Amazon has announced that its second-gen Fire TV Cube is now able to participate in two-way Zoom video calls. The company rolled out support for videoconferencing between the Fire TV Cube and Alexa smart displays late last year, but Zoom opens up even more possibilities for hosting virtual chats or work calls on the biggest screen in your home. This really would’ve come in handy over the last year, but better late than never, I guess — and it should still prove convenient for anyone working a hybrid office / home schedule in the months ahead.
The Zoom app for Fire TV is required to get started. So is a webcam, obviously, and the company has some minimum requirements to meet on that front:
You will need to connect a webcam that supports USB Video Class (UVC) with at least 720p resolution and 30fps to your Fire TV Cube using a Micro USB to USB adapter. For a better experience, we recommend webcams with 1080p resolution and a 60 to 90-degree field of view from 6 to 10 feet away from the TV. We do not recommend 4K webcams.
Once you’re up and running, Amazon says you can join meetings with an “Alexa, join my Zoom meeting” voice command. Alexa will then ask for the meeting ID and passcode, which you can input either with your voice or the remote. If you sign into the Zoom app, you should see your upcoming meetings and be able to join them more quickly.
The full details on Zoom calls on the Fire TV Cube can be found at Amazon’s blog. Note that the feature is currently only available for the second-generation Fire TV Cube and not the original model released in 2018.