Technology - Google News

Amazon’s latest Fire TV accessory is an IR blaster that lets your Echo control your TV - The Verge
Black Friday 2019: Ads, store hours for Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, Best Buy - AL.com
Google Stadia, Microsoft xCloud, Apple Arcade: So Many Ways to Play…and Pay - The Wall Street Journal

Amazon’s latest Fire TV accessory is an IR blaster that lets your Echo control your TV - The Verge

Posted: 19 Nov 2019 06:42 AM PST

Amazon has announced a new Fire TV accessory called the Fire TV Blaster. It's a $34.99 IR blaster that's designed to let you control hardware like your TV set or cable box using Alexa in concert with your existing Fire TV setup.

The added IR blaster allows you even greater control over your TV setup through Alexa, allowing you to switch inputs and control things like power, volume, and playback through Echo voice controls.

The $35 accessory gives Amazon's other Fire TV hardware the similar TV-controlling functionality that Amazon's IR-blaster-equipped Fire TV Cube already offers but at a lower price (and without requiring customers to redo their entire setup). Amazon already offers an IR-enabled Alexa Voice Remote with its newer hardware, but the Fire TV Blaster offers a few other features, like cable box control as well as the added hands-free convenience of not needing to pick up the remote first.

The hardware is pretty simple: it's basically a small box with an IR blaster and the necessary Wi-Fi hardware to communicate with other Fire TV products. There's also an extra port to attach an IR extender to beam the signal into hard-to-reach places. There's no speaker or microphone built in; those functions are still handled by your regular Alexa device.

Amazon cautions that the Fire TV Blaster isn't a standalone device. To use it, you'll need a compatible Fire TV device, an Echo smart speaker, and a compatible TV / soundbar / set-top box, which the company promises it will have more details on over on this support page. (It doesn't seem to be live yet.) Amazon says that the Fire TV Blaster isn't compatible with Fire TV Edition televisions or soundbars.

The Fire TV Blaster is available to preorder now, and it's expected to ship on December 11th, either by itself for $34.99 or as part of a $79.99 bundle that includes a Fire TV 4K streaming stick and an Echo Dot.

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Black Friday 2019: Ads, store hours for Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, Best Buy - AL.com

Posted: 19 Nov 2019 05:02 AM PST

Black Friday is a little more than a week away and we're getting a good idea of what major retailers will be offering.

Walmart, Target, Kohl's and Best Buy have released their 2019 ads and store hours for Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

Here's a look at what you can expect:

Walmart

Walmart will open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.

You can see more on Walmart's Thanksgiving/Black Friday ad here.

Target

Target stores will open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and will stay open until 1 a.m. Stores will reopen for Black Friday at 7 a.m.

You can see more on Target's holiday sales here.

Kohl's

Kohl's will open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

You can go here for more information on Kohl's Black Friday sales.

Best Buy

Best Buy will open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The chain will be handing out tickets to customers one hour before they open.

Best Buy will reopen on Friday at 8 a.m. and plans to also hand out tickets one hour before opening.

You can see Best Buy's Black Friday ad here.

More on Black Friday

You can go to BestBlackFriday.com for more Black Friday ads.

What stores will be open Thanksgiving 2019? Walmart, Target, Best Buy plans

If your Thanksgiving traditions include hitting up the stores ahead of Black Friday, you're in luck.

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Google Stadia, Microsoft xCloud, Apple Arcade: So Many Ways to Play…and Pay - The Wall Street Journal

Posted: 19 Nov 2019 05:03 AM PST

Gaming used to be so simple. We'd buy a game, sit down in front of a console or PC, grind our way to the end, then repeat.

Now we spend money over and over on virtual perks. We play on phones and tablets while socializing with far-flung friends. And there is no "end," because developers keep updating their biggest hits with new maps, missions and characters.

All...

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