The next generation of Google TV is coming with an improved Gemini that will be smarter and better
- Google announced the next generation of Google TV at CES 2025.
- It gets a good infusion from Gemini to boost its intelligence and make it better at conversational questions.
- Moreover, with proximity sensors, it has a unique take on ‘Ambient Mode’.
The Google TV platform powers not only the Google TV Streamer box, but also countless TVs that choose to use it as their native operating system. As the successor to Android TV, it ushered in a cleaner interface with better recommendations for major streaming services – and support for more of them – and a good dose of voice control courtesy of ‘Hey Google’.
But now, like many other announcements at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show, Google is giving us a look at the next generation of Google TV, and of course it will have an AI tie-in. Like the latest Pixel phones, the next generation of Google TV will feature Gemini, and critically, it will allow for much more natural conversation requests.
Furthermore, when the next generation of Google TV devices are expected to hit the market in late 2025, it will be a mix of software and some hardware to enable an ambient experience that feels almost self-aware. Thanks to proximity sensors in future TVs, it could automatically turn on a slideshow of photo galleries when you enter the room, but then switch to a sort of dashboard as you get closer. Pretty cool, right?
This is certainly Google TV’s take on the ambient experience, one that mimics the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max or even the latest Nest Thermostat, while adjusting the content shown based on where you are in the room. The photo gallery aspect, including an opt-in for images created via Generative AI, is reminiscent of both Chromecast’s static pages and art TVs like Samsung’s Frame or Hisense’s Canvas TV.
So the requirement for this ambient temperature will be a proximity sensor apparently on the TVs, but I imagine as we get closer to this there might be an option to activate this dashboard via the remote – that ultimately remains to be seen. But just like a smart speaker or smart display, these next-generation Google TVs have built-in far-field microphones that let you ask Gemini or “Hey Google” for truly limitless questions.
Being a large screen, Google optimizes and customizes the Gemini LLM a bit, in addition to answering a question like how big our galaxy is or asking to plan a trip, it can suggest YouTube videos to watch jump for more information about the answers (or answers). As we’ve seen with other AI-powered assistants, it tailors that power to the device you receive it on.
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Of course, since it’s Google TV and works with many Google services, you can also use it to control smart home devices and even perform automation. Unlike Google Assistant, you can speak more like a human and with more conversational terms than the stricter voice prompts of the past.
This also applies if you ask for help finding something to watch; you can be as specific as a Disney all-ages animated film or something much broader to get suggestions. As we saw with the Google TV Streamer, Gemini summarizes the most important reviews and feelings about the selected title when you open a movie.
On the surface it’s a nice AI glow for Google TV as a platform, but of course it all comes down to hardware partners. While we already have an idea of what TV makers have already chosen for Google, it remains to be seen where this next-generation experience will be found, but it is announced that we will see it appear on future hardware by the end of 2025. .
It’s also worth noting that since there’s an additional requirement for far-field microphones and proximity sensors, this probably won’t show up on the current Google TV Streamer. Who knows, Google might prepare a hardware package.