DISH News: DISH expands Amazon Alexa support for whole-home, Hands-Free TV

Disclosure: I am provided with complimentary DISH service in exchange for sharing honest thoughts throughout the year on the service. All views shared are mine and alone.

In April, DISH became the first pay-TV provider to natively integrate Alexa voice control 

when we enabled compatibility on our Hopper DVR. 

With the addition of Joey support, customers can now ask Alexa to control all TVs in the Hopper whole-home ecosystem by pairing each set-top box with an Amazon Echo, Echo Show or Echo Dot.

We have been DISH subscribers for a couple years now, and love the service.  Not only does DISH offer an amazing channel line up for the whole family, but it seems like every few weeks they have something new available just for DISH subscribers.   From voice activated remotes to personal headsets last year, to the new Hopper and Joey set-top boxes.  There is so much to love from DISH.  And, if the amazing price for their satellite service wasn't enough to sign up, now they have upped their game from their April announcement of having your Alexa control your television, to now being able to have your Alexa devices control not just the Hopper by all Joey set top boxes you have set up in your house.  This is really amazing!    My family loved this new feature back when it came out in April, and now we are super excited to set up our Amazon Echo and Echo Dot to control our other televisions in the house.  You can't get any more convenient than this.

I don't know about you, but one thing I find that happens in my house on a daily basis is one of the remotes goes missing.  Thankfully, I can just press the "locate remote" on the DISH set top box and it makes the missing remote beep until it is found (another great DISH feature).  But, there are times that I don't want to have to get up just to look for the remote and want to turn to a channel or find a movie quickly.  With the new integration between the Alexa products and DISH set top boxes, I can now do this, with every television in my house.  How cool is that!  You can't say that about other cable and satellite providers.  You will only find this feature with DISH.

So, if you have been looking for another reason to switch to DISH or have been looking for a new cable subscriber to go with, now is the time to look at DISH.  They always have great promotions going on, offer refer a friend discounts, and offer free product at times, just for signing up.  I, for one, can't stop bragging about DISH to friends and family and now have another reason to talk it up about DISH thanks to yesterday's news.

Here is more about the news about Hands-Free TV™  for your entire home from DISH that was shared yesterday...

"Yesterday DISH unveiled Hands-Free TV™ for the entire home by extending its support of Amazon Alexa voice control to all Joey clients. Now, DISH customers can ask Alexa to control all TVs in the Hopper whole-home ecosystem by pairing each set-top box with an Amazon Echo, Echo Show or Echo Dot. In April 2017, DISH became the first pay-TV provider to natively integrate Alexa voice control when it enabled compatibility on its Hopper DVR and Wally single-tuner HD receiver.

When connected to a Hopper, DISH’s Joey clients extend Hopper functionality to other rooms in the home. Hopper 3 supports up to six Joeys simultaneously, while previous Hopper generations support up to three Joeys.

“DISH is again championing TV voice control, this time by extending our Alexa compatibility to create a more fully-integrated experience throughout the home,” said Niraj Desai, DISH vice president of product management. “Our customers now have the freedom to ask Alexa for help finding shows and movies in every room where their families enjoy watching TV.”

With today’s announcement, DISH’s list of Alexa-compatible products includes Hopper (all generations) and its Joey, Wireless Joey, 4K Joey and Super Joey clients, as well as DISH’s Wally single-tuner HD receiver. To enable Alexa voice control, each DISH set-top box must be paired with its own Echo device.

Ask Alexa for Hands-Free TV on DISH

Available voice control functions across compatible DISH set-top boxes include the ability to navigate, play, pause, fast-forward, rewind and search content based on channel, title, actor or genre. Universal search functionality works across DISH’s live, recorded and on-demand titles as well as Netflix’s selection of TV shows and movies. Example commands include:

		• “Alexa, change channel to TNT”				• “Alexa, search for dramas”
		• “Alexa, tune to channel 120”				• “Alexa, play This is Us”
		• “Alexa, go to Discovery Channel”				• “Alexa, skip forward”
		• “Alexa, find The Voice”				• “Alexa, rewind 15 seconds”
		• “Alexa, search for House Hunters”				• “Alexa, pause”
		• “Alexa, show me Will Smith movies”				• “Alexa, resume”

How to set-up Alexa on DISH

1. Enable DISH TV in the Alexa app: Open the Alexa app on a mobile device and select Music, Video & Books → DISH TV → Enable. If the DISH TV skill is already enabled from previous use, select Settings → Manage in TV and Video → Manage and Link Devices from the Alexa app, and proceed to step 3.
2. Get receiver code: Turn on internet-connected Hopper or Wally, and go to Menu → Settings → Amazon Alexa → Get Code. Enter the generated code into the Alexa app and select Activate. Click Done in the confirmation message.
3. Pair set-top box with Amazon Echo, Echo Show or Echo Dot: In the Alexa app, select desired Hopper, Wally or Joey receiver from list of discoverable devices. Click Continue. Select Echo device to be synced with chosen receiver. Click Link Devices. Repeat this step for all set-top boxes to be paired with Echo devices.

For more information about Alexa on DISH, including possible commands and additional set-up instructions, visit www.dish.com/AmazonAlexaIntegration."

About DISH

DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), through its subsidiaries, provides approximately 13.332 million pay-TV subscribers, as of June 30, 2017, with the highest-quality programming and technology with the most choices at the best value. DISH offers a high definition line-up with more than 200 national HD channels, the most international channels and award-winning HD and DVR technology. DISH Network Corporation is a Fortune 200 company. Visit www.dish.com.

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Disclosure: I am provided with complimentary DISH service in exchange for sharing honest thoughts throughout the year on the service. All views shared are mine and alone.