The latest addition to Amazon’s Fire TV lineup is also the latest expansion of its Alexa voice assistant.
Fire TV Cube, unveiled Thursday morning, is a small box designed to sit next to TV sets, enabling hands-free controls of the television and providing many — but not all — of the features available in the company’s Alexa-enabled Echo smart speakers.
Amazon says the device will work even when the TV is off, allowing users to ask Alexa to turn on the TV and tune to a specific channel, for example. It’s compatible with set-top boxes from companies including Comcast, Dish and DirecTV, covering more than 90 percent of households with cable or satellite subscriptions, according to the company.
Standard Alexa features available through Fire TV Cube include smart-home controls, a built-in speaker for weather and news updates, and access to third-party Alexa skills. For music, the company says the device will turn on the TV and show on-screen album art.
Fire TV Cube doesn’t support calling and messaging, Bluetooth sync or multi-room music in conjunction with other Alexa-enabled speakers.
The device will sell for $119.99, available starting June 21. It’s currently available for pre-order by Prime members Thursday and Friday for $89.99.
Amazon says Fire TV Cube enables hands-free TV controls using infrared technology, cloud protocols and a feature of HDMI cables designed for controlling consumer electronics devices.