Amazon Fire TV Broadens Its Voice

Amazon is starting to address one of the early limitations of its new Fire TV box – the device’s integrated voice search capabilities are limited to Amazon’s own video library and Vevo. 

That will start to change this summer, when Amazon extends voice search support to Hulu Plus, Crackle and Showtime Anytime.

“We’re excited and energized by the momentum we’re seeing with Fire TV,” said Dave Limp, vice president, Amazon Devices. “Customers are telling us they love it, developers are building for it, and we’re working hard to expand existing features and build new ones. We’re thrilled to have Hulu Plus, Crackle, and SHOWTIME integrating their full selection of movies and TV shows into Fire TV’s unified voice search.”

Amazon also identified several partners that are working on app for the platform, including Telltale Games, Disney Interactive, Minority Media, Gaiam, and Twitch, a popular service that allows gamers to live stream their play via the Web.

Amazon said it’s also working on a new browsing feature for Prime Instant Video, and the integration of Amazon FreeTime (parental control software currently used in Kindle tablets) and Amazon MP3, which will be part of a “free, over-the-air software update.”