New technology is continually making our lives easier, and now Comcast has come up with a voice-activated remote control. As far as we can tell, it's the first of its kind in the industry.
The remote is the next step for people who like to rely on their smart gadgets.
"People use their voice on their phone, they use it for texting, they use it for email...people like the convenience in being able to use their voice," said Michelle Gilbert, Vice President Public Relations, Comcast Cable Heartland Region.
Gilbert says the new remote is just becoming available for customer in Metro-Detroit. Comcast customers needs to have the X1 platform to use the remote.
Newer customers are already using the X1 and will start receiving the remotes with their setup. Existing customers, with the X1 platform can go online to order one or they can go to a service center to pick one up.
Trying The New Remote
So, how easy is the new remote to use? The company recently invited Local 4 Consumer Expert Ruth Spencer to the home of a Comcast employee to try the new product. Basically, you press a button and use voice commands to say things like "Change to Channel 4". And, that's just the beginning.
You have several search options, you can use an actors name or a line from a movie.
"You can actually say, life is like a box of chocolates, and it will pull up Forest Gump," said Gilbert.
You can to tell the remote what to record, set your favorites, switch channels, tell it what to watch, pull up everything in the DVR, and you can ask for viewing suggestions based on what you've watched in the past.
"I think there's a lot of pent up demand and excitement from customers wanting to play with it and get their hands on it," Gilbert said.
The system does have its limitations. Of course, it does not recognize every line from every movie and we round it could not pull up musicals based on song titles.
As Spencer tried the remote, there were also times when the system didn't understand the commands or pulled up the wrong program. However, if you try a different command, the remote worked very smoothly overall.
Improvements are bound to come as time goes by. "The nice thing about technology is that we are always refining it and pushing updates to our customers," Gilbert told Local 4's Ruth Spencer.
The remote is programmed to control one set-top box and will not control other set-top boxes unless it is paired with another box.
Currently Comcast only offers remotes that understand English commands, but Gilbert said the company is extremely committed to innovation and improving the customer experience.
Smartphone Options Already Exist
Our consumer unit put in calls to some of Comcast's competitors to see what they offered. Like Comcast, AT&T and DirecTV also offer smartphone apps that allow customer to use their phones as voice-activated remote controls. AT&T calls it's option the Easy Remote. When it was first offered in 2012, it was only for the iPhone and iPad. Now, it also works on Android devices.
DirecTV says its voice search function app requires an HD DVR model HR23 or higher and your phone and receiver must be joined on the same Wi-Fi network. Talk to your television provider to see what option it might offer.
If you are interested in the Comcast voice-activated remote you can follow this link.