Newsletter
Google is one of the companies currently represented at CES 2024 in Las Vegas. As part of the trade show, the company announced plenty of changes. Google announced what’s new with Quick Share, Fast Pair, Android Auto, and more.
Google and Samsung partner up over Quick Share, a unified file-sharing service
Let’s talk about Quick Share first, formerly known as Nearby Share. This one is particularly important, as we guessed what will happen. It was revealed last year that Google changed the name of Nearby Share to Quick Share on select devices and that the change is coming to more phones.
What was suspicious is that Samsung’s own sharing service is called ‘Quick Share’. Well, Google just announced that it’s partnering with Samsung to unify their file-sharing services.
Google says that it is collaborating with Samsung and “bringing the best of our sharing solutions together into a singular cross-Android solution under the Quick Share name”. This sharing solution will be available on Android and ChromeOS, while Google said that it’s also working with leading PC manufacturers to expand Quikc Share to Windows PCs as a pre-installed app.
Faist Pair support is expanding
The company also talked about Fast Pair. Google announced that it’s expanding Fast Pair support to Chromecast with Google TV. That change will be coming next month. It will allow you to connect to compatible headphones or speakers easily.
Chromecast built-in support is also expanding to more apps and devices. You can now start to cast TikTok content from an Android phone to a Chromecast built-in device. The same change will happen with LIVE videos from TikTok… soon.
Google also announced more interoperability across devices for Matter. LG TVs, select Google TVs, and various other Android TV OS devices will soon act as hubs for Google Home, the company said. That way it will be easier to add Matter devices to your home network and take control via the Google Home app.
Android Auto is getting deeper vehicle integration
Android Auto is getting deeper vehicle integration. This change is coming to the Ford Mustang Mache-E and F-150 Lightning first. It will roll out in the coming months. They will be able to share real-time battery information with Google Maps.
Google built-in is coming to more apps and cars. It will be available in select Nissan; Ford, and Lincoln cars this year. This change will integrate Google Maps, Google Assistant, and more apps into your car’s display.
Sending trips from Google Maps to your car display becomes a reality
Google also said that starting today, you can send planned trips from your phone directly to Google Maps on your car display. When you’re parked, you can also get real-time updates from The Weather Channel, and safely browse content on Chrome (beta only for now). The same goes for watching shows from PBS KIDS and Crunchyroll.