An announcement by Vizio has revealed that the firm’s portfolio of SmartCast products is now Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Home-compatible. This means that it is now possible to control SmartCast devices via voice using Google Home. The SmartCast portfolio includes TVs, surround sound systems, sound bars and home speakers.
Vizio’s chief technology officer, Matt McRae was optimistic that users would enjoy the added feature for the convenience it would add to their entertainment experience.
“Controlling VIZIO SmartCast devices from Google Home is a significant milestone for consumers and their ability to manage their entertainment experience,” said McRae.
Inbuilt Chromecast technology
All of the SmartCast devices have Google’s Chromecast technology built into them and therefore enabling casting from mobile devices such as the smartphone as well as from Google Home. Using voice commands, content can begin playing at the sound of prompts such as ‘OK Google’. Voice commands can also be used to configure various media control options such as volume.
One of the advantages of the SmartCast products is that they are priced reasonably with TVs going for as little as $215 and soundbars going for as low as $130. Some of the services that are supported by Vizio include Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) Pandora, Google Photos, Google Play Music, YouTube, Spotify and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). Many more popular apps are also supported by Vizio SmartCast which was launched in 2016.
Touchscreen remotes
Besides streaming content to any of Vizio’s SmartCast devices through the Wi-Fi network, the SmartCast app can also be used to turn mobile devices running on Android or iOS into touchscreen remotes that can then control the SmartCast devices. The SmartCast app can also be used to search for content from more than one app using voice commands or text search. Upon finding the content they are looking for, users can then turn to their preferred service to have the title they want streamed onto their SmartCast display device. Users will then be able to resume using their smartphones for other purposes once streaming over Wi-Fi users has begun.
In Wednesday’s trading, Alphabet Inc rose by 0.19% to close the day at $892.02 a share.