New Samsung remote control features TV screen
You're watching a movie on television but really want to step away to fix a sandwich. Or nature calls when the game is tied and there are just a few seconds left.
Samsung does not want you to miss any of the action, so the South Korean electronics giant is coming out with a remote control with a built-in TV screen.
The "All-in-Premium Remote" resembles an elongated iPhone with a screen for viewing about the same size as the screen on the popular Apple smartphone.
"You can actually use it to put the image that you're watching on to the remote and take it into another room," said a Samsung spokeswoman, Kimberly Unland.
The touchscreen device can come in useful in ways other than satisfying hunger pangs or calls of nature.
"Like say you're watching something and someone else doesn't want to watch it, or say there's two games you're following on at the same time," the Samsung spokeswoman said.
"Or if you're watching say Blu-ray on the TV you can watch something different on the remote," Unland said.
"It's also a standard TV remote with all the functions you would normally get," she said, although you can "also use it to get files, pictures, audio and video from your PC to your TV."
Unland said she didn't know the range of the device but you could probably not watch "at your neighbor's house."
The "All-in-One Premium Remote" is scheduled to come out later this year with Samsung's new 9000 series high-definition TVs.
(c) 2010 AFP
