Logitech unveils Harmony 900 universal remote

Posted in Logitech by Shane McGlaun on August 11th, 2009

harmony_900-sbI have shed all my remote controls for my various components inside my entertainment center and have been using the Logitech Harmony One since it debuted. I will never go back to using the five or six separate remotes that the One replace on my coffee table.

As cool as the One is, the one catch was that the device wasn’t really intended to work components in other rooms. This is a big deal if you like to hide your gear away inside a closet or behind closed doors. Logitech has announced a new universal remote today called the Harmony 900. The 900 looks just like the One with the same design and button layout.

Motion Sensitive Remote Control

Posted in Concepts by Conner Flynn on July 24th, 2009

Motion Sensitive Remote ControlSure, the Wiimote really upped the ante when it comes to motion control, but only with video games. This conceptual “Remotion” however, from Ryan Sorrell uses motion control with your living room TV. Even if it does look like a futuristic dustbuster.

To adjust the volume, just shake it up and down. Move it left or right to channel surf. Pretty easy and effortless. Plus it will at least force your lazy butt to move around some and burn at least a few calories.

Cideko Air Keyboard is also a 3D mouse, remote control

Posted in Home Theater by Conner Flynn on June 17th, 2009

Cideko Air Keyboard is also a 3D mouse, remote controlSome of you want something more in your HTPC keyboard than just a multitouch trackpad. Lucky for you, Cideko has your back. Their Air Keyboard has a built-in 3D mouse that will have you waving it around and hitting people in the head. But that;s not all.

It also features two gamepad-style buttons in place of standard mouse buttons. Other than that it has all of the usual media control buttons, and a range of 50 meters. The battery life is 50 hours.

Logitech Harmony Adapter for PS3 Review

Posted in Review by Shane McGlaun on May 22nd, 2009

harmonyadapterps3Before I started using my Logitech Harmony One universal remote, I had five different remotes for my entertainment center. What was worse was that my kids and my wife were simply dumbfounded when it came to changing from the satellite box to the PS3 or any other component. You can only tell someone how to do a three-step process so many times before you get irritated.

Thankfully, after the Harmony One landed in my hands I was able to shed all those remotes and use only the One for the most part. I still needed my PS3 controller or the Blu-ray remote to control my PS3 for watching movies, which was a pain. Recently Logitech announced a new adapter called the Harmony Adapter for PS3 that answered my wishes for one remote to rule them all in my home theater. Today we are going to look at the Harmony Adapter for PS3, read on for all the details.

Mobile phone-controlled vacuum cleaner

Posted in Robots by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

Mobile phone-controlled vacuum cleanerSouth Korean telecom company KTF just announced a cleaning robot that can be controlled by a 3G cellphone. The Roomba can’t do that, now can it? The robot is called the CW100 and is the result of a collaboration with Microbot.

It’s a “smart” vacuum, like the Roomba. It can be controlled by phone, which the Roomba can’t, unless modded to do so. It uses an onboard video camera to send live images to the mobile phone, so if you see an untidy spot, the user can remotely control it using the keypad and clean it up.

Remote control your Sony Rolly

Posted in Sony by Conner Flynn on April 2nd, 2009

Sony Rolly gets Bluetooth, more memoryJapanese owners of Sony’s rolly have been able to remote control the device for several months now. Now users in the US will be able to, with the release of Rolly Remote for US owners.

The software and firmware update lets you connect to Rolly wirelessly from a PC, letting you control things like playlist and movements. You can control up to seven at a time, if you wanted to choreograph a rolly musical. Head over to the Sony Support page to get the files.

Remote Control car with iPod speakers

Posted in iPod Accessories by Conner Flynn on April 2nd, 2009

Remote Control car with iPod speakersWe’ve covered many an iPod speaker dock, but to my knowledge this is the first one that actually moves. The Bless Automatica Remote Control Car with iPod Speakers is just what it sounds like. An RC car pimped out with a pair of speakers that you can plug your iPod into.

It truly is music on the go with this iPod speaker set. Just get your music going and take it for a spin. The car can not only hold a set of speakers but can also be used as a CD holder or tray to deliver items to people via remote.

Huge remote control gets you off the couch

Posted in Remotes by Conner Flynn on March 6th, 2009

Huge remote control gets you off the couchDo you want a remote that will get you off your butt and help you shed some of those couch potato pounds? Here’s just the thing. Change the channel like playing DDR. Some creative guy with dreams of a huge remote saw an over-sized novelty remote at Brookstone and it was destiny.

He stitcheed together two PS2 Dance Dance Revolution mats, a PS2-to-PC controller converter box, and some homebrew source code. It works, but I think I’ll stick with the palm sized version. This would however be a great preventative device for those people who get so obese that they need a crane to break their wall and take them to the hospital. Video below.

Hitachi one button, one ball TV remote control

Posted in Hitachi by Conner Flynn on January 7th, 2009

Hitachi one button, one ball TV remote controlThe future of touch and gesture interface technology continues it’s rapid march forward, but traditional hardware interface devices are still making improvements. Hitachi recently showed off a new kind of television remote control specifically designed for the computer savvy needs of IPTV viewers. It may look like a crystal ball, but it won’t…or maybe it will reveal the future.

The idea is to get away from all of those buttons and make the process of using an onscreen GUI an intuitively simple process. Which is how it should be. No word yet on release date or price, but we are hoping to see it soon. Regular TV remotes are so last century.

Whizzwatch: Control R2-D2 with your watch

Posted in Watches by Conner Flynn on September 22nd, 2008

Whizzwatch: Control R2-D2 with your watchThe R2-D2 Whizzwatch while not heavy on style, lets you control a miniature version of R2-D2 with a special wristwatch IR transmitter. R2 is attached to it’s strap. Just unclip the little droid, put him on your desk and watch him go. The watch supposedly has a variety of digital readouts, and you can switch between 12/24 hour displays. It costs about $36. My concern with this watch would be running into some dude with a Jawa watch. If the two should fight, your little droid might end up in a Jawa sandcrawler.

Jumbo Universal Remote Control for fat fingers

Posted in Remotes by Conner Flynn on September 15th, 2008

Jumbo Universal Remote Control for fat fingersYou’ll have a hard time losing this model of remote from Zeon, since it is huge. It’s capable of controlling your TV, DVD and satellite box. Rest assured that no matter how fat in the fingers you are, you can still hit the buttons. No matter how far along you are in your glaucoma, you’ll see the buttons easily. The elderly may still lose it by forgetting, but it’s so big they’ll find it a few minutes later when it trips them on the floor. Just buy it for said older person, use the remote control codes to synch it up with your TV and DVD player etc, and you’re good to go. Still requires only 2 AA batteries and will cost you $18.

Remote Control that winds up

Posted in Remotes by Conner Flynn on August 7th, 2008

Remote Control that winds up
There are many eco-friendly gadgets that wind up. But having a remote that winds up to charge the battery is the best idea yet. How many batteries have your various remotes killed over the years. And it’s a pain replacing them. Some are AA some are AAA. Sometimes you only have one good battery and the thing takes two!

Well a wind up remote like this eliminates all of that hassle. Just wind the dial and 30 full turns is enough to provide a full charge, which should last you about a week. Supposedly it works with hundreds of brands, including Samsung, Sony, Phillips, Panasonic so it should have you covered. It costs $39 but will pay for itself quickly by never needing batteries.

Apple’s Remote controls iTunes, AppleTV with iPhone

Posted in Apple by Reuben Drake on July 10th, 2008

Apple Remote controls iTunes and Apple TVWith the launch of Apple’s Application Store today came a whole mess of applications newly available for download to use on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Topping the list of the free ones is the Remote application, which allows users to control iTunes and even AppleTV wirelessly with your iPhone or iPod Touch.

The application requires the iPhone 2.0 software update and comes in 16 different languages including English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Norwegian among others. The remote application lets you control playback of your media and see the songs and album art on the mobile device with the application.

TV remote control watch

Posted in Watches by Conner Flynn on May 23rd, 2008

TV remote control watch
What can you really say about a watch that controls your TV? This device would probably come in handy if you wanted to mess with somebody else who is watching TV, and change the channels, otherwise I can’t imagine actually replacing my remote with this cheap wrist-turd.

It’s got all the style of an old calculator watch that’s trying and failing badly at fitting in even at a Star Trek convention. The up-side is that it will only cost you $7.25, so if you think this is a good replacement for your TV remote, by all means get one. Even if the remote aspect stinks, at least you have a cheap watch, right?

RM-mp1 media remote control

Posted in Remotes by Conner Flynn on May 22nd, 2008

RM-mp1 media remote control
The RM-mp1 media remote control looks more like a cell phone at first glance, but you won’t be making calls on it. It will let you view your slideshows and annoy others with them any way you like.

It features a touch pad mouse, a laser pointer, relevant multimedia buttons and a wireless USB receiver that makes it possible to walk all over the stage without losing control of your slideshow at all. It’s not just for presentation slides though, the RM-mp1 would also be right at home in your living room. No pricing or availability yet, but it will come in both black or white colors.


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