Google Home panel and AI art coming to all Google TV devices

Good news to everyone. If you read our article Google TV Streamer review and we looked longingly at the new smart home panel — also known as the Google Home panel — or the new AI-generated ambient art that’s on its way to other Google TV devices. That was almost certainly true, because there’s no way Google would just save this for its latest streaming hardware. But it’s always nice get approval.

Here’s the thing: If a smart device is supported on Google Home, you should be able to access it through the Google Home panel on your Google TV. Here in my home, I have a handful of Nest cameras, a Nest doorbell, and a bunch of Philips Hue and Govee lights. And they all show up on the Google Home Panel, and favorites take precedence.

It’s all pretty simple, but there are a few minor glitches. For example, if a camera is off, you’ll just see a blank camera. This isn’t particularly useful (it does at least let you know the camera is off) because you can’t open it from Google TV. You can’t open it from a phone or tablet or Google Home web interfaceto turn on the camera.

Doorbell notifications are optional; you’ll select this option when you first set up the Home panel on Google TV, and this is my first experience with it. Google TV Streaming There was a pretty significant delay when someone rang the doorbell and the notification appeared on the screen. The image was also squeezed to a different aspect ratio.

The lights and climate control worked exactly as I expected. It’s easy enough to turn everything on and off, or raise or lower the air conditioning, using the remote control.

All in all, it’s definitely a good addition and something everyone can have. Google TV device and other smart accessories you should check out.

AI-generated ambient art is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of choosing your perfect photos from Google Photos, you can direct Google’s AI to generate its own art, just like on Amazon Fire TV. on its top-of-the-line devices.

You can create the custom artwork entirely from your own ideas, or Google can start you off with a sort of Mad Libs-style prompt where you fill in the blanks with things you might like to see.

This is fun to play with, but how useful it is really depends on how much you enjoy creating these things.