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"Lost the TV remote again? Don't worry, says Google. In the future you'll be able to verbally instruct your TV to turn off and on, change channel, and even flag the next rerun of Seinfeld for you \u2014 all using your Android phone as the microphone.\nThat's according to a patent the search giant filed a week before Apple launched the iPhone 4S and Siri, the voice-based personal assistant. (Coincidence? Yeah, we think so.) The patent, uncovered by Patently Apple, describes a system of voice controls that connects to Google's cloud services \u2014 meaning if you have no data coverage or Wi-Fi where the TV is, you're out of luck.\nThe advantage of doing things that way, however, is that you can turn the TV on wherever you are, and choose something to fit your mood. So you could be pulling into the driveway and asking your phone to prepare a sitcom you can wind down with when you reach the couch. (We're not sure exactly how much of a labor-saving advantage that confers, but if Google also has a patent that can tell your fridge to prepare a beer for you, we're all for it.)\n\nSEE ALSO: I Want My Siri TV: Is Apple Aiming to Make the Remote Obselete?\nRegardless, competition in the voice-activated TV world appears to be heating up. Samsung unveiled a remote at CES that offers voice recognition; it doesn't control any TV yet, but there should be one coming later this year. And of course rumors persist that Apple is going to launch an iTV, with voice control from Siri. \nThat could mean you'll have to own an iPhone; it could also mean that Siri is coming to the iPad, that there will be an iTV remote with Siri, or that the iTV itself will pick up the sound of your voice. There's much we don't know about the nascent voice-controlled TV market. Even the Google patent is open to a lot of interpretation; it suggests you'll use a keyword to let the TV know you're talking to it, but doesn't specify the word. \nLet us know what you'd name your TV, and whether talking to it at all sounds like a cool idea, in the comments.\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/02/21/google-tv-siri/>