Amazon Fire TV Cube (2022) review: fast, hands-free voice controls, nice design, and great live TV integration, but so many ads, slow ports, and mediocre remote (Chris Welch/The Verge)

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon updates its Fire TV lineup with a new $140 Fire TV Cube media player, Fire TV Omni QLED Series starting at $800, and a new $35 Alexa Voice Remote Pro  —  Amazon today introduced two new Fire TV devices designed to cater to customers seeking a more premium experience.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Mark Cuban’s interactive streaming app Fireside acquires streaming platform Stremium and plans to launch on smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and other devices  —  Mark Cuban-backed streaming app Fireside, which today offers podcasters and other creators a way to host interactive …

Monica Chin / The Verge:
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 review: 120Hz display, 5G, and 1080p camera, but pricey without accessories, slow apps, and just two USB ports  —  Exceptional hardware is still marred by incompatibilies … Video calling.  —  After several days of using the Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro 9 …

Monica Chin / The Verge:
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (13.5-inch) review: strong single-core performance, thin and light, and 3:2, but 720p camera, few ports, and average battery life  —  Microsoft made a few updates to the Surface Laptop, and I’m very sad about one of them … I’m a big fan of Microsoft’s laptop hardware …

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Roku reports Q3 revenue up 12% YoY to $761.4M vs. $694M est., 21.9B streaming hours, and 2.3M streaming accounts added; stock drops 17%+ on weak Q4 guidance  —  Roku handily topped Wall Street estimates for the third quarter of 2022, as the streaming platform and media company packed …

Alex Cranz / The Verge:
Netflix, HBO Max, and other streaming services scale back on experimental content that caters to smaller audiences, amid rising costs and increased competition  —  For a few years, there was a boon of content, and we were all wonderfully spoiled.  And now that’s over.  —  It’s over.