Code found in a recent software update suggests that Google intends supporting backlighting modes at the system level for Chromecast and Streamer units.
You mightn’t feel that more backlighting options on TV remotes is the most exciting tech news of the day.
Remote controls have existed since the 1870s, TV remotes since the 1950s (one of the first was called Lazy Bones), and backlighting came with the addition of LEDs on remotes.
But if you’ve struggled in the dark late at night to press the pause button in the middle of a favourite movie, you might appreciate the increased possibility of backlighting on coming Google devices.
Google code specifies new backlighting modes. Photo: AFTVnews
AFTVnews discovered the code for three backlighting options in a Google TV operating system upgrade.
You can choose ‘Never’ which turns the backlighting off or select ‘Standard’ to have any key you press illuminate for five seconds.
If you are a reasonably efficient typist, the backlighting will remain on until you have pressed all your selected keys with ‘Standard’.
‘Scheduled’ mode will only activate backlighting during the night, from 6pm to 6am.
There’s no clarity as to which Google Chromecast or TV Streamer models will support Google device backlit remotes, for that we’ll have to wait. At this stage, it is just code.
