CorysTechTime

Google is always experimenting with AI and one of those new features I really hope sticks around is now available on my Google TV Streamer. News Briefs is an AI experiment that Google is rolling out to a small group of users as part of a test of the feature. When I turned on my TV this evening I quickly noticed the News Briefs feature. It looked similar to any other option on the Google TV home screen but with News Briefs for 5pm so assume there are News Briefs created throughout the day. The picture below is displayed at the end of the News Briefs. The feature is very reminiscent of what NotebookLM does with the two AI hosts that talk in what sounds like a podcast. News Briefs only has one voice that is somewhat similar to the Google Assistant voice on Android devices. I have only used this feature once and I already see the potential here. What was shown to me as part of the News Briefs was actually relevant and current news. The news discussed was very surface level, however, a YouT...

The Google TV Streamer just received its first update since it launched back in September. While the update was small I noticed things were different during the installation process. The update applied just like my Pixel 9 Pro XL. First the Streamer downloaded the firmware then in step 2 it installed the system update. Once step 2 was completed I was prompted to restart the device and then the Google TV Streamer booted up as normal. The restart did not take too long and I wished I would have timed it. I will be sure to do that next time. Check out the picture below of the installation process.  As for the update, I did not notice anything visually different. Release notes on my TV mentions bug fixes and performance improvements but to be honest navigating the home screen felt about the same before the update which is not necessarily a bad thing. My guess is that this update sets the stage for a bigger update in the not so distant future.