TCL’s funky Rubik Cube-style PlayCube projector is getting a major upgrade as one of the first Google TV platforms to gain access to Google’s Gemini AI assistant.
The PlayCube, which originally came with Google Assistant, earned plaudits following its launch last year. It was already very unusual thanks to its 360-degree rotating design, which enables it to be twisted and project big screen pictures onto walls, ceilings and other surfaces from almost any angle.
It’s built around a 0.33-inch DMD chip for 1080p visuals, rated at 750 lumens, with TCL’s Immersive Color technology handling the image. A 66-Wh battery provides up to a claimed three hours of playback, while the compact body and 360-degree rotating design give you the freedom to cast media in any direction without being tethered to a traditional media stand.
The addition of Gemini means the PlayCube is no longer just a simple portable projector. Instead, it can serve as a conversational media companion. It’s now capable of searching, explaining, recapping and recommending content, and generating visuals whenever the user desires them. The PlayCube is a great fit in this regard, for the device’s convenient design means it can be taken almost anywhere in the home, or outside when traveling.
TCL said that Gemini plays especially well with the PlayCube’s Ask and Brief modes. With Ask, users can speak naturally to the PlayCube to ask it questions. Gemini will interpret what it is they’re looking for, balancing that with the user’s preferences in order to surface what it feels are the most relevant content recommendations. Alternatively, if a new season of your favourite series suddenly becomes available, you’ll be able to ask Gemini for a quick recap of what happened in the prior season.
Meanwhile, the PlayCube’s Brief mode is more like a specialised content feed that pulls together topics of interest such as shows from your favourite channels, sports highlights, news summaries and YouTube Shorts and puts them in a special feed on the home screen. It’s curated by Gemini, and the idea is to help users find what interests them without having to waste time searching, menu-hopping and scrolling endlessly, TCL said.
The PlayCube’s Learn and Create modes will also benefit from the Gemini integration. Learn transforms Gemini’s responses into wall-sized explanations that come complete with visual breakdowns, diagrams and narrated overviews to dig deep into complex topics. As for Create, this is all about creating visuals. Users can describe the scene or image they want to see and then Gemini will take that description to generate a custom visual and project it onto the desired surface. TCL says the PlayCube has also integrated Google’s Veo video generation tool in Create, which can be used to animate photos and artworks.
TCL said the Gemini experience is rolling out to the PlayCube this week, and that all users should see the update within a week or so. It promised that it’s going to keep working with Google to bring Gemini to its wider display lineup, having already launched the assistant on some of its flagship televisions.
There’s a reasonable argument to be made that Gemini can provide much greater value in a portable projector than a television. After all, portable projectors are still kind of novel, flexible devices, and that makes them more suitable for interactive experiences. But while we can expect most users to play around with Gemini’s features, they’ll need to be fast, polished and genuinely helpful if people are going to keep using them.
