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Amazon's Fire TV will soon be able to connect to hotel Wi-Fi

Amazon's Fire TV will soon be able to connect to hotel Wi-Fi

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Amazon today announced its latest Fire TV and Fire TV Stick software update, which is set to begin rolling out today. The company says that the OTA release will add a few significant new features, led by support for expandable USB storage for the set-top box. You'll be able to plug in an external USB drive to boost the amount of space for your Fire TV apps and games — if you've somehow already managed to exceed the built-in storage, that is.

Read next: The Amazon Fire TV 2 review.

But the second addition will prove even more convenient for people who frequently travel with a Fire TV or Fire TV Stick. Amazon says both devices are the first media streamers to support the "captive portal," or Wi-Fi networks that require web-based authentication. You'd typically find these at hotels, where it's often hard or impossible to connect your own Apple TV or Chromecast to the Wi-Fi network. But now Fire TV owners can replace the hotel's own lacking entertainment options with the content they'd normally watch at home.

You'll be able to use Bluetooth headphones for a private viewing session

Amazon is also introducing support for Bluetooth headphones with the new update, which the company says will allow for easier private viewing when others in the house are sleeping or doing something else in the same room. That's about as close as Amazon can get to Roku's similar feature without building a headphone jack directly into the Fire TV's remote. Curated playlists from Prime Music, hidden PIN entry (to keep the kids from seeing your code), and quicker shortcuts for putting the Fire TV to sleep or activating screen mirroring round out the latest update, which Amazon says will complete its rollout "in the coming weeks." Coinciding with the news, Amazon announced that the Fire TV Stick is now available in the UK and Germany; it starts shipping April 15th.