Shoving AI into everything (wanted or not) is one of the biggest tech trends this year. All the latest smartphones have some form of AI features… just like most other devices. I’m not the biggest fan of this – especially when there’s not an obvious use case. While showing off Android 16, Google announced a bunch of new Gemini AI features.
The best of these is the fact that Google Gemini is coming to devices with Google TV later this year. Not only am I excited for this feature, but I actually think it’ll finally make remotes with microphones useful.
For years it’s felt like the microphone button in TV remotes existed purely for a voice assistant that… doesn’t do much. While you’re supposed to ask them for content, they never really seem to understood you. But now that Google finally shoving its Gemini AI into Google TV, that button might actually have something useful to do.
With Gemini, interacting with your TV will feel less like screaming into the void. As Google explains, you’ll be able to use natural language for requests or to find content. For example, you won’t need to know a show’s name. Rather, you could ask for it with a description or the genre. Instead of scrolling endlessly through carousel after carousel of thumbnails, I could say “find a documentary about black holes” and get a proper suggestion.
Of course, I remain suspiciously optimistic. We’ve heard the hype before, only to be let down by AI assistants that promise the world and deliver mildly warmed-over search results. But if Gemini on Google TV can truly understand context and handle the chaos of TV requests, then colour me intrigued.
Gemini will start appearing on TCL Google TV devices later this year, with wider rollout to follow. Unfortunately, Google’s flagship TV Streamer won’t be getting it, which seems like a big miss. No specific dates for the wider rollout have been set yet, but we’ll bring you the latest when it arrives.