Lenovo's smart TV plans are similar to Samsung's: Speak commands into the remote control and the TV obeys. The company currently has in the pipeline one smart 3D TV, the K91, which will come with 42-inch and 55-inch screens and initially be available in China. In addition to voice recognition, the TV also has the hardware to play casual games assisted by a game pad. The TV has gesture recognition and can run Android 4.0 applications, so theoretically it is possible to run an application like Angry Birds on the TV with players controlling the game through midair hand movements. Lenovo has also talked about plans to link the TV to its burgeoning cloud service, from which applications and games can be downloaded. Lenovo will take the when it sees a business opportunity, the company has said. The company has not yet set a price for the TV.

Dragon TV

Nuance is known for its voice recognition software and for providing the underlying technology behind Apple's Siri voice-command service. The company is now offering its expertise to TV and set-top box makers. TV maker Panasonic has adopted Nuance's Dragon TV voice-recognition platform for its Viera TV sets, models of which , according to Nuance. Nuance demonstrated the platform at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, and said the technology could change the way users interact with TVs. For example, users will able to specify a channel like PBS to switch to, or even blurt out Twitter updates to post. Just by speaking a few words, users will also be able to find specific shows, search for movies related to an actor, or select content to play on-demand. The technology sounds promising and will grow if TV makers adopt it.

Alternative options

is looking to roll out TVs with voice controls and may be close with its latest version of its Magic Motion remote control, which the company showed at CES. Apple is also said to be working on a new TV that redefines the way users interact with TVs, but for now the best option is the company's Apple TV set-top box, which iPhone and iPad owners will especially appreciate. The $99.99 box allows users to play movies and TV shows from Apple's iTunes store, but multimedia content can also be streamed from an iPhone or iPad to a TV. Users can mirror an iPad screen on a TV with Apple TV, which could be useful when playing games.