G2 Microsystems demonstrates WiFi remote, makes our mouths water
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 16th 2009 10:18PM
posted Jan 16th 2009 10:18PM
G2 Microsystems burst onto the scene at CES with its Intel My WiFi Personal Area Network demonstration, but evidently it had a little more going on than that. Engineering TV managed to catch up with the team and get a closer look at a prototype WiFi remote that could certainly prove useful in a home theater setup. Put simply, a WiFi module was embedded with a relatively standard Philips universal remote, and from there, users could snatch album art, tune into internet radio stations and tap into web-connected home servers in order to control home audio or pretty much anything else. There's no telling when G2 will land a serious partner willing to push out a WiFi-infused controller, but judging by the looks of things, we'd say it's just about ready for primetime.
The WiFi chip is only half the battle... the software to make it useful is a whole other issue and there has been some good development in that area as well. TVCompass manufactures the ESPN Unltimate Remote which is available now and has built-in WiFi. The software they have lets you browse TV Guide Listings, send text messages, check news, rss, and weather and more.