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If you are the owner of an AMazon Fire 7 or Fire 8 HD (2017) tablet, there’s a new feature available for you. If your screen is in use and/or connected to power, you can use the device for smart home voice control, all thanks to Alexa. A new software update will bring Alexa’s hands-free feature to the devices now.
If you want to enable all Alexa hands-free features, you must put your PIN or password that’s set on the device. On the flip side, you can disable all of these features if you want right from the Alexa settings menu. Lastly, if you want your tablet to respond less often when there’s another Alexa-enabled device nearby, you can change the settings with the “Tablet ESP Behavior” option in Alexa settings.
For all Fire 7 and Fire 8 HD tablet owners, this is a nice upgrade running software version 5.6.1.0 or later. This feature will enable a regular tablet to be a hands-free smart home control center. Previously, this feature was already available on Amazon’s Fire HD 10 tablet, so it’s good to see that the company is bringing it to older models.
