Google wants your media to follow you around the home. The company has announced new stream transfer technology that makes it easy to move video and audio between devices.
If you have a Google Home Mini you can move the music to a Nest Hub Max in another room. Likewise, if you’re watching a YouTube clip on your Chromecast-enabled TV, it’s easy to shift it to the smart display in the kitchen.
The stream transfer feature can be controlled via the voice-powered Google Assistant or via the cast button within Google Home application. So, for example, you can say “Hey Google, move the music to the living room speaker,” or “Hey Google, play on the living room TV”. It’s also possible to send the audio to every speaker or smart display in the home.
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In a blog post on Tuesday, Google explains: “Stream transfer is a new feature that lets you easily move music, videos, podcasts and more between compatible devices in your home using your voice, the Google Home app or the touchscreen on your Nest smart display.”
Google is rolling this tech out today, but so far it only works with a few select apps, including YouTube Music, Spotify and Pandora for audio and YouTube for video.
So far it’s only available on Google/Nest-branded devices, but the company told Variety it will arrive on third-party smart displays in due course, and it will also roll out to Android TV in the future.
In our review of the new Nest Hub Max, our reviewer said it offered a much better product than the Google Home Hub, with a larger display and improved sound, making it a decent music player regardless of the display. There’s also camera for video calls, which can also be used as a security camera. It costs £219 and is available now.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
