Where is the damn clicker? It’s a line that nearly everyone has uttered multiple times. For some reason some people — perhaps most people, or at least it seems that way — are incapable of putting the remote control back in its proper place. Or, for that matter, any place in plain sight. We’ve reached a point as a society where it’s more acceptable to stare at a blank screen than it is to actually get up and change the channel. It was only a matter of time before someone developed a way for our smartphones to control our TVs. Apple actually jumped out on this one, releasing an app that lets iPhone and iPad users control Apple TV units from their smartphones or tablets. But that’s one specific device. This new development for Android lets you use your smartphone to control everything on your TV. It’s from Griffin, and it’s called the Beacon. It’s the boxing bell looking device pictured above. You hook that up to your TV, and after installing an app it lets you use your smartphone to control what you watch. It’s pretty bloody brilliant, even if it was an inevitable development. It’s even brilliant when you consider that before long we’ll be able to control our TVs from our smartphones without using special hardware. Plenty of folks will find this advantageous, because they’re far less apt to lose their smartphones than their remote controls. Also, if you do lose your smartphone, you can always give it a call to locate it. Not so much with the remote — and those remote locator systems are pretty junky. (I know from experience, because pops tried everything to prevent us from losing the damn clicker.) This might cost a bit up front, but it will save you frustration. You can get the Beacon TV unit at Best Buy for $70. The app is ,a href=”https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dijit.urc&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5kaWppdC51cmMiXQ”>free on the Market. Via Android Police.
1 comment… read it below or add one
This is a cool idea. I’m always losing my tv remote