“Alexa, find me a 43″ Ultra HD TV that you can control and make it under $400.”
At IFA 2017, Toshiba – or actually Vestel as part of its pan-European licensing deal – removed the covers from a range of affordable TVs that work well with Amazon’s digital assistant. Owners of Amazon’s Alexa-powered speakers, like the Echo or Echo Dot, can control the new range with just the sound of their voice. Couch potatoes rejoice.
Related: The Best TVs to Buy
So you no longer need to dive around the sofa to find the remote control, instead a simple utterance of your voice can turn the new Toshiba TVs on or off, change the channel, select inputs, fast-forward and rewind through their shows and adjust settings the volume. Granted, you could do this with any TV with additional devices like the Logitech Harmony Hub, but that’s one less thing to worry about.
By tapping into Amazon’s API, the whole family can now argue about what to watch, hopefully not leading to too many arguments. Toshiba’s new TV range is also expected to include smart TV elements, meaning 4K streaming from Netflix and YouTube, as well as access to the Opera TV store for additional content.
The new Alexa-enabled television costs from 399 euros for the 43-inch model, others in the range up to 75 inches. Toshiba also promises Alexa support for all upcoming 2018 TVs.
Toshiba launches new 55 and 65 inch OLED HDR TVs
For those with more cash to spare, Toshiba has also announced a new Premium range with all the TV amenities you could want, including a stunning bezel-less design for the larger 65-inch model. Designed to hang flush to your TV, with a super slim design and cable management, it’s a real eye-catcher.
Starting at €1,699 for the smaller, slightly chunkier 55-inch model (price TBC for the 65-inch model), both models feature OLED technology with individually illuminated pixels. As a result, you can expect deeper blacks. The TVs are also capable of displaying 99% of the DCI-P3 color space, so you can expect better color accuracy thanks to the wider color space.
See also: Hybrid Log-Gamma: Why It’s the Next Big Thing in 4K TV
You can also expect HDR support in both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision forms, using the latter for scene-by-scene brightness control for a more cinematic experience. Topping it all off is Hybrid Log Gamma support, which is great news for broadcast content.
Toshiba’s new TV series is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2017.
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