Amazon’s X-Ray is a longtime friend of those watching Instant Video content on Kindle Fire tablets and smartphones, serving up intriguing information about on-screen content. Today, Amazon announced the service is migrating from those small screen devices to TVs, as X-Ray will soon be available for Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick streaming devices.
Peter Larsen, Vice President of Amazon Devices, explained the appeal. “We’ve all been there: you’re sitting on the couch, watching a favorite movie or TV show, and a familiar face enters the scene – but you can’t for the life of you remember who he is, or what other movies he’s been in,” he said. “X-Ray solves this – it integrates the vast database of IMDB right into the viewing experience.”
Can’t remember the name of that song or actor? Press up on the remote’s directional pad, pause the scene, or press up twice for a more exhaustive overlay with actor biographies, trivia, and other filmography. Like the music from Frozen but not the exposition? X-Ray can also be of assistance: you can skip to songs from your favorite movie’s soundtrack screen.
That functionality may sound familiar to fans of Hulu and Google Play Movies and TV — both services offer comparable features in Face Match and info cards, respectively. However, X-Ray is the only one to operate natively on a set top box — no casting required. To that point, said Larsen, “We think Amazon Fire TV customers are going to love this elegant experience on the big screen at home, and it’s just one simple click of the remote.”
Amazon says an over-the-air update rolling out to Fire TV and Fire TV Stick units will enable X-Ray by end of day. Until then, you’ll have to rely on your good ‘ol noggin, or your trusty smartphone for TV and movie factoids. Bummer.
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