CES Hands-On: LG’s Magic Motion Remote Control

With everyone bringing out 3D TVs, it can be hard for a company to stand out among all the other sets. LG has at least one interesting way of doing it: a point-and-click remote.

The point-and-click is actually more like a Wii remote in the way it feels. Point the Magic Motion Remote at the TV and pressing the OK button brings up a menu that you can select with the on screen cursor. It has the “standard” stuff like display options and an on screen remote, though there is a lot more as well. You can access your media through the software on the TV, as well as some simple games, scheduling and Internet through Netcast.

One of the more interesting in terms of just standard TV though is the live channel preview and the channel guide. The channel guide brings up an array of all the channels in neat rows. There are tabs on top to view only your favorite channels or recently watched channels as well. Each channel in both the full screen and the channel select overlay have a channel preview. That way, instead of reading what’s on the channel through a standard box preview, you can actually see a still image of what is showing on each channel. The only problem is that the feature right now does not work if you have a digital cable box, though that could be fixed with a firmware upgrade.

TVs with the Magic Motion Remote Control are still a few months off, and LG still hasn’t decided on which remote design to use (I was using the longer remote, which felt natural given that it felt like a longer, thinner Wii Remote). The TVs will be compatible with Skype, 3D, Wireless HD and other options through add-ons that are purchased separately.