Samsung’s smart TVs are getting a lot smarter. The 2020 Samsung TV range now comes with Google Assistant in the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, with further plans of launching it in another eight countries before the end of the year. Samsung says it’ll roll out in Spain, Brazil, India and South Korea by late November.
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Samsung has announced that for the first time, Google’s voice assistant can be used to control the TV directly, with commands like changing channels or adjusting the volume. The Samsung TVs can now also be used to control other Google Assistant-compatible smart home devices like thermostats or lights (which had to be done by some Google Home device until now). It will also give you the expected smart device information like weather or to play music, and it integrates with other Google services like Search, Photos, Maps, and Calendar.
The previous models of Samsung’s range of smart TVs did integrate with Google Assistant, but only through an external Google Home device. Users would have to give their commands via a separate device equipped with the voice assistant like a Google Home smart speaker. There is now a microphone button on the TV’s remote which then means the TV acts as a de facto Google Home device.
Samsung had hoped to make Bixby an integral part of the home with the TVs being a good starting point for many people, but as we’ve seen in the smartphone industry, Bixby is starting to die a slow death. While Bixby still technically works on the TVs, it has very little features compared to Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa (which also works on their smart TVs).
It has been interesting to see the various digital assistants offering many similar features, but also not require exclusivity to do so (other than Siri).
