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Samsung Smart Touch Remote and keyboard (hands-on video)

Samsung would like to dispel the notion that it is "getting rid of the remote" by showing off two new touch-pad devices.

Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Ty Pendlebury Editor
TV and home video editor Ty Pendlebury joined CNET Australia in 2006, and moved to New York City to be a part of CNET in 2011. He tests, reviews and writes about the latest TVs and audio equipment. When he's not playing Call of Duty he's eating whatever cuisine he can get his hands on. He has a cat named after one of the best TVs ever made.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
A touch pad remote will ship with three series of Samsung TVs this year. Sarah Tew/CNET

Samsung has unveiled its new flagship control peripherals--the Smart Touch Remote and optional Smart Wireless Keyboard--at an event in New York today.

The new remote will ship with the company's Smart Interaction televisions, the ES7500 and ES8000 LED and E8000 plasma. The keyboard is an optional accessory ($99).

Watch this: Talk to the TV remote

Last year, Samsung was one of the few manufacturers to offer a reversible QWERTY remote and despite Samsung's claims to its popularity at today's press conference, the company has decided to discontinue the peripheral. Instead, Samsung now offers the $99 Bluetooth Smart Wireless Keyboard, which it says will also work with smartphones and tablets.

Both units feature a touch pad used for navigating the Web browser and the Smart Hub interface--the "home screen" of Samsung's smart TVs--as well as "hard buttons' for often-used functions such as channel up/down and volume.

The remote control features an onboard microphone for voice commands, and instead of featuring dedicated playback buttons, the remote's touch pad features a four-color icon that brings up an onscreen display. Pressing the icon brings up regularly used functions such as Play and Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue.

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