Watch out Apple Siri and Amazon Alexa rival, Google Assistant is now coming to Android-powered TVs. Google this week announced that its voice-activated AI tech Google Assistant will be coming to supported TVs and set-top boxes running Android TV in the next few months. The search giant has already named companies that will be getting the Google Assistant.
According to CNET, the Mountain View-based company has just announced plans to bring its voice-activated Google Assistant to a few number of Android-powered TVs in coming months. This also means that owners of Android-powered TVs will soon be able to interact with their devices via voice commands using Google's digital assistant.
However, there's some minimum requirement made, Google said the devices will need to run Android 6.0 Marshmallow or Android 7.0 Nougat versions of the operating system to receive the Google Assistant feature.
Google Assistant Goes Mainstream
Google's latest call for the Google Assistant to become available on all Android TVs in the U.S. in the coming months. Unfortunately, it didn't disclose when the Google Assistant will become available in other parts of the world. Google Assistant is similar to Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa. It is designed to give users a way to interact with a wide range of mobile devices and other smart home devices.
The Google Assistant integration will also allow owners of Android-powered TVs to do lots of things like browse for TV contents, search for TV shows, and even play content from Netflix and YouTube using only voice commands.In addition to the entertainment stuff, Android TV owners will also be able to do common tasks such as controlling the smart lighting system in their homes via Google Assistant voice commands.
Google Assistant Coming to Nvidia Shield TV
According to The Verge, the new Nvidia streaming box will be the first of all these devices to offer a hands-free Google Assistant experience. At CES 2017 event, Nvidia has introduced a new version of its Shield TV set-top box, and it is expanding its usefulness by integrating it with the Google Assistant.
For Nvidia, the Google Assistant integration is the biggest change since it introduced the Android-powered gaming set-top box in early 2015. The move clearly shows that the company wants to position Nvidia Shield TV as a major set-top box for gamers in the gaming industry today.
Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang made the big announcement during the Nvidia CES 2017 keynote speech in Las Vegas.
Google to Make Google Assistant Everywhere
This is not the first time Google has integrated its AI tech with the devices. The search company has already integrated Google Assistant into its Google Allo smart messaging app. More recently into its Google Home voice-activated speaker, Google's own version of Amazon Echo.
Google has been working hard, beefing up its AI capability. Last month, Google has decided to open up the development platform for Google Assistant to third party application developers.
