Google TV may soon introduce a highly anticipated feature

Google TV may soon introduce a highly anticipated feature: native support for remotes with backlit buttons. This discovery was made by AFTVNews, who analyzed the latest firmware update for the Google TV Streamer.

Although there are already Google TV devices — such as certain smart TVs — that come with backlit remotes, this update would enable broader and more flexible management of backlighting directly at the operating system level.

According to the discovered code, there will initially be three backlight modes available:

"Never": backlighting always off

"Standard": backlighting active for 5 seconds after each button press

"Scheduled": similar to "Standard," but only active between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM

Given that the Google TV Streamer was launched just last fall, it seems unlikely that a new hardware model will be released in the coming months. However, Google might offer a backlit remote as an optional accessory, possibly responding to partner requests.