The line between computers and… everything else keeps getting blurrier. The phone in your pocket is basically a computer. Your smart thermostat? It’s a specialized computer. And your smart TV that can stream content from Netflix and YouTube? Computer.

But it’s easy to forget that because you don’t usually interact with those devices the same way you do a Windows or Mac PC.

Pick up one of Samsung’s new smart TVs next year though, and you’ll be able to use a mouse and keyboard to interact with supported apps — like a web browser.

That’s thank to a new feature Samsung calls “Remote Access,” which will let you use PC input devices to control your TV.

Open a web browser and you’ll be able to stream content from sites that may not have apps. Or you can just surf the web the same way you would on any other device to shop, play games, read the news, or use social media services.

You can also wireless connect to a PC in another room, allowing you to remotely control that PC through your TV. This would allow you to basically use Windows apps and games on a TV with a mouse and keyboard without having to plug your computer into the TV with an HDMI cable.

The Remote Access feature comes via a partnership with virtual desktop/virtualization company VMWare and odds are that we’ll hear more about it when Samsung unveils its 2019 Smart TV lineup at CES in January.

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12 replies on “Samsung’s new Smart TVs will support keyboard and mouse input”

  1. I think that will make doing searches easier. It would be easier than trying to use the remote and on screen keyboard.

  2. This is where I feel the lack of Steve Jobs.
    If I was the CEO of Samsung, I would have gone for touchscreen instead of any other input methods. Come on keyboard, mouse are history now, unless you are playing high end games and for that a full-size PC is the best solution.

    1. I don’t think touch screen is very practical on a 65″ TV located 12 feet away from me but maybe that’s just me.

      2. @Ilvee, look you are not going to type or click on a TV now and then, as a TV is for enjoyment; I mean consuming, not productivity. Just search/set your favourite program quickly and enjoy it by seating on a couch maybe from 100 ft away. For occasional alterations keep the light weight remote control handy, that’s all.

        1. Hardware keyboard has limitations, you need to purchase different keyboards for different language. And a full size keyboard is not handy enough to carry, than a remote control.

          P.S.: I got the interest to explain all because some 7 people disliked my first comment without understanding the practical situation!!

  3. With Samsung’s history of (no) security on their smart TVs I would pass on using one of these for anything you would not want bad actors to know about.

    1. But how would hackers expand their DDoS zombies without unsecured TVs and IoT devices?

  4. That’s nice, but you typically buy a television for many many years, and the hardware gets obsolete almost instantly in an ARM-based smart TV. Televisions should be just a really good screen and a way to easily connect various devices to it to obtain the “smart” function.

    1. Sadly this is something Samsung have always been bad at. They allow wired connections but wireless is not good.

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