What you need to know
- Google TV is reportedly developing a “News Brief” feature and a recent update discovery showcases a few key descriptions.
- It seems News Brief will be AI-backed and sourced based on the “days’ top news.”
- Another string shows that Google plans to let the AI read your curated news stories aloud for you on your TV.
- Google TV’s update last fall brought the “Home panel” to users, which mirrors smart home controls found on the TV Streamer.
Google is reportedly preparing to roll out a new feature for its TV experience that delivers important news updates to users.
An APK dive into a recent Google TV update by Android Authority discovered code pointing toward an upcoming “News Briefs” feature. The publication states that this feature is wrapped in Google TV’s “Ambient Mode,” which typically offers a slideshow of landscape wallpapers when you’re not watching anything (idle).
While not confirmed, the post adds that it seems users will have “control” over the News Briefs with (potentially) the ability to toggle it on/off.
Google’s recently added code gives us a glimpse into what to expect, like its main purpose of showing “news headlines in your screensaver.” The company also alludes to this feature being heavily backed by AI. Another string states that the top headlines shown are “AI-generated based on the day’s top news.”
Interestingly, Google’s “News Brief” might tack on reading capabilities by the AI serving up the headlines. One string states, “Press OK to listen to your news brief.” Considering this is designed for a TV, having the AI read aloud a few important headlines and perhaps a brief overview of its content makes sense.
The publication wasn’t able to get this part working, so it looks like we’ll have to wait until it hits Google TV devices officially. The post states that Google highlighted the beginning of a test for News Brief. This newly discovered code could indicate the test’s approach. That highlight post detailed the News Brief’s availability via the “For You” page for U.S. viewers.
Google’s TV side has been relatively quiet ever since the company launched its Chromecast replacement Streamer last summer. Not only does the box offer 800 free channels, but it doubles as a smart home hub so users can keep tabs on their connected devices and cameras from the living room (or anywhere).
Google then rolled out two important updates for its TV experience, one of those involved a personal control center that mirrored its new Streamer. Users with Google TV sets received the next-gen “Google Home panel.” From there, users who opted against purchasing a TV Streamer could control their thermostats and lights, as well as receive doorbell notifications.
Google TV users also picked up a dedicated sports tab on the “For You” page for live games, upcoming ones, and YouTube highlights.
A quieter update dropped in November, which let users manually decide the audio output format for their Google TV.