With the launch of its Chromecast successor this week, Google is starting to roll out a number of new Google TV features for the entire ecosystem, like Home Panel.
Home Panel is a new Tile in Quick Settings that opens as a feed on the right side of your screen. Mirroring your Favorites tab in the Google Home app, it shows lights, cameras (with live feeds), speakers, thermostats, and other smart home devices, as well as Routines.
To see everything else, use the Cameras, Lighting, Climate, and Wifi pages up top. This launch also includes doorbell notifications. Like on phones, tablets, and watches, Home Panel will soon be available on all Google TV devices.
Similarly, the Google TV ecosystem is picking up a number of AI features that were first announced for the Streamer. This includes Gemini-powered Overviews in listings that summarize what a show or movie is about along with season-by-season breakdowns, what people and critics are saying, and what else to know (content advisories). This rollout is starting today.
Google is also using generative AI to let you create custom screensaver art by providing a prompt:
Meanwhile, there is a new Sports page accessible from the “For You” tab that shows live and upcoming games from your favorite teams, as well as other personalized recommendations. YouTube highlights and commentary will also appear.
Also new for US users is the updated Freeplay experience. As we detailed, it has 150 free channels with a revamped guide to browse by genre and topic.
Finally, the company shared today that Google TV and Android TV have over 270 million monthly active devices and is the top streaming platform globally.
Google is working to bring Google TV to more form factors, like projectors (Epson, Vankyo, and XGIMI), smart monitors (Asus), and Art TVs (Hisense and TCL), as well as countries: Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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