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Google TV Tips And Tricks To Get The Most Out Of The Experience

Christophor Rick | 1 year ago |

I just saw a post called 10 Tips and Tricks for Google TV that I thought held some interesting stuff in it and I wanted to share it. They are calling some of it 'pro tips' but I'm guessing it might be more to it than that. I'm already 90% certain that there will be massive Google TV announcements at CES from companies like LG, Samsung and Sony. There have been rumblings and some announcements but I don't think we've see the full scope of just what Google is aiming to do which is, of course, Skynet-like world domination, well maybe without the whole eradicating humanity angle.

Google TV Tips And Tricks

Check out some of these tips, which I've edited for brevity.

Get personalized viewing recommendations. Use star ratings to configure the TV & Movies app to give you the shows and movies you're interested in.

→ Move the cursor over the show you want to rate and use number keys 1-5 to rate it.

Pro tip: customize Home. It's up to you what appears on your Home -- any item in All Apps can be added. Put the apps you use every day here for easy access, or add TV channels or websites.

→ Press the Home key, then the Menu key, then select Customize home items. Select an item to move, remove or replace it.

→ Pro tip: add a TV channel or webpage to All Apps by pressing the Star key while viewing and selecting Add to home screen.

→ Pro shortcut: press the Home key then a number key (1-7) to open a Home item instantly.

Bookmarks and favorite channels have got a new home. Press the Menu key or press and hold the Star key from Google Chrome or live TV to bring up your bookmarks and favorites. To bookmark a webpage or favorite a channel, just press the Star key on your controller.

→ Web bookmarks: in Google Chrome, press the Menu key and select Bookmarks.

→ Favorite TV channels: while watching TV, press the Menu key and select Favorite channels.

→ Pro shortcut: press and hold the Star key from Google Chrome or TV to access your bookmarks and favorites.

Pro tip: search your bookmarks and web history. Tell Google TV Search to access your browser history and bookmarks to give you another easy way to get to your favorite content. Explore other searchable items, including Google Music and Twitter.

→ Press the Home key, select All Apps, then select Settings. Scroll down to Search, then select Searchable items. Check the Browser box to include bookmarks and web history.

What channel number is CNN again? Just do a search on Google TV by channel name, be it CNN, FX, or CNBC.

→ Press the Search key and start typing.

→ Press the Star key to add a channel to your favorites or to All Apps.

Multitask!

→ Switching between apps is easy -- press and hold the Home key to bring up a list of open apps, then use the arrow keys to navigate.

→ If you're using Google Chrome, press the Menu key and select Windows to switch between your open browser windows, or to open a new window.

→ Want to check some sports stats without missing a moment of the game? Press the Picture in Picture key. Click the Picture in Picture window to enlarge it or move it around the screen.

This is awesome! You can multitask on Google TV? Even Windows and iOS couldn't manage this for multiple generations

Follow your favorite actor or switch over to the IMDB app in Android Market to learn all you'd ever want to know.

→ Press the Search key and type 'Kevin Bacon' (it doesn't have to be him, really) and select See all TV, Movie, and Video results. Select a movie icon to find out where the movie is available on the web, or if it's coming on TV soon.

Just heard about a cool new show? Start with season 1, episode 1. TV & Movies identifies pretty much every episode of every TV show available and lets you know where you can watch it, whether it's on live TV or the web.

→ Press the Home key and select TV & Movies.

Add a soundtrack to your slideshow. Start up Pandora, Google Music, or your other favorite music app and then hop over to the Photos app to show your friends your most recent bear wrestling and zephyr piloting adventures.

→ Press the Home key, select All Apps, then select Pandora.

→ Press the Home key, select All Apps, then select Photos.

Choose what happens when you turn on your TV. Go straight to Live TV, or launch TV & Movies or YouTube right at startup.

→ Press the Home key, select Home and All Apps settings, then select Startup application.

DING! That last one, choose what happens when you turn on your TV is cool. Not just because you can actually choose what happens, but also because it means they are dead set on being on your TV set. You see what I'm saying? Now I just wonder how long it will be until we can tie our Android devices to it and then control our entire home right from one or the other.

Like I said...Skynet man...Skynet.

Posted in Internet TV

About the Author - Christophor Rick

Christophor Rick is a freelance writer specializing in technology, new media, video games, IPTV, online video advertising and consumer electronics. His past work has included press releases, copy-writing, travel writing and journalism. He also writes novel-length and short fiction as part of Three-Faced Media and is working on Not So Super, an original web series. You can contact Chris here. View All Posts By - Christophor Rick

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What do you think? ▼

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1445449814 Wes Novack
So you "just saw a post", you plagiarize all the content and you don't even link back to the original source? WEAK man, WEAK!
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108837104756408823233/posts Tom Gray
Just bought this today. I knew just about everything you posted already from tinkering around, but I didn't know about personalizing the home screen, Thanks for the tip :D
Cheers.