Google Assistant is coming to new devices and making TVs smarter. Here are the main new features
In the near future on virtually all TVs, even the non-smart ones, we will be able to use Google Assistant. This is revealed by the technical documentation, recently updated, related to the Google voice assistant that was unearthed by Android Police. The devices that will be able to integrate Assistant, according to these papers, are hundreds.
Today Google Assistant is already available on smart TVs with Android TV operating system, on Logitech Harmony remote controls, on set top boxes from Roku, Nvidia and other manufacturers. In the future it will be compatible with other smart TVs, boxes and sticks for over-the-top streaming, hubs for home automation and universal remote controls. The number of devices that can offer compatibility with Google Assistant, therefore, grows by leaps and bounds up to virtually all entertainment devices. All these devices will be able to be controlled by voice, either directly or through a smart speaker compatible with the Google ecosystem and the Google Home app: those who produce them will simply have to follow the programming guidelines of the firmware and software of the device so that it can receive the standard Assistant commands.
What you can do with Google Assistant
When all of these devices are made compatible with Google Assistant, you’ll be able to use your voice to turn them on and off, turn the volume up or down, call up the device’s settings, change the channel on your TV or switch from one app to another. All without touching any remote or other physical control interface. It will take a few months for device manufacturers to integrate these new features.
What you can control today with Google Assistant
At the moment, Google’s voice assistant is compatible with about 70 categories of electronic products: from refrigerators to kettles, via air conditioners, electric cookware, water purifiers, doors and windows and their opening sensors, smart lights, fryers, humidifiers, microwave ovens and more. There are even lines in Google Assistant’s current code that reference bathtubs, with specific commands to fill and empty the tub with the ability to stop at a certain level.