SEATTLE, Wash. (WOWO) — Amazon is bringing its upgraded Alexa+ artificial intelligence assistant to compatible Fire TV devices across the United States at no additional cost, giving viewers a more conversational way to search for entertainment, control smart-home devices and get information while watching television.

Amazon says Prime membership is not required for the Fire TV version of Alexa+, and eligible devices do not require a separate app or a special Alexa+ activation. The company is rolling out the upgraded assistant to supported Fire TV devices automatically.

The update represents a significant change in how Alexa works on television.

The original Alexa generally worked best when users issued short, specific commands. Alexa+ is designed to understand more natural requests and maintain context during follow-up questions.

Instead of knowing the exact name of a movie, for example, a viewer can describe the type of movie they want and then continue refining the request.

A viewer could ask for a highly rated thriller from the past several years, then follow up by asking for something funnier or shorter without repeating the original request.

Amazon says Alexa+ users are engaging with the assistant on Fire TV nearly twice as often as they did with the original Alexa.

The company also says viewers select Alexa’s top movie recommendation more than 40% more often than they previously selected the assistant’s top recommendation.

Alexa+ is not limited to entertainment searches.

On compatible systems, users can ask about sports scores, set timers, get answers to general questions and control connected smart-home devices.

Viewers with compatible cameras can also ask Alexa+ to display a camera feed on the television.

Amazon is particularly highlighting conversational entertainment searches, follow-up questions, smart-home controls and the ability to locate specific moments in supported movies.

That scene-search capability could be useful for viewers who remember a particular moment from a movie but do not want to manually scrub through the entire program to find it.

Amazon says scene jumping works with thousands of supported Prime Video movies.

For Fire TV Stick owners, using Alexa+ generally means pressing and holding the Alexa or microphone button on an Alexa Voice Remote, speaking the request and then releasing the button.

The Fire TV Cube offers another option because the device has built-in microphones that allow hands-free Alexa interaction.

Fire TV smart televisions vary by manufacturer and model. Some support hands-free Alexa, while others require the voice remote or another compatible Alexa device.

Consumers can check their specific television or Fire TV hardware to determine what type of voice control is available.

There is no separate Alexa+ mode that users have to open on Fire TV.

Once the upgraded experience is available on an eligible device, users can simply begin speaking to Alexa through the available microphone or remote.

Some examples of requests users can try include:

• “Alexa, find a highly rated thriller from the last five years.”
• “Make it something funny instead.”
• “Show me