Male hand holding television remote controller, close up with selective focus
A lot of televisions were shown during CES. Revelations also happened in the periphery, such as this self-charging remote control.
Google TVs have been using their own easy-to-recognize remotes for some time now. The narrow G10 model of the remote control lacks the number buttons that we saw on other remotes for years. For an average-sized tray, that quickly results in a large amount of empty space: apart from some buttons that send you directly to a streaming service, there is nothing to replace the numbers.
The new remote introduced at CES 2023 knows what to do with that space. TW Electronics, the company responsible for the design, uses the same layout as for the regular G10 tray this time. Only now they are filling the empty spot with a photovoltaic cell they call ‘Powerfoyle’. It can generate energy from the light in your living room so that you do not have to replace the batteries every time.
The remote control. | Image: Exeger
You don’t even have to have a sunny living room or TV room for this: it is enough to leave the light on. Thanks to Exeger’s technology, energy can be generated from artificial light. So you don’t have to park the remote control in front of the windowsill if you want to charge it.
Availability
Self-charging remote controls are in any case not unique: some Samsung TVs, for example, already come with rechargeable SolarCell controls. Amazon would also have plans to make its Fire control rechargeable.
To put an end to the battery power, you will have to be patient for a while. For example, there is no insight into when that remote control will be available with a Google product. Would you rather buy a separate remote control? There is a chance that such a thing will not be possible and that the operation is only available with Google TVs. For the time being, it is still a bit of a search for batteries when the remote control is empty. Or: you open the Google Home app. Recently you can also use it as a remote control for your Google TV.
