Speaker 1: Amazon and best Buy team up for TVs.
Speaker 2: I'm Rich Damiro. This is Rich on Tech Daily.
Speaker 1: In what you might consider one of the most unlikely
Speaker 1: partnership since Office came to the iPad, Amazon and yes,
Speaker 1: best Buy are teaming.
Speaker 2: Up for a new line of TVs.
Speaker 1: Well, the TVs have actually been around for a year,
Speaker 1: but they're getting some new life thanks to this new partnership.
Speaker 1: Best Buy is gonna sell Amazon fireTV addition smart TVs
Speaker 1: in their stores in the US and Canada.
Speaker 2: There's gonna be ten models launching this year summer four k.
Speaker 1: Others are just HD, which is a head scratcher, but
Speaker 1: I'm sure they'll be super cheap and they're gonna be
Speaker 1: from brands including Best Buys, House Brand, Insignia, and also Toshiba.
Speaker 2: The first TVs will launch this summer.
Speaker 1: Now for a little background on the Amazon fireTV edition. Previously,
Speaker 1: these were some of the hottest sellers on Amazon dot Com. Previously,
Speaker 1: they were made under the brands Westinghouse and Element. Currently,
Speaker 1: all of them that were previously for sale on Amazon
Speaker 1: are sold out, which leads me to believe that they
Speaker 1: might not be coming back now that this new deal
Speaker 1: is in place. The TV's also had fantastic price points.
Speaker 1: On Amazon Prime Day last year, the fifty five inch
Speaker 1: four K set sold for just four hundred dollars. And yes,
Speaker 1: we reviewed them for TV as well, and we found
Speaker 1: them to be pretty darn good.
Speaker 2: Now, what I like about.
Speaker 1: These TVs is that they have Amazon fireTV built into them,
Speaker 1: which means you don't need an extra box sitting under
Speaker 1: your TV, and you get access to all the stuff
Speaker 1: you need.
Speaker 2: That's streaming, including Hulu.
Speaker 1: Hbo, Netflix, Stars, DirecTV Now, Sling TV, apps, music, movies,
Speaker 1: and more. But what you can also do is connect
Speaker 1: an antenna to these TVs and then you're over the air.
Speaker 1: Programming is integrated right into the homescreen as well. This
Speaker 1: means you can go from watching the local news to
Speaker 1: something on Netflix without switching inputs. The remote control also
Speaker 1: has a microphone, so Alexa is built into the TVs,
Speaker 1: which means you can use your voice to launch apps,
Speaker 1: search for TV shows, play music, and even switch inputs.
Speaker 1: And one other thing I really like is that it's
Speaker 1: one remote to control everything. The power button is there,
Speaker 1: the volume button is there. You don't need separate remotes.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: The first TVs from Toshiba will premiere this summer in
Speaker 1: best Buy stores on best buy dot com, and for
Speaker 1: the first time, best Buy is going to be a
Speaker 1: third party seller on Amazon. See how that works again.
Speaker 1: It's an odd partnership, but lots of tech companies are
Speaker 1: finding themselves navigating sort of tricky waters. Google services are
Speaker 1: really popular on the iPhone, even though Apple would rather
Speaker 1: have you use their services like maps and photos, and
Speaker 1: Amazon has battled it out with Google in recent months.
Speaker 1: The YouTube app is no longer available on fireTV devices.
Speaker 2: You have to use a web browser.
Speaker 1: Workaround all because of Amazon apparently wouldn't sell Google's products
Speaker 1: on their website like chrome Cast. The tech world is
Speaker 1: increasingly becoming siloed. Each manufacturer wants you to use their hardware,
Speaker 1: their software, rent movies from them, subscribe to their music,
Speaker 1: and although multiple options do exist, in many cases it
Speaker 1: might not be the prettiest solution. But back to the firetvs.
Speaker 1: Usually I don't recommend smart TVs because the built in
Speaker 1: software isn't as good or updated as frequently as what
Speaker 1: standalone boxes like Apple TV, Roku, Chrome Cast and fireTV offer.
Speaker 2: But these TVs are a bit different.
Speaker 1: I really like how the fireTV software is built in,
Speaker 1: so there's one less box under your TV. I love
Speaker 1: that you can connect an antenna for a seamless experience. Plus, overall,
Speaker 1: in my experience with the previous generations of these TVs,
Speaker 1: they're a really good combination of quality, price, and features.
Speaker 1: They're probably going to become some of best Buy's top sellers,
Speaker 1: which is more irony Amazon products taking the top sales
Speaker 1: spots in Best Buy stores. If you like what I'm
Speaker 1: doing here with the podcast, please leave our review on
Speaker 1: the Apple Podcasts app.
Speaker 2: That way more people discover it.
Speaker 1: You can find links to everything I talk about here
Speaker 1: and on TV.
Speaker 2: Just go to my website. It is rich on tech
Speaker 2: dot TV. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Rich Damiro.
Speaker 2: I'll talk to you real soon.