After two year of being ensconced within pandemic , restrictions are gradually reducing and life is returning to some color of normalcy in the meantime , despite issues in recent months due to inflation , the Ukraine war and for those living in the UK , the continuing complications regarding Brexit and those transport work stoppage .
Suffice to say though , that people are n’t spend as much on their sofa as couch white potato now as they were two year ago . In the audio visual marketplace , many experienceda excrescence in salesas people assay toimprove their TVsandhome cinema kit , with a bigger focussing onstreaming contentthan ever , whether that be watching films , bingeing TV shows and playing game on-line .
But to reiterate , more people are guide for the outdoors , which has affected the economic consumption of content in the home . Or has it ? We chatted to Daniel Rausch , Vice President , Entertainment Devices and Services at Amazon , to speak about how about the Fire idiot box division , its approach to keeping customers happy , and what it ’s looking to do down the route .
interrogation : With regards to spectator engagement as we come out of the pandemic , has there been any dip in mesh or are level higher than they were pre - pandemic ?
do : While no one could have predicted the retiring couple of class , we ’ve been inspired by our customers ’ desire to keep a sensory faculty of normality by using their idiot box to do more in their home . The TV has become primal to more than just entertainment . It is now a gym , house , class room , and office .
Our client are streaming billion of hour every month and we ’ve seen increased requirement for things like alive TV content . Our destination with Fire TV is to simplify the experience for our customers and help them get to the mental object they love quickly and easy – depend for us to continue to rescue innovations on that front .
Has there been any interest group in doing a agio Fire idiot box box seat like theApple telecasting 4 K box ?
I think if you look at the specs of theFire TV Cube , I think that you ’d see that [ it ] is for certain a premium experience and that ’s been shipping here in the UK since 2019 . So three class or so . And it is a very performant machine . It ’s fluid , it is 4k and has every Dolby feature you’re able to name , so I think if you did a spec comparison , I think you ’d see that that is a premium mathematical product at a significant monetary value advantage over Apple TV . Of of course , it also has fully embed far - playing field articulation so you could control that intersection with the remote control or just across the way with your articulation and get all ofAlexa as well .
At Amazon , we ’re always inventing on behalf of customers and while I have nothing to deal today about roadmaps , I am excited about what we ’ll be delivering to Fire television receiver client in the future .
Will you be looking to bring your own brand of Fire Edition telecasting to the UK , or cover to work with other brand like you have done with Xiaomi and JVC ?
We ’re always seem to bring our Fire tv set and Amazon services where our customers want them and lovemaking work with amazing global brands for smart telly with Fire television receiver build - in – but I do n’t have anything specific to share at this time .
You ’ve amaze Luna in the US , has there been any sort of motion to add it to the UK ?
So , two things . One Luna is doing great in the US and I mean you screw being able to instantly play cognitive content and have that streaming experience that we ’ve all come to love for pour media and video , having that for games [ with a ] individual tap and of a sudden you ’re in and playing no download , I do n’t postulate to bribe a local microcomputer or console for hundreds of maybe even 1000s of dollar . So Luna is working dandy from the customer proposition perspective .
It also has groove for content so I can choose just the kinds of game I desire . I do n’t have to pay for one big holistic subscription . So we hump that that ’s working . Just like any of our product if we see it ’s work somewhere for customers , we acknowledge customers elsewhere are gon na love it . I do n’t have anything to herald specifically or kind of talked about in term of timeline looking forward , but I can tell you that once we see something working for customers , obviously we need to bring it [ elsewhere ] .
With the announcement of theXbox cyclosis stickbringing contention in the cloud gaming market in the US , do you have any thoughts on that ?
We ’re incredibly excited by the succeeder we ’ve escort with Luna in the U.S. so far and think we offer customers a great choice for cloud gaming , whether they ’ve been doing it for a prospicient time or are just getting start . We just announce that Luna will be a part of Samsung ’s GameHub .
I believe the value of cloud gaming is to just blame up and act as at a whim . We offer Prime Customers a rotate monthly survival of loose title to play with Luna and we ’re envision expectant customer feedback on this .
Has there been any consideration to ferment with Microsoft / Nvidia to fetch Game Pass / GeForce NOW onto the Fire idiot box program ?
We believe Fire TV set itself asunder by work gaming to the essence of the experience . Today , we are felicitous with how well Fire idiot box customers are embracing Luna , but we ’re always open to deliver content option to customer .
Has there been lots of interest in the non-4 K Fire TV reefer , and out of the two , which sells more ? 4 K or the HD stick ?
Our Fire TV Stick family remains incredibly democratic – during Prime Day , Fire TV Stick 4 K was one of the best - sellers . The great affair about our Fire TV Stick sept is there ’s something for everyone – whether you ’re wait for the premium 4 K experience for streaming or gaming withFire TV Stick 4 K Maxor are just wait for an low-cost way to make your current television set smart withFire TV Stick Lite – there ’s something for every customer .
As Amazon Fire has pretty much all the apps you could require , has there been a thoughtfulness of building a watchlist that incorporate all platforms , similar to what Sky has done with theirGlass TV ?
We ’re constantly looking at ways to amend our content discovery experience and our goal on Fire TV is for customers to always be able to rapidly determine the appearance , movies , and games that are correct for them .
Our ‘ Live ’ pill give customer a more comprehensive , categorize browsing experience with rows of unrecorded content that are organised by ‘ Recent Channels , ’ ‘ Live Sports , ’ ‘ break News , and by integrated provider . As customers scroll through each of these row , a preview of the live channel is present in the top ripe turning point .
These integrations are designed to work content out of apps and into the Fire TV user user interface , letting customer quickly pasture through all of their live TV choice across their favorite different sources . We will of course continue to make improvements to simplify the experience for our customers and help them get to the content they hump quickly and easily .
Would you ever moot bringing ads to Prime Video within an advertising - supported tier in the master app , as counterbalance to offering customer the option of watching FreeVee ?
Would there be in the future any option to turn advertizing off like Amazon offers with Kindle ?
With the move into in - car entertainment , where else do you see the Fire TV experience going in terms of any market place you have n’t already been in ?
Our client base continues to grow globally , and we want to keep them surprised and enchant with new devices and services . While I do n’t have anything specific to share about our roadmap , you could expect us to proceed to work with great mark , automakers , and retailer to expand hardware , software , and subject matter option to bring the best of Fire TV to customers all over the world . And you could expect us to deliver even more Alexa experiences on Fire video , aid to make the TV faster , smarter , and more visceral .
