Sony Announces Amazon Alexa Voice Control for 2017 Lineup of Android TVs

Sony TVs jumped on the Alexa bandwagon Thursday, with the company's announcement its 2017 4K Android TV lineup can now be voice-controlled by the Amazon Echo via a recent firmware update. Users can ask Alexa to manage power, volume, play and transport controls for connected devices, switch inputs and change channels, said the company. Users don’t have to know the channel number: They can say, “Alexa, change channel to CNN” on a given TV, Sony said. The functionality is currently only supported in the U.S., and dates and service conditions for other countries haven’t been announced. Sony said earlier this year (see 1702100056) the Android TVs would support Google Assistant voice commands later in 2017. Sony didn’t respond to questions about whether the Android TVs also have been updated for Google Assistant control.