Google TV is Getting New Home Panel, Sports Page, and More

Just as Google is about release its new Google TV Streamer tomorrow, the company has started rolling out a couple of new features to all Google TV devices today. The new capabilities include a Home panel for controlling smart home devices, a dedicated Sports page, and an improved Ambient screensaver.

With the new Home panel, Google TV now provides quick access to lights, thermostats, and cameras connected via Google Home. Smart home appliances can be controlled with voice commands, and Google TV is also adding doorbell notifications letting users see who’s ringing at the front door.

For sports fans, the ‘For You’ page now offers a dedicated Sports page showcasing live sports, upcoming games, and YouTube highlights from users’ favorite themes and athletes. Google has also updated the Google TV Freeplay channel guide to make it easier to find things to watch among the selection of 150 free channels. For paid content coming from Google TV and subscription services, Google TV now leverages the company’s Gemini AI to offer more detailed overviews of top movies and shows.

With today’s update for Google TV, users will also be able to create custom screensavers with AI. As an alternative, it’s now possible to ask Google Assistant to show favorite memories in Google Photos.

Google also announced that there are now over 270 million monthly active Google TV and other Android TV OS devices on the market today. Lastly, Google TV is also now available in more countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.