We broke the news this week that a next-gen Google TV Streamer is incoming, but it also arrives as Google’s smart home hardware strategy faces a tough spot and new competition.

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Google’s smart home efforts have been a bit sporadic over the years. 2021 seemed like a turning point as the company rebooted its Nest camera lineup, but it was followed by a good bout of silence. That was broken up by the occasional new camera, streaming device, and the Google Home Speaker earlier this year, but it’s all felt rather unfocused and unpredictable.

And that leads into this week’s news: Google has a new TV Streamer coming.

This next-gen release is pretty similar on paper, though with the additions of far-field microphones, presence sensing, and a new remote.

• Next-gen Google TV Streamer in the works with microphones, presence sensing, & new remote

Sounds good!

But, at the same time, it feels like Google should have much bigger priorities in its smart home ecosystem. Those aforementioned 2021 Nest cameras are still in need of refreshes. The 2K updates for the wired cameras have been welcome upgrades, but I do wish my battery-powered models had the same quality. The Nest Hub Max is way overdue for an update at this point, and I’d argue that should have been the priority over a new audio speaker. Google Home has done a great job over the past couple of years at building out a third-party ecosystem of smart home devices, but the first-party hardware has been lacking, and there’s not enough tight integration with most third-party hardware to bridge the gap.

So while I’m all for a new Google TV Streamer, I’m also struggling to feel like this is the release we should be seeing right now.

Especially in the context of this week’s other news. Apple is making a big smart home play. On top of the “HomePad” smart display, the company is teaming up with LG for some second-party hardware with deep integration. Putting aside that Google has really dropped the ball on its massive lead in the smart display space, integrations like these are exactly what I wish Google Home saw more of. Walmart cameras, the Yale smart lock, and the First Alert smoke alarms are a good start, but there’s so much room for more.

As a fan and a genuine user of Google’s smart home ecosystem, I really feel like Google is leaving so much out there right now. Just me? Let’s discuss!

Amazon did the thing!

Well I never thought this day would come. After well over a decade of Fire Tablets that were inherently limited, Amazon this week announced new “Alexa” tablets that have the Google Play Store installed. Wild times folks, wild times.

• Amazon’s new Alexa Tablets are an iPad-inspired reboot, complete with the Play Store

Google Wallet updates

An assortment of Google Wallet updates are out, including more ID support and a new design. Plus, it sounds like car key support for certain GM vehicles is not too far off.

• Google Wallet for Android adds 12th digital state ID
• Google Wallet rolling out stacked card list redesign on Android

Pixelated has video – no, this is not a drill!

Our podcast, Pixelated, has long been audio-only, but this week’s episode features a video component and a tier list of every Pixel released to date!

• Google Cloud announces ‘Gemini agent’ as ‘universal agent for work’
• Google Labs announces ‘Playground’ for prompt-based game creation
• Gemini app limiting what models free & AI Plus users can access, AI Pro adding Deep Think
• Motorola is rolling out its Android 17 update to more devices
• Claude launches Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides integration with sidebar and more
• YouTube says Shorts recommendations won’t surface unoriginal content
• Google rolling out ‘massive’ Pixel Buds Pro 2 and 2a update [U]
• Google is ending support for Pixel Watch’s emergency LTE ‘Safety Signal’
• Android Auto rolling out fix that stops auto-playing music when you start your car
• Google starts rolling out its upgraded Pixel screen savers to the Pixel 9
• Pixel 11 Pro vs. iPhone 18 Pro: Copy-copy-paste or just copy-paste [Video]

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