Google Assistant can now control all of your SHED (Smart Home Entertainment Devices)

Google is continuing to roll out more and more devices that can be controlled via the Assistant. Now Assistant can control your SHED? No, not the Stratco, all of your Smart Home Entertainment Devices, because we all call them SHED right?

Typically when Google adds new devices they quietly update the developer docs and that’s it, today however Google decided to splash it all over a blog post. Either it’s a slow 4th of July news week or Google really thinks people are going to be into this.

So what’s been added? Google Assistant could already control set top boxes, they were added in April, but now Assistant can be plugged into:

• Audio-video receiver
• Streaming box
• Streaming stick
• Soundbar
• Streaming soundbar
• Speaker

To be clear this is not having the Assistant available to use on these products, that is already possible. Today’s update provides the control schemes for Assistant to control these range of devices.

Along with the new devices Google also added the ability for Assistant to control ‘Channels’ on SHED devices. This combined with Google’s new focus on state syncing will make the Assistant far more useful in controlling your smart lounge, basically turning Assistant into a universal remote control.

Of course all of the developer options in the world aren’t any good if Google can’t get third parties to integrate with Assistant — we continue to watch and wait for more devices to arrive with such support.