Stand-alone touch screen controllers and universal remotes have a new rival in the quest to eliminate coffee table clutter… the Apple iPhone. There is now a wide array of applications with solutions for your home entertainment needs, whether it is setting your DVR, streaming whole-house audio, or having access to all the electronic devices in your home. All iPhone apps are downloaded from the iTunes App store and in most cases can also be used on the iPod Touch.

Ever leave home and forget to set your DVR? It’s certainly frustrating if it’s the season finale of your favorite show. The actual name of the app has been bolded and italicized, so you can easily search the App store.

If you are a DirecTV subscriber, the free app comes in handy during such lapses of memory. You can search for your favorite shows (title or channel) up to two weeks in advance and set them to record once, or even the entire season. It’s possible to even record pay-per-view movies.

The DVR Remote manages TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL DVRs. Not only can you record your favorite shows from where ever you are, the app also includes a control screen with Play, Pause, Fast Forward and Rewind buttons, which legitimizes the $2.99 price tag. You can browse and search for shows and movies by actor, title, director, Daily Recommendations and Most Popular. The app also features Amazon Video on Demand and YouTube. The free “lite” version of the app has fewer navigation buttons and has considerable browsing limitations.

If you are Slingbox owner, you’ll love the SlingPlayer Mobile that allows you to watch or control your Slingbox SOLO, PRO, or PRO-HD directly from your iPhone/Touch. Change channels, control your DVR and watch your favorite shows either at home or on the go. There are no monthly fees, just the cost of the app ($29.99). This app could be the reason to finally get yourself a Sling Media product. According to the company, it only functions with WiFi at Apple’s request.

The iPhone ships with a simple Remote app that controls the iTunes music library on your computer or Apple TV over WiFi. You can do many of the same things you would do in iTunes, such as scan your artwork and create/edit playlists.

Controlling music seems to be a natural for the iPhone with several apps designed to control specific music streaming systems. The first such app that caught my attention comes from Sonos. This free app turns your iPhone into a fully operational Sonos Controller (a $400 value). For what you save on the stand-alone controller, you can buy more zone players. From the iPhone you pick a zone, then chose a playlist or a song to play. You can group zones together, in any combination, for complete whole-house audio.

If you are using Logitech’s Squeezebox player and the Squeeze Center server, download iPeng from Penguin Loves Music, Inc. Sync multiple Squeezebox players (just like grouping zone players with the Sonos system) and play the same music in several locations. Manage your playlists and listen to Internet music and music services such as Rhapsody. The app sells for $9.99.

If you’ve connected the Roku Soundbridge to your home network, the $2.99 RokuRemote allows you to select Internet stations, make individual selections by artist, album, or song. You can change the volume, pause, advance, or repeat a song, even select repeat, and shuffle for playback of the current playlist.

Taking it up a few notches, ReQuest, provides comprehensive IP-based music and movie server systems. While they have keypads and touch screen panels, there is also the ReQuest app that provides the same level of control for any of their N, F or S Media servers. (It is not compatible with their IQ system.) You can quickly find a song by artist or genre, play entire albums or playlists, even search, and sort your collection.

Many key manufacturers of home automation systems offer an iPhone app to control their IP-based systems (i.e.you need an Internet connection) including Crestron, Control4, Savant Systems, Lifeware, and HomeLogic. All the apps are free, except one.

It’s important to note that you can’t do anything with these apps if you don’t have a system installed in your home. Savant Systems even makes sure you think twice before downloading with an eye-popping $199 purchase price. The only home automation system and media server built on the Mac OS, Savant’s ROSIE Home Automation system allows customers to control all their AV gear, and other subsystems such as lighting, security and climate control from a highly sophisticated iPhone interface.

Crestron, the company whose name is synonymous with revolutionary touchscreen controllers and fascinating graphic user interfaces (GUI) also brings fully integrated control to the iPhone. When you launch the Crestron app, communication is automatically established between the mobile device and the Crestron control system. The iPhone will display the Crestron GUI and seamlessly control and manage all of your home entertainment and environmental systems just like you would from a dedicated Crestron touchpanel.

Displaying Control4’s standard interface, the app Control4 My House works exclusively with home automation systems using the company’s Director version 1.7 or later. A Mobile Navigator License is required to begin operation. Use the iPhone app to view the feeds from your security cameras, control the climate, lighting, and AV devices in any room of the house.

An elegant and inexpensive alternative to their touch panels, Lifeware controls playback of stored media, AV equipment, and all other installed subsystems. Since Lifeware works with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center you can even view and record content right on your Media Center PC. Who said Apple and Microsoft can’t co-exist?

Like all the other apps, the HomeLogic app lets you control all your home systems when using HomeLogic solutions. However, this is the only app that offers a live demo so you can see what an iPhone controlled system can do. The HomeLogic demo allows you to navigate through the individual screens and make adjustments to see how the app functions. When you get to the screen that controls your TV and see how easy it is to pick your favorite stations just by their unique icons, you’ll be searching for your local HomeLogic dealer. Smart sales tool, guys.

A few companies provide iPhone apps to control their gadgets such as the free VUDU Movie Catalog app that allows subscribers of the service to browse and search the catalog (as long as there is WIFI). Find what you want, and then rent or purchase your movie and it will be waiting for you to watch at your leisure. I sure wish Apple would do this for the Apple TV’s movie rental functions. Duh!

Remotescape is designed for controlling all of their highly acclaimed Kaleidescape Music Players. The iPhone interface is designed for one handed-operation, allowing you to browse and play music from any room in the house without sitting in front of a TV monitor. Use iPhone’s ‘flick’ gestures to scroll through albums, by artist, genre, and track or scan the details of a particular film. Remote control buttons – fast forward, reverse, pause, stop, and play – are also provided. For all this functionality and a lot more, the app was priced at $59.99.

If you have a lot of Z-wave compatible home automation gear you should download Melloware’s $9.99 ZWave Commander app, allowing complete control of your ZWave devices from anywhere in the world. You’ll need a ControlThink USB ThinkStick connected to your PC (Windows only) for the ZWave Commander to communicate with your gear. Unlike other apps that need WiFi, the ZWave Commander also works on 3G and Edge networks. It also uses the iPhone’s unique scroll wheel for easy selections.

A relatively new company, ThinkFlood, is releasing the RedEye system, which will be the first universal remote for the iPhone. As of press time, the app was not yet available in the iTunes App store but I had to include it in my roundup. The app itself will be free for download in September, however, the associated hardware will run $149.00, pretty much what you would expect to spend on a highly adaptive universal remote anyway. The RedEye hub uses Wi-Fi, which means no line of sight is required. The hub receives the iPhone’s commands and sends out infrared signals to control your devices. It will be possible to control almost an infinite number of components and multiple iPhones can be set up, allowing everyone in the household to have their own remote. The Hub’s built-in iPod dock also serves as a charger.

With only a couple of years into its development, the iPhone/Touch is proving to be the ultimate gadget with a solution for just about everything. Even as I was wrapping up this rather extensive round up, I heard that Denon is considering an app to work with the Enhanced Web Browser functionality in their networked AVRs. I think it’s safe to say, this is only the beginning, and there will be a lot more exciting and intriguing apps in the months and years to come.

Source: hometheaterdesignmag.com

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The brushed-aluminum LED-lit C9000 is not just the handsomest slender TV at the show, it comes with the most innovative Wi-Fi remote control – one that looks suspiciously like an iPhone and feels suspiciously like a Samsung phone.

Why a Wi-Fi video remote? So you can watch a Blu-ray on your TV while checking out the game in your hand, of course. Maybe you’ve never had that problem, exactly, but this product seems like a step in a new direction, rather than just a “we did it because we could” kind of thing.

The remote connects over your Wi-Fi network to control the TV (also on the Wi-Fi network), much like iTunes Remote works on an iPhone. The screen is vibrant and high-contrast, though it is LCD, not OLED. As you tap buttons on the screen (which I believe is resistive, since Samsung wouldn’t confirm capacitive) you feel a little vibe, haptic feedback that is now common on phones from Samsung and LG. I wish the remote itself felt a little more sturdy; there was a hollowness to it that makes me worry about it sliding off the coffee table. Still, I was impressed by its simple setup and lithe manipulation. It’s like they finally found a good thing to do with all of those feature-phone interfaces nobody needs anymore.

What do you do with it? As you browse channels, it’s actually using the TV’s own tuner to render video, which it downgrades and sends to the remote in more-or-less realtime. If you like something, you just tap a control and its on the big screen. If you want to tap into a DLNA server on your network, you’ll see it and all its bounty. Samsung wouldn’t confirm what kind of files it would decode, but did say that they would support 1080p resolution on video files.

The only problem with the remote is it’s something that could be replaced by an iPhone app in about 12 seconds.

All of this, and I still haven’t gotten to the TV. Sure, slim TVs are kinda old hat by now, but I really like this one, because it has all of its interface engineering built into the base, not some ugly outboard set-top box. Want to wall mount it instead? The base pops off, and attaches to the back of the TV, making it slightly thicker, sure, but not by much, especially so close to a wall.

There’s no price on this baby yet, but since it’s clearly a vanity project – and it natively supports 3D, like most primo TVs at CES this year – you know they’re going to sell it to the celebs and high rollers first.

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Remote controlshave become a staple device for many of us these days, and more often than not there will be a tussle among family members for essential remotes in the living room at prime time for obvious reasons. Logitech themselves have delved into the world of remote controls in the past, and they show no signs of slowing down in that department. Recently, the Swiss company has rolled out the Logitech Harmony 900 remote that boasts redesigned RF technology, a full colors touchscreen display alongside intuitive button layout to help even newbies get used to it as soon as possible. The Logitech Harmony 900 universal remote relies on rechargeable batteries to keep it going, allowing you to enjoy a whole range of entertainment from movies to games and music even when the respective components are located safely behind cabinet doors.

The Logitech Harmony 900 remote’s redesigned RF system turns you into a mini living room deity, capable of controlling an entire cabinet’s worth of devices and appliances as long as they remains within a 100 foot radius. This remote also allows you to wield such powers without getting bogged down by hassles and problems that are normally associated with RF setups. All you need to do is place the IR blaster that comes with each purchase alongside one or two of the mini blasters on the cabinet shelves near the devices that you want to gain control and you’re good to go. The color touchscreen devices allows you to choose your device of choice with but a gentle touch of the finger, and when the setup process is complete, you’re able to control everything programmed inside even with the cabinet doors closed.

Expect the Logitech Harmony 900 remote to arrive in the US and Europe later next month for $399.99 a pop, where it will be accompanied by a recharging cradle, rechargeable battery, power supply, IR blaster and two mini blasters. Logitech has plans to roll out more blasters and mini blasters online in selected regions.

Source: logitech.com

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“If you will it, Dude, it is no dream.”

Those are the words that pop into my brain the first time I fire up Universal Remote Control’s MX-6000 to test out the better part of a week’s worth of tinkering and programming. And it’s not just because The Big Lebowski happens to be in my DVD player at the time. (It is. It always is.) I hear those words in my head because I realize that, for the first time, I’m not making excuses for a remote control.

I’m not left wishing for subtle nuances and setting such nitpicks aside, telling myself that no control system could possibly read my twisted little mind. For the first time, I’m using a remote control system that works exactly the way I think it should.

To be fair, this one can’t read my mind, either. I just spent a few hard days learning the ins, the outs, and the what-have-yous of URC’s Complete Control Program: a labyrinthine piece of freeform software that allows for all sorts of nifty routines, such as IF/ELSE variables, nested macros, delays, jumps, punch throughs and all manner of protocols that probably make no sense to you if you’ve never programmed one of Universal Remote Control’s remotes.

The point is, by the time I finally figure out what all of these toys work, I quickly come to the realization that the control interface I’m going to end up with is limited only by my imagination. And that can be a little scary.

And I’m not talking about merely pressing one button to fire up all of the gear I need and switch to all of the appropriate inputs required to watch a DVD. Any of the remotes I’ve reviewed in this class can do that with aplomb. Even my $400 Harmony could do that without batting an eye — before it bit the dust and started gathering the same. No, I’m talking about contingencies peculiar to the way I use my system, which no software designer could reasonably be expected to prepare for in advance.

I’d rather not have the Crowson Tactile Motion System in my Elite HTS recliner turn on every time I watch a DVD or play the PS3, for example. Not a problem; I simply leave it out of the macros and put on/off buttons on the screens for those activities. But when I hit the System Off button to initiate the shutdown macro I’ve crafted for my media room, I’d like for the MX-6000 to remember what condition the Crowson’s condition is in, turn it off if it needs turning off and let it be if not.

The beauty of it is, unlike other remotes in this class that I’ve used, I can make the interface for the MX-6000 exceedingly simple, and it still does everything I need it to do. Of course, it goes without saying that more advanced—read, more expensive—home automation and control systems can jump through similar hoops, assuming your custom installer is savvy enough to do the programming. But the MX-6000 does it all without the benefit of complex external system controllers, without power sensing, without RS-232 control.

Mind you, all of the above can be added in the form of Universal Remote’s MSC-400 Master System Controller, but that would be overkill in a sort of mid-level media room like my own.

In my case, the only extra goodies I need are an MRF-350 RF Base Station to send IR signals to the front or back of the gear in my out-of-the-way rack, and URC’s new PSX-2 iPod dock.

An RF Base Station like the MRF-350 would hardly be worth mentioning in most cases.

It captures incoming RF signals from the MX-6000, converts them to IR and sends the signals to the front or back of my gear via IR repeaters or 3.5-millimeter mini cables.

The beauty of the MRF-350, though, is that I can tweak the strength of its outgoing IR signals individually, so that my cable box—which has always sputtered, lagged and hiccupped due to the overly powerful signals from most IR repeaters—now responds like a puppy’s foot to a belly scratch.

The PSX-2, on the other hand, bears plenty of mentioning. An upgrade to last year’s PSX-1 (which was designed to work solely with the MX-6000), the PSX-2 is now compatible with all of URC’s remotes.

You’ll still need an MX-6000 to get the most out of it. Thanks to the fact that the PSX-2 and MX-6000 both connect to my home network (the former via Cat-6 and the latter via WiFi), I’m able to not only control my iPod, but also to see and manipulate a very sophisticated iPod interface on the remote itself, complete with album artwork, track, and artist info, as well as some advanced features not accessible on the iPod alone (e.g., shuffle by genre or artist).

This same two-way communication functionality allows for similar control of Media Center and iTunes for Home Theater PC users, as well as access to weather, news and sports RSS feeds on the touchscreen itself.

Speaking of the touchscreen, I admit that I found it a bit small at first, compared to the size of the remote as a whole. This worry subsided as soon as I started actually using it. The placement of the hard buttons is spot on, and the seemingly abandoned real estate to the south of the screen actually makes for a nice handhold. The only thing I would change is the material of the scroll-wheel/thumbpad, which feels a teensy bit flimsy compared to the rest of the remote.

Otherwise, I’m hard-pressed to come up with a single complaint. In every way conceivable, the MX-6000 simply rocks, in the parlance of our times. It’s an incredibly flexible, sophisticated remote that scales beautifully to just about any home entertainment setting, from a one-room media room to a whole private residence’s worth of audio, video and automation. And that’s not just, like, my opinion, man.

DESCRIPTION
MX-6000: Wireless touchscreen remote control for home theater, multiroom A/V and automation
PSX-2: Advanced iPod dock for URC control systems
MRF-350: RF Base Station for URC remotes

Source: universalremote.com

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One of the most important decisions you can make when buying a whole-house music system, home control system, or home theater system is choosing the remote control. It’s the thing you use to communicate with all that equipment. And it better work.

So what should you look for? After all, tons of universal remote controls are available. Some have a few simple features; others have a bevy of high-end amenities.

But all those features aren’t worth a hoot if you can’t figure out how to work the thing. So first and foremost, look for simplicity. Find something that’s easy to operate, has an intuitive layout of keys or touchscreen buttons, and doesn’t require a manual just to change a TV channel or select a different music source.

Here are some important features to look for:

Ergonomics How does the remote control fit in your hand? Is it comfortable? Can your fingers press the buttons easily? Do you want a wand-style handheld remote or a larger touchscreen that might require two hands to operate?

Backlit Keypad Even if you’d love a touchscreen, look for hard buttons for the most common functions, such as volume control. These buttons should be backlit so you can see what you’re doing in the dark.

Charging Dock Look for this and make sure it comes with the remote, especially if it has a battery-draining touchscreen.

Number of Macros Macros allow the transmission of a sequence of many different commands, like turning on several components to start a home theater system. See how many macros can be programmed into your remote.

Receiver and/or Processor RF remotes require an RF receiver that takes the radio signal and transmits the commands to your components via IR or RS-232. Advanced systems require a processor as well. In some cases the receiver and processor are in the same unit. These usually need to be purchased separately.

Other Systems Look for the ability to control an electronic lighting system, motorized shades or draperies, as well as some home control functions.

We’ve compiled some feature sets of six remotes from popular custom install brands that showcase some of these features below.

Niles iRemote TS

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Backlit keypad for easy use in any lighting condition … THEATER and HOUSE mode keys provide one-touch access to a Niles IntelliControl multizone audio/video system and home theater … High-resolution color touchscreen displays customized controls for your audio/video systems.

PLUS …

Displays metadata information from your distributed audio/video system, such as artist, album, song, and menus when available.

Docking cradle charges the remote on a stand.

Control4 SR-250

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Ergonomic design matches a hand’s natural curves, making it easy to hold and use … Backlit keypad for easy use in any lighting condition.

PLUS …
Bi-directional ZigBee (802.15.4) wireless connectivity enables the control of any intelligent device from anywhere in the house.

Easy programming out of the box.
Price includes remote and Control4 HC-300 controller.

Philips Pronto TSU9800

Rotary wheel allows intuitive and convenient content browsing … 6.4-inch VGA color touchscreen.

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PLUS …
Docking station that offers ambient lighting.

Customized interface through ProntoEdit Professional 2.0. PC editor.

RTI T3-V Touchscreen

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High-resolution 3.5-inch VGA touchscreen for lifelike graphics … Three-way rocker switch for scrolling list navigation.

PLUS …
Wireless ZigBee-enabled.
Built-in Wi-Fi for accessing web pages and weather information.

Can control IP-addressable devices like IP surveillance cameras.

Universal Remote Control MX-5000

Haptic technology confirms each touchscreen button-push with a tactile vibration that you feel.

click to enlarge

PLUS …

Browse media from the most popular IP-controlled components, such as PCs, servers, cameras, lighting, HVAC and

networked A/V receivers.

Equipped with Wi-Fi (B and G), Narrow Band RF and IR.

Nevo Q50

click to enlarge

Fully customizable touchscreen … Sleek design for one-handed control.

PLUS …

Two-way wireless Z-Wave for lighting control and HVAC.

Compatible with select web cameras and media servers.

Source : electronichouse.com

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