Google TV Ambient Mode spotted with personalised cards for news and more

Google TV could be about to unleash a new Ambient Mode featuring personalised "glanceable" cards. The rollout is expected to be announced at the Google I/O developer conference, which runs 11th-12th May.

As previously revealed, the cards scroll across the bottom of the screen and provide sports scores, local news and shortcuts to content you might like. Think Google podcasts, YouTube videos, Spotify playlists, topical Google Assistant questions and galleries from your own Google Photos library.

9to5Google claimed to have received a Google TV notification advising it that "proactive personal results" were now available. Clicking on the notification brought up a new Google Assistant page with the following message: "Soon you'll see personalized info from Google Assistant in Ambient mode". Hmmm. 

The personalised cards were originally supposed to start rolling out in December of 2021, but seem to have been delayed for unspecified reasons. 

9to5Google went on to confirm that the widget-like cards changed slightly every time the Ambient Mode screensaver kicked in. It also revealed that the mysterious notification came via a Mecool KD3 Google TV streaming stick, rather than a TV set with built-in Google TV. This could point to a very limited rollout, or perhaps even an early trial.

Either way, we should find out soon. Google's I/O conference gets underway at 6pm BST / 1pm ET / 3am AEST – you can watch it unfold live at io.google.com.

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