Google offers services in many areas, including entertainment, and one of them is Google TV, a platform that has been thriving in the entertainment space for over a decade. Google TV is also an operating system built into various devices, such as dedicated streaming devices like Chromecast and Google TV Streamer, as well as mainstream smart TVs.
6 Gemini features coming to Google TV
Many mainstream TV brands are building Google TV into their products, which is good news for anyone considering a smart TV. At CES 2025, Google announced a series of new Gemini-powered features coming to Google TV. Let’s take a look at which Gemini features will be arriving on your Google TV in the near future.
Search media in a conversational way
You don’t need to use the remote to give voice commands; instead, you can use the Gemini voice assistant to search for movies and TV more naturally. Google plans to achieve this by using the built-in far-field microphones on TVs connected to Google TV. It can capture audio from a distance, allowing anyone nearby to talk to the voice assistant without using the remote. You can start a conversation with the Gemini assistant using the “Hey Google” command.
You can ask it to play trailers, look up previews, or ask any questions about the movies or TV shows mentioned. You can also ask it to search for topics you like or age-appropriate movies and TV shows, so you don’t have to sift through all ratings to find something suitable for the whole family. It’s not limited to movies and TV; you can converse with the voice assistant to navigate the home screen, and even ask for this week’s weather forecast. You can also use it to ask general questions, just like using Gemini on a smartphone.
Search Google Photos using conversation
When the Ask Photos feature was first introduced last year, its functionality was limited. The feature uses Gemini in Google Photos for conversational search. You can perform contextual searches, such as asking it to search your photo library to pull up photos from a specific vacation, outdoor trip, or even memorable places. It goes beyond simple conversational search and can organize your photos and memories. It’s a handy tool, and we hope Google TV will adopt it in the upcoming Google Photos search feature.
It is not yet known whether Google Photos will offer all Ask Photo features on Google TV, or whether it will use a more natural integration method to embed the option elsewhere, but its potential is worth looking forward to.
Create custom artwork together with family
Google mentioned at CES 2025 that Gemini can help create custom artwork with family members. If it’s similar to the AI screensaver options that launched last year on Google TV devices and older Chromecasts, then there should be a dedicated section with custom AI artwork that can be used on the TV’s ambient mode display. The AI screensaver options allow AI image generation and offer template selections, so custom artwork could have similar options. However, how this feature will evolve and whether it will be useful remains unknown, but it could be an interesting activity that sparks people’s creativity.
Customize your TV’s ambient mode.
Google TV has an Ambient mode that appears when the user is inactive for ten minutes. Ambient mode uses a screensaver instead of a static image to avoid screen burn-in. This mode isn’t just for entertainment—more importantly, it helps protect the lifespan of OLED displays. However, that’s not all this mode has to offer; you can still use Ambient mode to add fun and practical options, such as custom artwork, photos, and weather information, for a personalized touch. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of adding some flair to your screen, Gemini can handle the heavy lifting. For now, all we know is that Google plans to use Gemini to show personalized news summaries, calendar events, or other relevant content based on user preferences.
Receive daily news digest
Whether you use Google TV as an entertainment hub or as a way to replace cable TV, you have the option to pull news summaries from YouTube and Google News. It’s not new, but it helps you stay informed without having to open your phone or tablet. And Gemini can make sure the news is relevant to what you care about. The only hope is that this is treated as an optional feature, because not everyone wants their Google TV cluttered with experimental news briefing features.
Control compatible smart devices through the TV.
Google plans to add smart device controls that work with Gemini and Google TV. This option works in the TV’s ambient mode, but it can also be useful while using the TV. For example, you can set up automations connected to smart lights, then ask Gemini to use that automation to dim the lights while watching a movie. You can customize it so the AI adjusts the TV’s brightness based on the surrounding light. Or, if you feel the room is a bit warm, you can adjust the air conditioner by talking to the AI assistant — all without leaving the couch.
To date, Hisense and TCL are the first partners for Google TV’s new features. Similarly, Samsung and LG are also integrating Microsoft Copilot into their TV product lines. Multi-device integrated AI is the foreseeable future—soon, we will be able to talk to our TVs without lifting a finger and get all the information we want without picking up our phones.
Source: KOCPC Chinese