Sony to add Google Assistant in its TVs

According to Sony, Google Assistant will be added to their new sets via a firmware update later this year. Sony’s sets already come with Android TV, but the 2017 models will be the first TV sets with Google Assistant.

Users will have to hit a button on the remote to activate the Assistant. The feature also works using the Google Home speaker to communicate with the TV without hitting a button. The Assistant will enable users to ask general queries and control other devices in the Google Home universe, but the built-in Assistant will have a few TV-specific features.

Sony’s X1 Extreme processor remains in its flagship Z9D television, and it’ll be in the upcoming Bravia A1E OLED. One of the key features is an “object-oriented” approach to improving the contrast and color attributes of different items in a video.

Now, Sony is putting the X1 Extreme into more of its TVs. It’s also adding more-powerful processors to its lower-end sets, purportedly making the lower-priced panels perform better than their hardware specs would indicate.

The new X800E, X850E, and X900E TVs will have lower-end X1 processors that provide similar object-oriented HDR processing and contrast-enhancing features. The higher-end X930E and X940E, which both play Dolby Vision HDR video, will have that top-of-the-line X1 Extreme processor.