Alexa, turn up the volume! Toshiba unveils new TVs that can be controlled using Amazon's assistant

Changing the channel on your television with only a spoken command will soon be possible for the owners of a new range of Toshiba televisions. Starting in 2019, the Japanese firm's OLED, 4K HDR, and Full HD Smart TV products will boast access to Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. Viewers will be able to request channel changes, volume increases and decreases and more by starting their spoken command with'Alexa'. This signals to the always-listening voice assistant that you are about to issue an instruction, which is recorded and parsed in the cloud by Amazon. Toshiba sets will have access to all 45,000 skills already available for Alexa, allowing television viewers to control smart lightbulbs, buy items from Amazon, order takeaways, and check the latest news and weather updates.