Amazon Fire TV and Echo Show get free upgrade that solves the lack of Chromecast

Amazon has finally added the ability to cast content to its smart devices.

However, it hasn't embraced Apple AirPlay video casting, nor Google's Chromecast functionality, it has instead turned to Matter Casting. This enables supporting streaming services and apps on iPhone and Android to cast video directly to an Echo Show smart display, with Fire TV Sticks and televisions to get support soon.

In many ways, this works just as well as Apple and Google's similar systems, and as Matter is designed to be a centralised technology that thousands of products will support, it's only a matter of time (yeah, we know) before it's widely adopted by all streaming apps.

Prime Video is naturally one of the first to employ it. You just need to start to watch a show or movie on your phone and hit the casting icon. It should then find any available Echo Show device that works with the system.

The same technology will roll out to Fire TV devices "in the coming months".

Amazon is a founding member of the Matter Standard, along with Google and Apple, so we can expect to see more cross-compatibility with devices in future. Matter is a technology standard designed to simplify the use of smart home devices, with many different manufacturers pledging to make their products work with one another.

Also announced during CES 2024 was a new partnership between Amazon and Panasonic to bring the Fire TV user experience to Panasonic's 2024 smart TVs.

This is a major step for both brands, with the platform being markedly better than the homegrown operating system the TVs have used in the past, In addition, Amazon's service will now find its way onto premium, pro-level OLED TVs, such as the Panasonic X95A.

You'll be able to use the entire Fire TV platform on the set without needing to plug in a separate Amazon device. That will include access to all the best streaming services too – not just Amazon's.