Skip to main content

LG upgrades remote, adds new features with webOS 3.0 smart TV platform

LG has already shared a lot of what it will be showing at CES in January, from home audio solutions to laptops and monitors, but it isn’t done yet. Along with a wide array of sparlking new TVs at the show, LG will debut the latest version of its webOS smart TV platform. webOS 3.0.

“The new webOS 3.0 is a major update since this advanced TV platform technology was first introduced in 2014,” CEO and president of LG Home Entertainment Brian Kwon said in a statement. “The webOS story of Simple Connection, Simple Switching and Simple Discovery has really connected with customers and illustrates very clearly our commitment to securing a leadership role in the smart TV market with innovation and creativity.”

Recommended Videos

The latest version of the platform focuses on three new features: Magic Zoom, Magic Mobile Connection, and the updated Magic Remote. The new remote adds power and menu buttons for set-top boxes as well as DVR control features, making it a much more capable replacement for your other remotes.

As for new features, Magic Zoom allows users to magnify portions of the screen, which LG says is done without any degradation in picture quality. Magic Mobile Connection, as the name hints, allows users to connect a phone to their TV via the LG TV Plus app and display mobile apps on the big screen.

Another new addition to webOS 3.0 is Channel Plus, which sees LG partnering with Xumo to combine traditional broadcast TV with digital OTT (over-the-top) content in one listing. This should make deciding what to watch much easier than hopping between your DVR and the built-in apps, though it doesn’t appear to include marquee streaming apps like Netflix or Hulu. Apps listed include Bloomberg Politics, TIME Inc., Condé Nast Entertainment, and The Wall Street Journal, among others.

“At Xumo, we bring a fresh approach to the manner in which in-demand, premium digital and broadcast content is presented to viewers,” the company’s CEO Colin Petrie-Norris said. “We’re excited that Xumo and LG’s joint efforts have come to fruition in Channel Plus.”

The new smart TVs with webOS 3.0 will be on display among LG’s other products at its booth at CES, which runs from January 6 to 9 in Las Vegas.

Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
ATSC 3.0: Everything you need to know about the over-the-air broadcast standard
ClearStream Eclipse antenna mounted beside a TV.

Using an antenna to watch TV might be like something your grandparents did, but there's now a compelling reason to get your TV over the air (OTA). With the introduction of ATSC 3.0  -- that's the technical name, but it's marketed as NextGen TV -- you can get high-resolution, high dynamic range (HDR) content from your favorite TV channels for free, using an antenna. And it won't even eat into your internet data cap.

ATSC 3.0 upgrades our existing antenna TV system by establishing a new technical framework for how those TV signals are created, broadcast, and received. It supports higher resolutions like 4K and potentially 8K, along with much better sound. There's even the potential for ATSC 3.0 to replace some uses of mobile data, especially within the automotive world. Here's everything you need to know about ATSC 3.0.
What is ATSC 3.0?

Read more
Tablo’s latest over-the-air DVR does ATSC 3.0 — with a catch
Tablo ATSC 3.0 Quad HDMI OTA receiver/DVR.

Nuvyyo, the Canadian maker of the popular Tablo line of over-the-air (OTA) receivers, may not be physically present at CES 2022, but that hasn't stopped it from debuting its latest product, the $300 Tablo ATSC 3.0 Quad HDMI, an OTA receiver and DVR that has not one but four ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV)-compatible tuners, each of which can also be used to pull in older ATSC 1.0 broadcasts. You can pre-order the device now at TabloTV.com and it's expected to begin shipping this spring.

But before you smash that pre-order button, the ATSC 3.0 Quad HDMI comes with a few caveats that make it different from previous Tablo tuners. The biggest change is that you won't be able to use the new box to stream video to your other devices, whether you're at home or on the road. Nuvyyo says that this has to do with a lack of support for Dolby's AC-4 audio codec -- the codec used by ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. So for now at least, think of the ATSC 3.0 Quad HDMI as an HDMI-only box that is meant to be used with a single TV.

Read more
LG’s WebOS 6.0 adds a content-first experience and a new remote
LG Magic Remote 2021

While all eyes were on LG's CES 2021 announcement of its new, brighter OLED TVs and mini-LED equipped QNED TVs, the company also revealed that its WebOS software is getting a major overhaul. WebOS 6.0 is designed to bring the software into the modern era of content-oriented home screens. Previous versions of WebOS provided a simple ribbon of apps at the bottom of the screen, which, while easy to use and navigate, didn't really highlight the content available within these apps.

The new home screen experience, which Park Hyoung-sei, president of LG Home Entertainment Company, has described as "the most significant update since we first introduced WebOS in 2014,” looks a lot like smart TV interfaces from Google, Apple, and Amazon. It features a curated content section called "Top Picks For You," which selectively pulls shows and movies from your favorite streaming services based on your viewing habits, as well as an easy-access search process.

Read more