Earlier this year, Google indicated that Android TV 13, the upcoming version of its TV operating system, would include expanded Picture-in-Picture (PiP) capabilities as one of its main user-facing changes this year. Google expects the new feature to be used by video conferencing apps and security camera feeds. At Google’s annual Google I/O developer conference this week, the new features were demoed for the first time. Read more ›
Google has announced an update to its Google Nest Alexa Skill that finally adds compatibility with Nest cameras and doorbells. With this update, you can now view live feeds of newer Nest cameras, from 2021, on Fire TVs, Echo Shows, and Fire Tablets by simply saying “Alexa, show my [CAMERA NAME].” For Nest doorbells, you can also now have a two-way conversation from a Fire TV, Echo Show, or Fire Tablet by saying “Alexa, talk to the front door.” Not available yet but coming soon is the ability for Alexa to support announcements when a Nest camera or Nest doorbell detects a person.
Google has posted to its Android developer blog an outline of some of the new features found in Android TV 12 that it wants developers to be aware of. The features explained are ones we’ve already known about and include Frame Rate Matching, Text Scaling, and 4K Interfaces. At the end of the article, Google mentions that Android TV 12 is available as a developer preview for its ADT-3 developer kit and, more importantly, says that Android TV 12 will “begin appearing on TVs later this year.” When the blog post was first published, it said that Android TV 12 would “begin appearing on TVs early this year,” so, the fact that Google felt the need to change the wording of the post is an indication that it’ll still be a while before the next version of Android TV is available on consumer devices.
Rumors of a new Chromecast streaming device from Google have begun to surface. 9to5Google reported last weak that the next Chromecast is currently in development and is codenamed Boreal, but didn’t provide any further information. Now Janko Roettgers from Protocol, who has a good track record for insider information, has been told by a source that the new Boreal Chromecast device will be cheaper than the $50 Chromecast released in 2020 because it will only support 1080p video and not 4K. Read more ›
In the past week, there have been a few noteworthy pieces of news regarding Android TV and Google TV devices. Google’s Chromecast with Google TV and Walmart’s Onn 4K Streaming Box have both received minor software updates. Nvidia’s Shield TV has dropped a hint that it may be getting updated to Android 11 in the future. TCL and Best Buy have pulled TCL 6-Series TVs running Google TV off of shelves due to performance issues. Read on for more details about all of these things and more. Read more ›
A day before Google was scheduled to remove YouTube from the Roku appstore, Google and Roku have reached an agreement that will keep YouTube accessible on Roku devices and will return the YouTube TV app to Roku’s channel store. The deal is said to be a multi-year agreement between the two companies, but nothing else has been said about the specifics of the arrangement. Read more ›
History repeats itself, only this time it’s not Google leveraging the popularity of YouTube against Amazon and Fire TVs, but against Roku and new Roku devices. Google has stated that it will be removing the YouTube app from the Roku channel store on December 9th, which will prevent new and factory reset Roku devices from accessing the video service, according to Variety. This is a result of negotiations between Google and Roku regarding app distribution terms going nowhere for the past 6 months, which has already resulted in the removal of YouTube TV from the Roku channel store. Read more ›
Earlier this week, NBCUniversal and Google revealed that over a dozen NBCUniversal-owned channels would be disappearing from YouTube TV if an agreement between the two companies was not reached by the end of September. The two companies have now said that they are temporarily extending their existing agreement in order to keep the channels available for the time being. This means that YouTube TV will not be getting $10 cheaper, as Google said it would if the channels were dropped. So, for a “short” time at least, YouTube TV subscribers will continue to have access to NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, Oxygen, Syfy, Telemundo, the Olympic Channel, Universal Kids, Universo, USA Network, and regional NBC Sports networks. However, they may disappear any day if talks between the two companies go south. UPDATE: Google and NBCUniversal have reached a long-term agreement that will keep all NBCUniversal-owned channels available on YouTube TV, according to Deadline.
YouTube TV may lose over a dozen NBCUniversal owned channels at the end of the month due to a contract dispute between NBCUniversal and Google, according to a website NBCU put up and a blog post from Google. The existing deal between the two companies is set to expire Thursday, Sept. 30 and if a new agreement is not reached by then, Google will be forced to drop NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, Oxygen, Syfy, Telemundo, the Olympic Channel, Universal Kids, Universo, USA Network, and regional NBC Sports networks. Read more ›
A new device from Google just passed through the FCC yesterday, as spotted by Liliputing, MySmartPrice, and many others. The new device, carrying FCC ID A4RGJQ9T and a matching model number of GJQ9T, is labeled as a “Wireless Streaming Device” which has understandably lead most news outlets to conclude that it is the next generation Google Chromecast. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re right and here’s why. Read more ›
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