Google TV will see massive expansion in the coming year, with major partners such as TCL and Sony already on board. With this extension, we’ve already seen that Google has a new reference design for the remote control used with Google TV devices, and apparently that remote control is required for retail devices.
@AndroidTV_Rumor Posted a gallery of images on Twitter today, showing these reference designs in person. Specifically, these remotes include G10 and G20, both produced by Ohsung based on Google’s design. The layout is familiar, thanks to previous graphics, but seeing it ‘in person’ shows how much it resembles the new Chromecast’s remote. The button style, icons and physical shape are precise so GoogleAlso noteworthy is that the smaller G10 design puts the Disney + and HBO Max shortcuts under Netflix and YouTube.
In a conversation about these remotes, @AndroidTV_Rumor was kind enough to share with us a few more details about these remotes. Apparently it fits the current Chromecast just fine with some core features working. However, to unlock the full functionality of the remote would require a firmware update on Chromecast, and it’s unclear if that’s really planned. That doesn’t really matter, though, as it currently looks like these remotes won’t be sold to the public, but rather for new Android / Google TV boxes that will go on sale in the course of 2021.
We are also told that these designs will be a requirement for manufacturers launching Google TV consumer products in 2021. This includes set top box devices named Askey, SEI Robotics, Skyworth and SDMC. DishTV (not the one you’re thinking of) already uses the smaller remote control design on its SV11 dongle, which basically uses the Android TV user interface, not Google TV.
We speculate there may be exceptions to this rule, however. For example, Sony probably won’t adapt the remote control layout to this reference design, given that they have an established design that has been in use for years, but others, like TCL, may be willing to do so.
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