Amazon Fire TV will be in new BMWs, so you can stream just like in a Tesla
Future BMW and Fiat Chrysler drivers may find themselves streaming Fleabag from their dashboard screens later this year.
Fiat Chrysler and BMW, both of which are no stranger to testing new tech, announced at CES on Monday that it will soon offer TV streaming from Amazon's Fire TV in some of its new vehicles. Which cars? The companies won't say just yet.
The streaming service will be available in some BMW and Chrysler cars as an entertainment option on dashboard screens already built into the car. No smartphone syncing or extra device sitting on the dashboard necessary.
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It'll work similarly to Tesla vehicles that let users stream videos and shows on Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube. Disney+ is even coming to Tesla soon. Except in BMW and Chrysler cars this will be through Amazon's streaming platform that connects to Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and other apps. Access to Alexa, the digital voice assistant, will also be available through the car TV portal.
Fiat Chrysler makes cars like the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, which you may recognize as the Waymo self-driving car. But the TV streaming feature won't be limited to its most futuristic cars.
We hope that streaming is only available when the car is parked, like in Tesla cars. Newcomer electric vehicle Byton with its 48-inch dashboard display also announced at CES streaming video capabilities with Viacom CBS — but only in a parked vehicle.
The Echo Auto is a separate device that brings Alexa, Amazon's digital assistant, into the car space for vehicles that don't have Alexa built in. The Echo Auto can, for example, have Alexa read you the news. The made-for-the-car device is arriving in more countries soon after a year in the U.S. On Jan. 15, it'll be available in India.
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Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
