In the first half of 2018 Dish Network customers will be able to watch TV using Google Assistant voice control, in English and Spanish, among other languages, the company announced earlier this month.
Users may control their TVs using a smart speaker or smartphone that is equipped with Google Assistant, which will help users navigate, play, pause, fast-forward, rewind and search content based on channel, title, actor and genre. With a Google Home speaker, users may give commands like “Change channel to ESPN,” “Search for Game of Thrones,” “Play This is Us” and “Rewind 30 seconds,” among many others.
Dish said the voice control will work with Hopper DVR (all generations), Joey client (all models) or Wally single-turner HD receiver.
The company has worked on building a suite of voice control options, including a Dish voice remote that ships at no extra cost with all Hopper DVRs.
“We’re pleased to be working with the Google Assistant to offer our customers the ability to control Hopper’s video experiences through the Assistant on speakers and phones,” said Niraj Desai, Dish vice president of product management.
In May last year Dish became the first third-party TV service provider to support Amazon Alexa voice control. Users can pretty much do the same things that can be accomplished with Google Assistant, like navigating and finding video content based on channel, title, actor or genre. They may also ask Alexa to pause, stop, fast-forward or rewind video.
Hopper duo smart DVR
In a separate statement, Dish said it is releasing Hopper Due smart DVR, a set-top solution tailored for one- and two-TV households.
The WiFi-capable Hopper Duo includes a user interface with HD graphics and easy content discovery. It is compatible with Amazon Alexa voice control, comes with universal search, Bluetooth audio support via adapter, picture-in-picture viewing and remote finder. Apps like Game Finder, Pandora and Dish On-Demand are also available, with Netflix coming soon.
Through its subsidiaries, Dish provides television entertainment to millions of customers with its satellite Dish TV and streaming Sling TV services. Besides, the company has commenced buildout of a nationwide narrowband “Internet of Things” network that will apply capacity from its strategic spectrum portfolio.