own a smartphone or tablet.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mike Flacy
Mike Flacy
Contributing Editor
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
How to add parental controls to Amazon Fire TV
A Panasonic OLED TV with the Amazon Fire TV interface.

Your Amazon Fire TV device offers a wide range of features such as streaming content, playing games, controlling your smart devices, browsing the web, and much more. However, some of the content available on the platform may not be appropriate for children, and some of it requires downloading, purchasing, or renting. This is where the Amazon Fire TV parental controls come into play. These controls mainly focus on restricting access to apps and purchases, but also for keeping young eyes safe from content you don't want them to see.

Here’s how to set up parental controls on your Amazon Fire TV to better protect your family — and wallet.

Read more
How to reset an Amazon Fire TV remote in less than 2 minutes
A trio of Amazon Fire TV remote controls held in a hand in front of a television.

Amazon Fire TV devices are among the best streaming devices you can buy. They're reliable, easy to use, and they offer access to the movies, TV shows, and sports content we love, all with a few button clicks on a slim and trusty Fire TV remote. But every now and then, you might find that you need to reset your Amazon Fire TV remote. Never mind why. It happens (but hopefully not too often). The reason doesn't matter.

The good news is that it's simple to reset an Amazon Fire TV remote. So much so that it made our list of the most common Amazon Fire TV stick issues. (And how to fix them.)

Read more
You can now make your own AI art with Amazon Fire TV
An example of AI-generated art made available on Amazon Fire TV.

An example of AI-generated art now available on Amazon Fire TV. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

Amazon has flipped the switch on its AI Art feature, allowing owners of the 2023 Fire TV Stick 4K Max and the Fire TV Omni QLED Series televisions to create their own computer-generated backgrounds. This feature was announced at Amazon's fall 2023 hardware and services event, and one about which we went deeper in our interview with Amazon Director of Fire TV Experience Joshua Danovitz.

Read more