Dish Network said its Hopper subscribers can now use Google Assistant to control their TV experience through a series of voice commands.
Dish customers with a Hopper, a Hopper Duo, Joey, or Wally can control their TVs with only their voice when paired with a Google Assistant device, like Google Home, Android phones or iPhones. Dish is the first pay-TV provider to offer direct compatibility with the Assistant.
"Since we first introduced voice control technology, we've seen our customers really embrace the hands-free TV experience," said Dish vice president of product management Niraj Desai in a statement. "Our collaboration with Google is an exciting opportunity for us to continue meeting demand for voice and changing the way we interact with television."
Customers can ask the Assistant to set recordings, adjust volume and launch apps like Game Finder, Netflix and Pandora. Customers can also use the Assistant to navigate, play, pause, fast-forward, rewind and search content based on channel, title, actor or genre. When using search functionality, the results displayed include Dish's live, recorded and on-demand titles, as well as Netflix's selection of TV shows and movies.
"We want to make it easy and fun for people to turn their living room into a smart entertainment center with the Assistant," said Google Smart Home Ecosystem senior director Michele Turner in a statement. "By working closely with Dish, we'll ensure that customers can easily control their TVs through the Assistant, instead of searching for or having to share the remote."
To take advantage of the voice controls, users need to have a broadband-connected Hopper DVR, Hopper Duo, Joey or Wally and must download the Google Assistant app on their smartphones.
For more information about the Google Assistant on Dish set-top boxes, including possible commands and step-by-step set-up instructions, visit Dish's Google Assistant integration page.
