Nvidia has teamed up with Amazon to add Alexa voice support to its Shield Android TV streamer. Shield TV owners can now control the streamer with the help of an Amazon Echo, or any other smart speaker with Alexa built-in.
Some of the functionality enabled by the partnership includes the ability to open select apps, playback and volume controls, as well as navigation within the Shield TV’s menus.
To celebrate the new partnership, Nvidia is giving consumers who buy a Shield TV at Best Buy or on Amazon from now until November 10 a free Amazon Echo Dot speaker. Consumers who already own a Shield will be able to buy an Echo Dot at a discounted rate.
It’s worth noting that Alexa isn’t the only voice assistant for the Shield TV. The streamer is based on Google’s Android TV, which is deeply integrated with the Google Assistant.
Nvidia boosted Monday that this makes Shield TV the first streaming device to support both voice assistants, but that distinction may not last for long: Roku, which added Alexa support some time ago, is supposed to receive support for the Google Assistant any day now.
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