VIZIO SmartCast app enhanced, Google Play Movies & TV coming

Even with Android TV, Google's formal presence on TV sets and boxes remains rather week. That, however, doesn't always matter considering how its Google Cast technology exists in every Android TV and beyond, providing a bridge to Google's services and content. Case in point is VIZIO's Cast-ready SmartCast products, which, thanks to an updated SmartCast app, will soon be able to stream videos from Google's own selection of movies and TV shows from Google Play Movies & TV, in addition to other services like Netflix, VUDU, and Hulu.

VIZIO introduced its SmartCast TVs, formally "Home Theater Displays" to allow users to enjoy the modern amenities of video streaming without having to bake the feature into more expensive smart TVs. Revolving around Google Cast, any Android device can be used not only as a streaming source but also as a remote control. In fact, VIZIO's own SmartCast remote is practically an Android tablet running the specialized SmartCast app.

VIZIO has been continually updating the app to increase usability as well as introduce new features. For example, a Quick Start mode automatically turns on SmartCast displays over Wi-Fi the moment the user starts Casting from their mobile device.

With the coming addition of Google Play Movies & TV, users will have an even wider selection of content to choose from, which can be very daunting at times. Fortunately, the SmartCast app allows users to search by genre across multiple content sources, and then select their preferred streaming source, be it Netflix, YouTube, or, soon, Google Play.

The VIZIO SmartCast app is compatible with Chromecast-enabled VIZIO SmartCast P or M series, with Ultra HD HDR Displays, as well as the E series Home Theater Displays.