GoKawiil
Tech News
The Gemini-powered Google Home Speaker, which launched in June as Google's first new smart speaker in years, is now discounted by about $20 to roughly $79 in all four colors across Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. The sale marks the lowest price yet for the device, which supports Matter, includes a Thread border router, and can serve as audio output for the Google TV Streamer 4K.
Google published release notes detailing 42 fixes across its Home ecosystem, covering Gemini for Home, the Google Home app, Nest cameras and doorbells, Nest Wi-Fi, and Google TV Streamers. Updates include improved Gemini spatial awareness so voice commands to move music between rooms work correctly, fixed volume-command mix-ups between speakers, and resolved connectivity and live-view bugs on cameras and doorbells.
A long-time Google Home user reports that most of Google's smart home devices have gone years without updates, including Nest Cam and Nest Doorbell battery models (none since 2021), the Nest Hub display (over five years old), and Nest Wifi Pro (from 2022). The company's only recent release, the Google Home Speaker, arrived this year after a six-year gap since the Nest Audio and reportedly discontinued both the Nest Audio and Nest Mini.
Meta has quietly released a version of Instagram for Apple TV, following earlier launches on Fire TV, Samsung Smart TVs, and Google TV. MacRumors noticed the App Store listing was updated on October 23rd to include Apple TV compatibility, after earlier versions as recently as October 18th only listed iPad and iOS support.
Android Authority's Joe Maring reflects on two years of using Google's TV Streamer, the 2024 device that replaced the Chromecast line with pricier, more premium hardware. He notes Google has added features like customized content recommendations, easier Bluetooth headphone pairing, and an 'apps only mode' resembling Roku's simpler interface, but says he remains uncertain whether the overall strategy shift has actually improved on Google's previous approach.
Apple's new Apple TV 4K 2026 has launched priced at $299, more than double the $129 starting price of the previous generation, matching the recently hiked Nvidia Shield TV Pro. Android Authority highlights five alternative streaming boxes, including the Google TV Streamer 4K, which despite its own price rise from $99 to $149 still costs about half as much while offering 4GB of RAM and strong performance.
Projects such as Cleanyourtv (formerly tv-vibehack), tv-detox, and dumbtv have surged in popularity, using LLM-assisted coding to remove ads, block tracking, and speed up smart TVs running Android or Google TV. The tools rely on existing developer modes and Android Debug Bridge access rather than rooting or firmware hacking, making changes reversible, and many users are also building custom homescreen launchers, including one styled after a Pokémon town.
The JMGO IRIS Ultra, a 4K projector supporting 120Hz refresh rates and triple-laser light technology with built-in Google TV, is now available for pre-order on Amazon at $2,199, a $200 reduction from its regular price.
A tech writer published a setup guide for replacing Google TV's ad-laden interface with Projectivy Launcher, swapping YouTube for the ad-free SmartTube client, using Wholphin for Jellyfin, and remapping the remote with Button Mapper. The configuration was tested on two Chromecast with Google TV devices and a Hisense TV, and the author says it should work on most Android TV hardware.
WIRED tested Valerion's flagship VisionMaster Max 4K projector, which followed a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $8 million in 2024, the platform's most-funded campaign that year. The $3,999 device features Google TV, auto-keystone, autofocus, optical zoom, vertical lens shift and a mechanical iris, and the reviewer found picture quality strong though sound only adequate.
Amazon is selling the Valerion StreamMaster Plus 2, a triple-laser 4K projector with built-in Google TV, for $1,199, an $800 cut from its list price. The sale price matches the projector's previous all-time low.
The TMY Smart Projector, which runs Google TV, is currently being sold for $169.99 after an $80 price cut representing a 32% discount. The deal applies to the projector as a home entertainment option for setting up a larger screen in a bedroom or living room.