So in the past few days you might have noticed YouTube looks a bit different than it previously did, there’s a good reason for this it’s because it’s reached v2.0 and if you have any experience with YouTube on other platforms then you’ll notice some similarities or if you’ve got a laptop/desktop and you go […]
Tag: google
Yesterday was a good day for fans of the Google Home outside the US. Canadian’s can now buy the Google Home for $179 and it speaks both English and French! Ask and you shall receive the latest Canadian stories from sources such as the CBC, Radio Canada, Global News, Sportsnet, TC Media, The Weather Network / […]
At Google I/O today the Google Home was the star of the keynote, with Google’s pivot in the recent years to AI an all voice assistant was inevitable. Amazon beat them to market but Google came fighting back with Home. Amazon recently announced Echo was getting calling which makes complete sense because if you can […]
Android TV News Podcast #1 – Pre Google I/O
[Update] We are working on adding support for all podcast platforms On This Podcast Kevin & I discuss Google I/O and what to expect as well as news in the Android TV realm from the last week and everything in between. The Show notes are listed below. Show Notes: Aeotec by Aeon Labs DSA03202W Black […]
Google Home can now be trained to identify the different voices of people you live with. Today Google announced that its smart speaker can support up to six different accounts on the same device. With this you’ll finally have the Home tailored to your voice and be able to sleep at night knowing no one […]
Google Announces PAX A Patient Agreement Among Android OEM’s
Not to be confused with the popular and well-known Penny Arcade Expo aka PAX but Google has today announced PAX, which stands for “Android Networked Cross-License Agreement”, so yeah that makes perfect sense somehow. Basically, this new licensing program will allow members — which include some of Google’s many Android partners — to stop threatening […]
In a report from the FCC Google is cooking up something but details are vague so far. All we know is its a Set Top Box and has what you expect in one AC WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1 etc as seen in the quote from the report. The Google Inc. model GFHD254 is a residential set-top […]
Android TV’s 2016 Year In Review
2016 wow what a year, for better or for worse we haven’t had a year so unpredictable in quite a long time. In 2016 we saw a lot of change, the Android TV community is heading in the right direction depending on who you ask but I think we can all agree it’s better than […]
Exploring the Android 7.0 CDD for TVs
The Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) is an important document for OEMs. It is a document, written by engineers at Google, that stipulates what is required in an Android device. This may differ based on form factor (TV, phone, watch), but overall states what is recommended and required for products before they’re certified. This certification […]
Google Assistant API Launched Today
The Google Assistant is getting an API today with the launch of “Actions on Google,” a way for developers to build “conversation actions” that can be called up on the Assistant’s various interfaces. This stays true to the API being available in December as we talked about when covering the Google Home Cheatsheet. The “Actions on […]
Google Banners Gain A White Background In New Redesign
Google has been fairly quiet with most of their apps on Android TV lately and the last time we saw a white banner background get added to a Google app on Android TV was Play Movies & TV a couple of months ago. As of late last night and today that changes for two apps […]
Today, on the Android Developers blog there’s the new TIF Companion Library which makes it a lot easier for app developers to build apps for Live Channels and monetize their content through linear video ads. You can take a look at the library on GitHub and check out the sample app to see an implementation. […]
Google Home Commands Cheatsheet
Looking for a list of commands the your Google Home will understand? Since the Google Home only came out a short while ago I’ve decided it’s a good idea to have an easy to access resource to remind the community what’s achievable with this size of salsa digital assistant we call Google Home. This list […]
Google Home Speaker – First Thoughts and Impressions
Hello Everyone, I purchased the Google Home speaker recently on Friday (Went to Walmart at 12 AM to get one.) and I have a few of my thoughts here right now for you. Setup Setup was easy to go through, about as involved as setting up a chromecast or chromecast audio. You use the renamed […]
The First Google Play Indie Game Festival Announced its Winners
At the end of September Google announced the winners to the first Google Play Indie Game Festival. The winners include three puzzle games. Ironically enough because you can never have enough puzzle games. One is a bit bit blocks a multi-player puzzle game. In this game, you play someone on the other side of your device […]
YouTube Go Comes To India For Quick Viewing & Offline First
Google announced another YouTube app to along with YouTube App collection consisting of the Main YouTube, YouTube for Android TV, YouTube Kids, YouTube Gaming, YouTube Music, and YouTube Creator. This time, the focus of the app is view videos while on the go, IE YouTube Go. A Googler got this idea when visiting India and […]
Google Home Comes Home November 4th for $129 Pre-Order Today!
Originally announced at Google I/O but then went silent as a mime until today. Google is now allowing you to throw money at them in exchange for a Google Home or a few if you’re feeling lucky. Yes, Google has released all the details, including price, shipping date, and more about its abilities. Nick also reminded […]
Google October 4th Event Live Blog
Today is the big day! No need to refresh the page live updates will be posted as it happens. The event starts at 12 EST, 9AM Google HQ time. Anthony GareraAnthony is usually tinkering with everything and anything because there’s always one more thing to do, reviewing games and apps and complaining about things […]
Nest Platform moving to Google, sign of more IoT?
When Google rebranded and restructured their organization, Google became their own company with along with many assets that Google controlled under the new parent company, Alphabet. One of these companies that was taken out from under Google’s control was Nest. Nest has had their share of issues along the way. Recently Nest made the move to be […]
The Weather Network Launches DoubleClick Dynamic Ad Insertion For Their Android TV App
The Weather Network is an industry leader in multi-platform local weather information services and today announced that it is enabling DoubleClick’s Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) solution for its Android TV app. DoubleClick DAI allows advertisers to dynamically target The Weather Network’s Android TV audience. Since their Android TV app supports both direct and programmatic sales, DoubleClick’s DAI […]
Poll Results – Which OEM do you want to announce a new Android TV?
The holiday season is coming up and there’ll be plenty of companies looking to announce new finished products that individuals will be able to buy. It’s rumored that Google will announce a number of new products in the coming weeks. But while companies are often tight-lipped about their product ahead of time, we wanted to […]
Some Google Apps Gain Early DPAD Support
We recently received a tip about a handful of Google Apps. The claim was that some recent app updates: Chrome, Drive, Slides, and Gmail; have all added support for DPADs and they theorized that Android TV support could be coming soon. The claim was fascinating, so we did an investigation and while the tipster had […]
Looking Back at a Year of Android TV News
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the official launch of Android TV News. It began with a simple idea. There did not seem to be a lot going on in Android TV. Developers weren’t building apps because there weren’t users, and users weren’t getting devices because of a lack of apps. There was a disconnect […]
Google’s Hangouts on Air is being replaced by YouTube Live
Part of Google’s big social initiative, Google+, was Hangouts. This was not just a messaging system but also a video chat platform that allows up to ten people to chat at the same time. It’s a really good way to have chats with your friends when you’re in different parts of the country. It also […]
(Rolling Out Now) Family Library Is Official Allows Google Play Purchase Sharing W/ Up To Six Members
Over the past months we’ve seen everything but the actual product roll out and that product is Family Library and good news everybody it’s here! The Play Store will now allow users to share eligible apps, games, movies, TV shows, or books with up to six people, also there’s a number of controls to manage sharing. When you buy an […]
[APP Request] Nest (Google), Please Release an Android TV App!
We all have apps that we would like to see make their way to Android TV. Some just need to be sideloaded to be enjoyed (more on that later), while others could use a developer’s touch to bring a proper TV experience. although I wish all apps functioned properly on Android TV, the purpose of […]
PSA: Latest Google App For Android TV Update Breaks Voice
UPDATE: Sascha Prüter responded with the following statement “So it looks like some accessories are not properly reporting the microphone. We are pushing out a new Search version where we disabled the new detection on Android M devices and will work with OEMs to fix this behavior in parallel so we can enable this at a later […]
Android.com Updates With New Looks
Android.com/tv is brand new and showcases all the devices it has to offer. OEM Partners shown are Sharp with their Aquos series, Sony with their Bravia series, the 1st gen Nexus Player, NVIDIA SHIELD TV, and the red headed step child that is the Razer Forge TV. In addition all other parts of Android (Phone,Wear,Tablets,and Auto) […]
Spotify for Android TV Gets Voice Search In Latest Update
Spotify the streaming service that started back in April 2006 has issued an update(0.7.3) to its relatively new Android TV App, and it added one of the main grips I initially had with it when it was released at Google I/O silently this year. That is as you can guess is voice search and to […]
[Quick Tip] Play ESPN = Opens ESPN, Play [Game] = Opens [Game]
As seen in the video above while using voice search this weekend I came across something nifty, saying Play operates the same was a saying open, essentially being an alias for it except in the case of saying “Play Chrome” which then opens up VLC, weird right? While a small thing it definitely helps in […]