Amazon’s Fire TV to star new shows

Amazon.com Inc.’s own video store will no longer have the starring role on the company’s Fire TV streaming devices.

Software updates coming this year will give movies and TV shows from Netflix, HBO and other competitors equal prominence on the devices’ home screens. The approach is similar to one Apple Inc. took when it refreshed its Apple TV device last year.

Amazon’s Fire TV has offered solid performance at reasonable prices, but its home screen has been cluttered with Amazon products. That has made it tough to find video from competing providers without turning to a voice-search feature that, until recently, excluded Netf lix. For the most part, finding video typically required opening a service’s app first.

Now competing services will be offered space on the home screen. Netflix, for instance, could choose to highlight its original series “Stranger Things” alongside personalized recommendations. Netflix could also include a short video trailer that plays on the home screen.