Amazon has opened up its "X-Ray for Movies and TV" feature to Fire TV.
The service allows users to identify songs, actors, trivia in films while they're watching on Amazon Instant Video, as well as skip to specific scenes in real time. It uses a combination of facial and audio recognition as well as human input to fill in any gaps machine learning might miss, and is supported by the comprehensive movie database IMDb for its information.
The service has been available for Kindle Fire tablets for a few years but today's update will be a first for Amazon's streaming set top box and stick. These features are limited to Amazon's on-demand streaming service. X-Ray will not work on Netflix, Hulu Plus or other Fire TV compatible streaming apps.
This Shazam-like service differentiates Amazon from other streaming and content creating competitors by offering information viewers are looking for without leaving the Amazon ecosystem or using a second screen to find it.
While you'll never have to wonder which zombie is which on "The Walking Dead" or how to skip to a "Glee" episode's musical scenes, the jury is out on whether this will be enough to entice buyers to purchase Amazon's $99 streaming box.
X-Ray will work on Fire tablets, Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire Phone and the Nintendo Wii U.