Looks like Google TV could get Wii-style pointy controls, just like my LG
TV's Magic Remote that drives me and my kids mad

Date:
Thu, 21 May 2026 13:25:14 +0000

Description:
Google has told app developers that Google TV will be adding support for "pointing remotes" that sound very similar to LG's Magic Remote

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter "Now is the time to start thinking about pointing input" for Google TV says Google No Google TV manufacturers currently use pointy remotes Gemini AI features seem to be the reason for the push I believe there are two kinds of TV user in the world: people who hate LG 's Magic Remote, and people who haven't used LG's Magic Remote. I'm in the former camp, so I'm bemused by Google 's latest announcement: it looks like something very similar is coming to Google TV.

If you're not familiar with the Magic Remote, it uses Wii-style motion
control with similar accuracy, so trying to point at anything can be frustrating: the cursor drifts with even the slightest movement, turning channel hopping into what feels like a round of Wii Tennis. It's an attempt
to solve the ongoing challenge of controlling a smart TV from a distance, and I don't think it's a successful one: my kids' TV has a Magic Remote and they, and I, hate it.

But Google seems to disagree. "Now is the time to start thinking about pointing input", Google TV developer relations engineer Paul Lammertsma told app makers at Google I/O this week (via FlatpanelsHD ) Latest Videos From You may like Google TV will now push vertical YouTube Shorts right on your homescreen I spoke to the CEO of a TV manufacturer about the future of TV hardware Google just delivered its first Gemini-centric platform in Googlebook, and it may feature the first AI OS (Image credit: Google) What's the point of a pointing remote? To the best of my knowledge, the only mainstream TV manufacturer using pointing remotes is LG, and LG doesn't use Google TV. So what's going on?

It's all about Gemini and ever more feature-packed TVs, it seems. As Lammertsma explained: "The TV experience that we once knew is changing.
Gemini is changing the way we discover and stream content with voice, but how we use the remote is evolving too. Pointer remotes bring motion-controlled input to the big screen, unlocking faster user navigation across the Google
TV Home page and within content-heavy apps."

It seems unlikely that LG is going to dump its own webOS platform in favor of Google TV, so Google encouraging the adoption of pointing remotes in apps strongly suggests that either Google or one of its partners is developing pointing remotes for Google TV sets. It's unclear whether the support will be backwards compatible or limited to new TV models only.

Making TV remotes is hard, I know: some are far too complicated and others
are far too simple. I hope Google has cracked the drift and accuracy problems that plague handheld remote controls and that the movement looks like it does in the animation above and not like the remote control in my kids' room that drives us all mad. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
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