New Google TV remote ditches the batteries for solar power

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Every six months or so, I have to replace my Google TV remote batteries. And every time I do, I never seem to have any spare batteries.

Hopefully, I’ll never have to worry about that again.

Recently shown off at CES 2023 (h/t Android Authority), TW Electronics, a remote manufacturer based out of the UK, is developing a Google TV remote that doesn’t require batteries.

In fact, you don’t even have to worry about recharging it at all.

So, what kind of sorcery did they develop to pull this off? The remote has a photovoltaic panel that lets it use light to recharge the battery, similar to a solar battery charger for your phone.

However, this isn’t something TW Electronics invented on its own. Samsung developed something similar and bundled solar power remotes with every 2021 model TV.

TW Electronics’ light-powered remote is yet to get a release date. The company remains tight-lipped on when its new Google TV remote will see the light of day (no pun intended).

This is likely something we’ll see sometime in 2023. With the company already showcasing it at a major tech show like CES, a launch can’t be too far off.

TW Electronics will have to move fast if they want to be the first to release its light-powered Google TV remote or risk being beaten to market by the competition.

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Editors’ Recommendations:

• Google TV is about to add free live TV to its listings
• Google finally rolls out individual user profiles to Google TV
• Google TV is getting over 300 free live TV channels
• Apple TV+ is now on Chromecast with Google TV

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com.