Your car’s entertainment system might soon catch up to your home cinema experience, thanks to tech like Amazon Fire TV. That’s right, soon passengers will be able to enjoy the latest and greatest that streaming services like Amazon Prime Video have to offer while on the go.
Speaking with Protocol, Amazon's head of entertainment devices and services, Daniel Rausch, shared that the company is looking to expand to as many screens as possible. Including the ones you’ll find in cars. He said, “It's not just about streaming in the living room. 5G connectivity is going to transform that as well, because you just get a high-quality connection anywhere you go in your car.”
Rausch comments follow on from news earlier this year that Fire TV will be launching in Jeep and Jeep Wagoneers thanks to a partnership with Stellantis. If Amazon sees the automotive market as an area for growth, we might see other brands integrate Five TV into their screens too.
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What other changes could come to Fire TV?
The interview was interesting to more than just car enthusiasts though, as Rausch explained that changing Fire TV habits during the pandemic may influence the directions the company looks to take next – particularly with news and fitness.
News content consumption has reportedly doubled year-over-year, in part thanks to a new initiative that has local news from over 80 cities appear in the Fire TV news app. This success is likely to see more news coverage from local and national news outlets across multiple countries and regions find its way to Fire TV devices.
Additionally, using the Fire TV for fitness is increasing in popularity too (up 115% year-over-year). When gyms closed, living rooms become people’s workout room, and Amazon may want to capitalise on that new popularity with news apps and services.
We’ll just have to watch this space to see what happens next as, unsurprisingly, Daniel Rausch wasn’t keen to let too much slip about Amazon’s plans for the future.
Are roads about to get more unsafe?
However if you are into cars, or at least know how to drive one, you might be a little concerned about the increased presence of Amazon’s Fire TV in vehicles. Given how frequently we’re already warned about driving while using our phones, the idea of a TV in your car sounds like it’ll only be more of a distraction.
Thankfully, it doesn’t sound like Amazon will let drivers just watch Invincible or The Boys while speeding down the motorway. For now, at least, the focus is on rear-seat entertainment, making sure that passengers in the back of the car have a broad selection of movies and TV they can download or stream on your next road trip.
If there is any chance that a screen will be visible to those in the front of the car, we suspect it’ll be similar to the one found in Tesla cars. These screens limit functionality (like watching films or playing games) while you’re driving to avoid causing unnecessary distractions.
As cars become more autonomous, though, we could see things change. Your car journeys could be a lot more fun if you can catch up on the latest Amazon Prime show while en route to your destination.
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