Over the last few years we have been acquiring items at home to “smarten” things up – from Google’s Home Minis (now rebranded as Nest Mini) to smart bulbs and power outlets.
Yesterday our worn out delivery guy dropped off the newest item – the new Chromecast with Google TV (in Sky – i.e. it’s blue). After the usual round of getting it setup – it is never quite as simple as Google suggest – we spent some time checking it out.
So why would I be interested in a Chromecast with Google TV you ask? Well, it’s new – isn’t that reason enough? The main reason I had was that it has the functionality to consolidate your current streaming services into a single search and single watchlist.
Here we go….
The interface is a huge improvement over the current Android TV, it looks clean and modern with a touch of the Netflix look. Apart from the look and feel of the interface, the addition of a remote with voice control with Google Assistant, and organising the content from (almost) all of your streaming services are 2 great features.
Voice control search for movies or TV shows (across your subscribed services) works really well with a listing of the services where you can watch for free, or rent or buy. You can also use the voice control search for “everyday” stuff – weather, news and so on – and you don’t need to say “Hey Google” – which in our case would wake up one of the several Home (Nest) Minis – you just hold down the Google Assistant button on the remote and make your request.
I will have more to say about the Chromecast with Google TV (or the GTV as it is known in our house) once we have spent some more time with it; however, so far, so good!
If you have a new Chromecast with Google TV, let us know what you think about it in the Comments section.
What Next?
We hope you will join us at Helpful by Nature by subscribing to our email list. We would love to hear from you, take your questions and provide answers if we are able.
Until next time,
Andrew (and Gillian)
