CES 2013 is just weeks away, but that didn't stop LG from ripping a page from the Apple playbook earlier today. While the folks in Cupertino whittle away on their top-secret Apple HDTV which is rumored to be based around Siri (Apple's voice control platform), the Korean electronics giant has jumped into the fray with a redesigned magic remote with advanced voice control for its Cinema 3D line-up and it looks rather neat.
LG's magic remote isn't a new product; check out my review of their 55LW5600 Cinema 3D HDTV to get my early impressions of the magic remote without advanced voice control.
The premise behind the magic remote is an interesting one because it promises an "unprecedented" level of interactivity with your television. Not only can you use the magic remote to navigate menus, surf the web, play video games, but the advanced voice control allows one (in theory) to speak to your LG voice-supported devices (HDTVs, soundbars, Blu-ray players) as if you were having a conversation. No longer, will you have to pause and speak like a child as you ask your $2,000 HDTV to change the channel. Simply cay, "watch Gangnam style video" and the set should bring up Psy and his lovely ladies right on your big screen.
The redesigned device adopts enhanced language recognition capabilities that make executing commands simple, natural, interactive and conversational. The new design will continue to employ four control options - voice, gesture, point, and wheel - making it fairly comprehensive from that perspective. As the heart of the home theater experience, the new LG Magic Remote serves as a universal control solution, maximizing convenience for the user with its ability to access and control an array of home entertainment equipment.
I can see that as a potentially dangerous concept but the proof will be how well it works; and how many times the inappropriate channel does not appear.
The Magic Remote comes in two versions -- one ships with LG's premium CINEMA 3D Smart TVs and the other with the company's standard CINEMA 3D Smart TV models. The premium Magic Remote features LED back-lit buttons for easier operation in the dark and also sports a more compact design, making it more comfortable to hold.
Samsung already has gesture control built into some of its high-end HDTVs and I recently tried it on a new Samsung desktop computer running Windows 8. The gesture control takes some getting used to, but it does work.
Whatever Apple has up its sleeve better be good (call chinese restaurant...order dinner now!) because the two Korean manuacturers are taking advantage of their strong positioning to gain a significant headstart in voice, motion and gesture-based control.
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