Till now, Google’s Chromecast lineup has been primarily targeted on making it simple to observe reveals and films in your favourite massive display. However with the brand new Google TV Streamer, Google lastly has an appropriate set-top field to play content material, whereas additionally supporting wider sensible house management.
Design: From dongle to wedge
Only a week forward of Google’s upcoming Made By occasion, maybe the largest change to the TV Streamer is its transfer from a easy adapter that hooks to your TV to a very standalone gadget that sits in your media console. Google says its wedge-shaped design is designed to mix simply into your decor whenever you’re sitting in entrance of the TV, offering higher reception for the included distant and different sensible house units (extra on that later).
In contrast with the Chromecast geared up with Google TV beginning in 2020, Google has additionally made a large-scale {hardware} improve to the Streamer TV, together with a 22% enhance in CPU velocity, doubled RAM (4GB as an alternative of 2GB), and 4 occasions the space for storing (32GB complete). That may not sound like rather a lot, however contemplating earlier fashions usually did not have sufficient area to obtain fundamental streaming apps, it is a much-needed enchancment. Streaming decision is capped at 4K/60fps, though you do get assist for HDR, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, Dolby Atmos, and spatial audio (when paired with Google Pixel Buds).
There’s additionally an HDMI 1.1 jack, a powered USB-C port, and a devoted Ethernet slot for streaming customers who want peak bandwidth. Google additionally made the distant contact longer, whereas shifting the quantity rocker to the highest and including a customizable button that may be set to launch your favourite apps, swap inputs, or summon a brand new smartphone House management heart. Similar to earlier than, there is a built-in microphone and a button for summoning Google Assistant.
Good House: Turning into the Proper Machine Hub
This brings me to Google Streamer’s improved sensible house capabilities. Not solely does it assist Matter, it additionally has a built-in Thread border router, making it simple to speak with different units in your house. On prime of that, TV streamers are getting their very own model of the Google House panel (which we have seen on earlier Pixel telephones and the Nest Hub), making it simpler to regulate issues like sensible lights whereas additionally letting you view content material coming out of your of safety cameras and video doorbells.
New synthetic intelligence options
Lastly, it would not be a Google gadget in 2024 with out some new synthetic intelligence options. Because of Gemini, TV Streamer can create custom-made suggestions primarily based on the sorts of content material you watch, and generate summaries, critiques and even season-by-season breakdowns for content material you have not watched. There’s additionally an Ambient TV mode that permits you to pull a screensaver or reminiscence out of your Google Pictures library. Nevertheless, if you need one thing extra distinctive, you too can use synthetic intelligence to provide one thing incredible. In the meantime, should you lose the distant, you’ll be able to ask Google Assistant (not Gemini) that will help you discover it, or you’ll be able to simply press a devoted button on the again of the field.
So whereas I did not get a lot of an opportunity to dive into its capabilities, with the brand new TV Streamer it lastly appears like Google has a extra succesful sensible house hub that is an actual competitor to the Apple TV 4K and different Android-based opponents like Packing containers just like the NVIDIA Protect TV. Google TV Streamer is priced at $100 and is on the market for pre-order now, with gross sales beginning on September twenty fourth.
