Google and Apple have been at a head to head battle for some time with competing products and even legal battles, however now Google is battling another opponent: Samsung.
About six days before Siri and iCloud were launched by Apple, Google was hurrying to apply at the US Patent and Trademark Office for a patent on their new Google TV remote/app. This app would use voice commands for all of the necessary Google TV functions (much like Siri and the iPhone 4GS), pattentlyapple reports.
Unfortunately for Google, Samsung has already announced a new TV remote that has voice controls and even a touch pad. So the battle between the new Google TV remote and the Samsung TV remote has already begun, but which is better? Let’s take a look at the various features for each next generation remote below!
Next Gen. Google TV Remote
The Google engineers state that the idea behind their new remote is based on the fact that people are interacting with various types of computers and now people are working more with smart phones, TV’s, DVR’s, and various other devices. Since computers and technology itself have evolved a lot it only made sense to integrate a UI.
The Siri-like UI Google is integrating into their TV remotes will have a variety of capabilities that will certainly set it apart from competition. One such feature is the ability to tell your Android Phone to get your TV show ready before you are home (yes even if the TV is off!). The future Android phone will be able to turn on the TV and control it when the user is within a certain distance from home. Apparently you can command your phone to do this…from the office, then when you are about a fourth mile from home, your Android will just turn on your TV and have it all set for you.
Additionally, the Android will also display information that is not very suitable for larger screens. Such information like show listings, won’t strain your eyes anymore when it’s on the big screen; now you can simply look down and see it right on your phone!
Another interesting thing about the new Google TV remote is that the voice command system will be entirely cloud based. Cloud storage is used to store information on a remote server so that space is saved on devices. In the case of the remote and the Android, the information shared between the two devices will be sent to the cloud where the other device will come and retrieve it.
Next Gen. Touchscreen Samsung TV Remote
Voice recognition technology is growing by leaps and bounds and Samsung’s new TV remote with a touch pad and voice recognition demonstrates that. It will be released sometime this year and will have a microphone on the remote that will allow the user to change channels, sound and even input functions.
Samsung demonstrated their new technology at the CES earlier, however it has since been vastly improved thanks to Bluetooth and infrared integration.
So, which is the next generation TV remote that will blow our mind later this year? We have to wait a little, but for now the touch pad remote from Samsung may have a leg up on the Google remote!