CES has been an interesting show this year, with notable absences and — according to those attending — blank spaces on the show floor. Regardless of who is there and who isn’t, there have been a number of interesting releases. This morning Google has shown off its vision for being “better together”.
With the focus of integration moving from individual facets to a holistic approach, it’s unsurprising to see other big brands involved. These names include Samsung, BMW, Bose, Acer, HP and Intel. The vision also includes better integration into platforms like Android Auto, Google TV/Android TV, Chromebooks and importantly for futureproofing, Matter.
Productivity and Entertainment
A blog post released this morning delves into the changes. This starts with extending fast pair and set up (for new devices) capabilities to the Chromebook platform including in the phone hub. The additional features here include:
- View and respond to chats – eliminating the need for installation on your Chromebook
- Toggling modes on your phone
- Accessing your camera roll directly from your Chromebook
Google TV and Android TV devices haven’t been ignored with pairing capabilities extending to these platforms. Great for times you want, or need to close out what you’re listening to from prying or younger ears. Nestled in amongst the changes to Google and Android TV platforms is a note around Matter support. This will make setting up new devices on your network even easier than it already is:
And with built-in support for Matter on Android, you’ll be able to use Fast Pair to quickly connect new Matter-enabled smart home devices to your network, Google Home and other accompanying apps all in just a few taps.
Wearables, Casting and more
This is where it starts getting really cool for users who are well invested in Google’s productivity platform. Wearables have received some love too with the capability to unlock your phone or tablet “coming soon”. This is additional to the ability to unlock a Chromebook which has been available for a while now on paired phones.
Other notable additional features and capabilities coming include:
- Digital car key and controls – On compatible BMW and Volvo vehicles
- Bose speakers to be upgraded with Chromecast
- Fast pair and Nearby Share coming to selected Windows devices
Clearly, there’s a lot of work that has occurred to integrate Google’s platform in such a cohesive way. It’s exciting for the future and is a massive leap up to the heels of other manufacturers currently leading the way.
