Modern digital life comes with a great many gadgets — and those gadgets are often loath to work together. Nowhere is that more apparent than the OLED-paneled halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES, where Google is announcing some small efforts to get the wide constellation of gadgets in its ecosystem talking to each other a little more easily. Android’s AirDrop-like sharing feature is combining forces with Samsung, LG smart TVs are getting smart home updates, and TikTok is coming to Chromecast, among other things.
We were tipped off late last year that one of these features was coming, but it’s official now: Android’s Nearby Share will adopt the same name as Samsung’s sharing protocol and become Quick Share. That’s welcome news for people using Samsung phones, who will no longer face the confusing choice of two very similar sharing options, and Quick Share functionality will remain the same for them. As for non-Samsung Android phones, the new Quick Share will add support for formerly Samsung-only features like sharing files with multiple contacts simultaneously for compatible devices.
Google is working with LG to integrate the new Quick Share into future Windows PCs, and the formerly Nearby Share app will continue to be available for download — now as Quick Share — for other platforms.
Image: Google
Google’s support for smart displays has dwindled in recent history, so the announcement that new LG TVs will be able to act as Google Home hubs is a welcome one. They’ll support Matter over Wi-Fi so you can link up your smart devices. Google tells us that some older TVs will get an update that will enable this functionality, too, but didn’t give us any specifics on models. LG’s 2024 TVs, in the meantime, will come equipped with Chromecast.
Other updates are coming to Chromecast, which will soon be able to cast content from the TikTok app to your TV. Fast Pair will support quickly pairing headphones to your TV via Chromecast with Google TV. And Pixel phone owners will also be able to take advantage of a new HomePod-esque interaction with the Pixel Tablet, too. When you’re listening to a podcast or music on your Pixel phone, you’ll be able to transfer playback just by tapping the phone to the docked tablet. This will only work with Spotify and YouTube Music at launch, and only with the Pixel Tablet, but Google VP of engineering Erik Kay says that the company is “definitely looking to bring this feature to more devices over time.”
Something else Kay says we should see in the future? More collaborations with Samsung — a partner and competitor — like this mashup of Nearby Share and Quick Share. Samsung is teasing next week’s Unpacked with visuals suggesting integrations with Google AI. Can the two companies team up to take the fight to Apple? Kay didn’t comment on this exactly but conceded that the two companies have been “working together even more closely” and said we should “expect more of that to come.” Intriguing, but something tells me we won’t be seeing Bixby on a Pixel phone anytime soon.
