Blab Entertainment
Lumio Launches Project Neo, AI-Powered TV Discovery via WhatsApp and Instagram
When a message on WhatsApp or Instagram can pull a movie straight onto a living‑room screen, the boundary between phone and TV blurs.
Lumio, the Indian maker of smart‑TVs and projectors, has opened a public beta of Project Neo, an AI‑driven discovery tool that lets users search for and play movies and shows by typing or voice‑noting a request in a familiar messaging app. The beta is live only on Lumio Vision TVs and Arc projectors that run the company’s TLDR companion app.
The process starts with a quick QR‑code scan that links the user’s phone to the TV. Once paired, a WhatsApp chatbot is connected to the user’s Lumio account. From there, a simple text such as “play a horror movie like Midsommar” or a voice note asking for the latest sports scores triggers the bot to scour the user’s streaming library and external catalogs. The bot returns a list of titles complete with posters, synopses, and cast details. Selecting a thumbnail on the TV launches the content in the appropriate streaming app; if the user isn’t signed in, the bot displays the service name and a link to sign in.
Project Neo also taps into Instagram. When a user forwards a Reel or image to the bot, the system identifies the media. If the clip is a movie trailer, the bot streams it on the TV and adds a card linking to the full film, which can be added to a watchlist. The feature can also pull music videos and sports highlights, though it cannot stream live matches.
Behind the scenes, a recommendation engine powers the bot’s suggestions. In a test run, a query for films similar to Lawrence of Arabia yielded titles such as Ben‑Hur and The Last Emperor. The chatbot supports filters—users can request movies under 90 minutes or with a particular rating—making the discovery process feel more personalized.
The beta remains in its early phase. TLDR is exclusive to Lumio hardware, which limits the reach of Project Neo to the company’s own devices. Users have noted occasional latency in the bot’s responses and, in some cases, the need to manually launch the recommended content. The feature also cannot launch from every streaming app, a shortfall attributed to the locked‑down nature of Google TV.
Industry observers point to Google’s Gemini for TV, announced in 2025, as a comparable conversational AI experience that spans all Google TV devices. However, Gemini lacks the WhatsApp and Instagram integration that Project Neo offers. By leveraging familiar smartphone messaging apps, Lumio presents a novel bridge between mobile discovery and big‑screen consumption.
The public beta launched on July 2, 2026, and is available to owners of Lumio Vision TVs or Arc projectors. Lumio has not yet announced a timeline for a wider rollout or for making the TLDR app available on the Google Play Store. The current limitations and the emergence of Gemini suggest that the smart‑TV industry is still experimenting with the optimal way to embed conversational AI into content discovery.
At present, Project Neo remains a niche, device‑specific experiment. Interested users can try the feature by pairing their phone with the TV’s QR code and sending a message to the bot. The beta will continue to receive updates, but no official end‑date has been announced. The broader industry will likely watch how the feature performs and whether other manufacturers adopt similar chat‑based discovery models.
Lumio, the Indian maker of smart‑TVs and projectors, has opened a public beta of Project Neo, an AI‑driven discovery tool that lets users search for and play movies and shows by typing or voice‑noting a request in a familiar messaging app. The beta is live only on Lumio Vision TVs and Arc projectors that run the company’s TLDR companion app.
The process starts with a quick QR‑code scan that links the user’s phone to the TV. Once paired, a WhatsApp chatbot is connected to the user’s Lumio account. From there, a simple text such as “play a horror movie like Midsommar” or a voice note asking for the latest sports scores triggers the bot to scour the user’s streaming library and external catalogs. The bot returns a list of titles complete with posters, synopses, and cast details. Selecting a thumbnail on the TV launches the content in the appropriate streaming app; if the user isn’t signed in, the bot displays the service name and a link to sign in.
Project Neo also taps into Instagram. When a user forwards a Reel or image to the bot, the system identifies the media. If the clip is a movie trailer, the bot streams it on the TV and adds a card linking to the full film, which can be added to a watchlist. The feature can also pull music videos and sports highlights, though it cannot stream live matches.
Behind the scenes, a recommendation engine powers the bot’s suggestions. In a test run, a query for films similar to Lawrence of Arabia yielded titles such as Ben‑Hur and The Last Emperor. The chatbot supports filters—users can request movies under 90 minutes or with a particular rating—making the discovery process feel more personalized.
The beta remains in its early phase. TLDR is exclusive to Lumio hardware, which limits the reach of Project Neo to the company’s own devices. Users have noted occasional latency in the bot’s responses and, in some cases, the need to manually launch the recommended content. The feature also cannot launch from every streaming app, a shortfall attributed to the locked‑down nature of Google TV.
Industry observers point to Google’s Gemini for TV, announced in 2025, as a comparable conversational AI experience that spans all Google TV devices. However, Gemini lacks the WhatsApp and Instagram integration that Project Neo offers. By leveraging familiar smartphone messaging apps, Lumio presents a novel bridge between mobile discovery and big‑screen consumption.
The public beta launched on July 2, 2026, and is available to owners of Lumio Vision TVs or Arc projectors. Lumio has not yet announced a timeline for a wider rollout or for making the TLDR app available on the Google Play Store. The current limitations and the emergence of Gemini suggest that the smart‑TV industry is still experimenting with the optimal way to embed conversational AI into content discovery.
At present, Project Neo remains a niche, device‑specific experiment. Interested users can try the feature by pairing their phone with the TV’s QR code and sending a message to the bot. The beta will continue to receive updates, but no official end‑date has been announced. The broader industry will likely watch how the feature performs and whether other manufacturers adopt similar chat‑based discovery models.
