What’s happened? Google has started rolling out Gemini for TV to the Google TV Streamer, bringing smarter recommendations and more intuitive voice control to users.
- It’s a major step up from Google Assistant, and enables natural language voice controls, allowing users to find content with commands like, “I like dramas but my wife likes comedies. What’s a movie we can watch together?”
- In a blog post, Google notes that users can also ask Gemini for information about their favorite shows, with commands like, “What happened at the end of ‘Outlander’ last season?” or “What’s the new hospital drama everyone’s talking about?”
- Furthermore, Gemini for TV can answer questions and control connected smart home devices.
Why is this important? Google first introduced Gemini for TVs on TCL’s flagship QM9K series in September. The voice assistant made its way to a few Sony TVs last month, and now users with Google’s own hardware can finally experience its capabilities.
- With Gemini on the Google TV Streamer, users can go beyond what was possible with Google Assistant and use natural language prompts to find content, get personalized suggestions, and more.
- In addition to entertainment-related queries, Gemini can answer everyday questions and control smart home devices, without requiring users to reach for their phone.
Why should I care? Thanks to Gemini on the Google TV Streamer, you can interact with your TV naturally instead of using rigid voice commands.
- It makes discovering new content much easier by helping you find shows and movies similar to what you already enjoy.
- You can also ask follow-up questions for a more conversational experience, get quick answers, or control smart home devices right from your couch.
What’s next? Google says Gemini for TV will roll out to all Google TV Streamer users over the coming weeks. A support page for the feature states that it currently supports two languages: English (US and Canada) and French (Canada). It adds that the voice assistant will make it to more Google TV devices, regions, and languages in the future, but it will only be available for account profiles associated with users aged 18 and above.
