Amazon Debuts ‘Matter Casting’ Video Streaming Tool

Amazon’s latest tool lets viewers cast content to its devices from Apple– and Google-powered streaming apps.

The company’s Matter Casting was unveiled Tuesday (Jan. 9), one of several offerings rolled out by the tech giant at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

“Customers can begin watching a movie or browse for their next favorite show from Prime Video on their phone and cast it to their compatible Fire TV device or Echo Show 15,” the company said in a blog post. “This is an industry-first demonstration of implementing Matter Casting.”

Matter Casting will be coming to compatible Fire TV devices in the coming months, including Panasonic smart TVs with Fire TV included, according to the post.

“We’re working with Plex, Pluto TV, Sling TV, STARZ and ZDF to add Matter Casting support later this year,” Amazon said in the post.

The launch of Matter Casting lets Amazon offer an alternative to casting devices from Apple and Google, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. Those systems don’t always work across platforms. Plus Amazon has been at a disadvantage in this space because it doesn’t have its own smartphone.

Last week, PYMNTS explored efforts by Amazon and rival retail giant Walmart to respond to “the ongoing challenge of consumer hesitancy to spend in 2023 and beyond, driven by concerns about inflation.”

Those concerns were on display this week when the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its latest monthly survey of consumer expectations.

That survey showed consumer expectations for growth in household income waned, as consumers surveyed by the Fed said they see their income increasing by 3%— only a bit above inflation overall, and less than the expectations for food and shelter costs.

“Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that spending growth has declined by 0.2% to 5%,” PYMNTS wrote Monday (Jan. 8). “The Fed noted in its Monday data that the spending expectations are at the lowest level recorded since September 2021.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS also looked at some of the other products on display this week at CES, including a wave of new robotics offerings.

“Just a week ago, the smart money was on artificial intelligence to dominate the Consumer Electronics Show. But someone forgot to tell the robots,” that report said.

At this year’s show, “robots will literally be roaming the aisles and stealing some thunder from some of the more practical uses of AI in the connected economy.”

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