Remote controls are so last century (literally, they were first introduced in the last century). Controlling the TVs of today and tomorrow will be a lot more interesting. Gesture control, which you can argue began with the Wii game console, has migrated to a handful of televisions—wave your hand to turn up the volume or change the channel. LG offers a Magic Remote with voice and pointing control functionality.

But what if your hands are occupied holding a drink or tapping into your iPad? Try talking to your TV. Samsung introduced voice control on some of its TVs this year, and while the voice commands are limited, this is a technology that’s sure to evolve. And what about that iPad in your hand? It’s also a remote. Nearly every TV with a Wi-Fi connection now can be controlled by an app, so the era of the traditional wand-style remote control is almost over.