Amazon Alexa is finally going inside TVs

NEW YORK--You've been able to ask Amazon's Alexa to help you search for movies and TV shows and deliver other Alexa "skills" through your television set. But only if you connected Amazon's Fire TV external streaming media player or Fire TV Stick to the TV. On Tuesday, Amazon begins taking preorders on Element Electronics Ultra HD 4K smart TVs, the first televisions with the Fire TV Edition built in. Amazon had announced way back during the CES industry confab in January that TVs with the company's Fire TV platform would be coming later in the year. With the supplied voice remote control, you can summon Alexa and bark out various commands: to have Alexa change channels, access more than 300,000 TV episodes and movies from Netflix, Amazon Video, HBO NOW, Showtime, Hulu, Sling TV and other content providers. You can also tap into what Amazon says are 15,000 channels, apps and Alexa skills.