Amazon is reportedly working on some new Fire TV Sticks that run the Android TV 14 operating system, and there’s reason to think we could see them go on sale soon.
That’s according to AFTVNews, which delved deep into the developer’s notes for the Android 14 release and came across a page titled “Developing for Amazon Fire TV Devices Running Android 14.”
That appears to be a pretty big giveaway that Amazon is up to something, and the page explains that Android 14-based Fire TV is based on API level 34, and so there are a number of considerations for developers building apps that will run on such devices.
The documents don’t mention any specific models, but they do mention Android 14 on another page referring to Fire OS development.
With Amazon recently announcing plans for a big product launch event towards the end of the month, that makes us wonder if the company might be set to announce a new Fire TV device, either a Stick or another branded TV.
Android 14 was launched in 2023, and to date we have not seen any Fire TV devices running that operating system. Although the actual software on Fire TVs is the Amazon Fire OS, it’s essentially just a customised version of Android.
There had been some rumours that the company was looking to shift its streaming hardware to the Linux-based VegaOS operating system, which is what powers devices such as the Echo Spot and Echo Show, but the Android 14 documentation suggests that’s not the case, given that no Fire TV devices currently exist.
Amazon’s newest Fire TV Stick was the HD model that launched last year, so the company is perhaps overdue an update for its older 4K resolution model, which debuted in 2023.
Amazon’s big product launch event is scheduled for February 26, and it’s widely expected to announce an updated version of Amazon Alexa, its eponymous digital assistant, with new generative AI smarts on the menu. Of course, if Alexa is updated, it will need some new devices to run on, and a new Android 14-powered Fire TV device would surely fit the bill.
Among other things, the infusion of generative AI should make Alexa better at understanding natural speech, so it’s likely to be able to engage in more humanlike conversations, with the ability to better understand context. The result may well be more conversational interactions with your TV, so you might even be able to ask it questions such as “what was the name of that movie I watched the other day?” and so on.
Alexa may also have some agentic AI features, which would mean Fire TV Sticks can even perform tasks on behalf of users.
However, be warned that the new Alexa capabilities may well come at a cost, as it has been said Amazon is looking to charge a subscription fee of around $5 to $10 per month to access the enhanced Alexa.
