Google Assistant is about to roll out to some LG TVs in the UK

If you’ve recently lost your remote or want to control the big screen with your voice like the captain in your own science fiction show, then LG has some good news for you. Some of its newer televisions are getting Google Assistant in an upcoming patch.

Not all TVs, though. You’ll need a 2018 model with AI ThinQ built-in. If you have one of those, the update should start rolling out in Q4 of this year across the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, South Korea and Spain. The update has already reached sets in the US.

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It’s worth noting that putting Google Assistant in your TV doesn’t just give you a fancy way of flipping channels. It basically makes your TV a giant Google Home speaker – albeit one that isn’t always switched on.

That means it can be the centre of your smart home, able to switch on the lights and heating for you, as well as tell jokes on demand like your very own digital court jester.

If you can’t wait to get Google’s brains added, you can always outsource the heavy lifting to your Google Home speaker which gives you voice control over your TV. This has the added advantage that you can place it far enough away from the action that it’ll always be able to hear you over the jingle of commercial breaks.

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This feature is currently limited to English-speaking countries only, but will roll out to France, Germany, Japan and South Korea by the end of 2018.

If you’re in a house that only has eyes for Amazon’s Alexa, all isn’t lost. The same feature works in the UK and US on Echo devices, and will be coming to Canada and Australia soon.

Is your TV getting Google Assistant, and do you care? Let us know what you think on Twitter @TrustedReviews.