What you need to know
- A report states that Google TV and DirecTV has partnered to enhance the hotel TV experience via a new "Advanced Entertainment Platform" (AEP).
- With the AEP, DirecTV can bring a clean slate to hotels that enables them to customize its brand logo, background, streaming services provided, and on-demand content.
- Google's TV software runs throughout its core, as the two reportedly seek a 2026 release.
- In September, Gemini with Google TV launched for consumers in their homes on specific TCL devices first.
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Google is reportedly preparing to bring its TV streaming platform to more places in cities, courtesy of a satellite TV partnership.
In research conducted by 9to5Google, the publication discovered that Google TV has supposedly struck a partnership with DirecTV to further the streaming experience in hotels. In a recently published document, the satellite TV provider detailed its plan to help hoteliers improve the visitor experience in rooms. To do this, DirecTV highlighted its new "Advanced Entertainment Platform," otherwise known as the AEP.
The purpose of the AEP, according to DirecTV, is to help "further enhance guest personalization." Additionally, the AEP enables deep-rooted customization opportunities for the hotel, letting them "customize the home screen with a brand's logo, colors, or image, and a custom welcome message."
As the publication points out, Google TV is at the core of DirecTV's AEP. The TV provider states that its AEP will bring live TV, popular streaming services, and "on-demand content," which is likely driven by Google's experience (Android TV OS). The AEP's Partner Program will let hotels "layer" some uniqueness for their guests. As such, the document states that, aside from entertainment, visitors can find a hotel's hours of operation and times for restaurants, spas, gyms, and more using their TV remote.
Moreover, hotels can leverage the AEP to even showcase menus for dishes served in the building. The post reports that Google TV and DirecTV are eyeing a release of the AEP in hotels sometime in 2026.
The TV experience continues to evolve
The post by 9to5 highlights DirecTV's ambition to let hotel guests attach their Google accounts temporarily to the AEP, Google TV combo. Reportedly, the system will run "daily, automatic clears" for a visitor's information, to ensure the next person to inhabit that room doesn't see anything.
For more personal spaces, Gemini with Google TV launched in September, bringing the company's long-awaited (and promised) AI upgrade. As teased during CES 2025, Gemini with Google TV lets users speak "naturally" to the AI for season recaps, entertainment recommendations, and more. Users can even get personal, telling the AI to try and find content that bridges the gap between two wildly different content preferences.
Gemini's addition brings something for kids, enabling them to learn about the world's captivating occurrences, like volcanic eruptions. The company said it would begin bringing this upgrade to TCL QM9K series devices first, before looking at its own Google TV Streamer, Walmart onn. 4K Pro, 2025 Hisense U7, U8, and more "later this year."
There were some rumors that Google might have even more in store with its AI, but a feature that could let users get a little creative with its generative capabilities.
