- Tell Alexa the bit of the movie you’d like to see
- Requires an Alexa+ or Amazon Prime subscription
- US-only for the time being
Amazon‘s newly upgraded Alexa, Alexa+, has all kinds of new features that you can read about at that link. And if you’re a Fire TV owner – whether that’s an add-on stick or a Fire TV screen – you’ll be able to take advantage of a new feature that seems perfect for avoiding parental embarrassment and boring-bit tedium.
The new feature enables you to jump to a specific part of the movie you’re watching. Amazon demoed this yesterday, asking Alexa+ which movie Bradley Cooper sang a song in. It responded with A Star Is Born, the correct answer; when Alexa+ was then asked to jump to that part of the movie, it did exactly that.
How does Alexa+’s scene skipping work?
As Amazon explains, you’ll be able to get to a specific scene using details such as the name of the actor or the character they’re playing, a particular quote from the movie, or other key data.
It’s an interesting idea that’ll save a lot of fast-forwarding, especially if you’ve ever wanted to show someone a particular part of a movie such as a memorable action scene or a really funny visual gag, or if you want to rewatch a specific scene. This used to be easy on DVDs and Blu-rays, with chapters baked in, but streaming has left that convenience behind.
Aside from skipping to content, there are obvious benefits for skipping away from content too, such as when the whole family’s in the room and the on-screen action gets a little too spicy for everybody’s comfort – hopefully you can just say to ‘skip this scene’ and it’ll know when to pick back up.
That’s not the only new feature Alexa+ will bring to your Fire TV. It’ll also enable you to ask your assistant for details of songs played during the credits, even if you don’t know the song’s name or the artist performing it. That should save you a few Shazams.
I haven’t had the opportunity to test this feature but I’d expect it to be exclusive to content from Prime Video, at least at first, which will have the necessary metadata for Alexa+ to take advantage of – though may include anything you purchase as well as what’s available in your subscription. And initially at least, it’s going to be US-only, as Alexa+ is rolling out to the US before becoming more widely available.
Alexa+ will be available to US users on most Echo and Fire TV devices in the next few weeks, and it’ll be free if you have a Prime subscription. If you don’t, it’s $19.99 per month – $5 a month more than the full Prime subscription. It’s pretty clear which one Amazon expects you to buy.
