This monstrosity from Sony might be the best reason yet to go out and buy an Android handset or an iPhone. Seen in an ad shown on ABC’s Nightline, the giant keyboard above is actually the remote control for Sony’s own Google TV hardware, due to be revealed on October 12th.
Sony seems to have dipped back into the 1980s for the remote’s design, an age when more of anything was better. The device seems to be big enough to be awkward in the hand, and yet still small enough to slip down the back of the couch, and features a full QWERTY keyboard, a couple of directional controls, plus dedicated switches for volume, channel selection and everything else. Hell, there’s probably a self-destruct button in there somewhere.
By contrast, you’ll also be able to control your Google TV from a smartphone app. Google doesn’t always make the prettiest interfaces, but they are nice and simple, and they work. Compare this multi-buttoned behemoth to the simple voice-control seen in the Nightline video and wonder just what Sony is thinking.
In reality, Sony’s control is no worse than the keyboard/mouse combos we use for our media-center PCs. The difference is that Google TV is supposed to be easy and simple, and not a media-center PC.
Smart TV: Google TV? [ABC via Engadget]
See Also:
- Google TV Revealed: One Screen to Rule Them All
- Google TV Announces Network and App Partners, New Website
- Logitech Google TV Box Embarrasses Apple TV
- Google TV: Google, Sony, Intel Team-Up to Make Television
- Report: Google Working With Intel, Sony on TV Project
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