Logitech has announced two new additions to its Harmony range of universal remote controls. Featuring the new Smart Hub, Logitech’s two new universal remotes now even allows users to control their devices using their smartphones and tablets, on home entertainment products that need not even be in the same room.
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The first of the two is called the Harmony Ultimate. Featuring the Harmony Ultimate remote, designed to fit perfectly on the user’s hand, it is the company’s most fully-featured product ever built. It has a 2.4-inch colour touchscreen that allows for easy touch and gesture control on up to 15 devices. It even features integration with Phillips’ Hue lightbulbs to adjust the lighting from the bulbs. The Harmony Ultimate remote also supports custom settings which, at a touch of a button, can make the necessary actions to any of the connected devices. With a database of over 250000 products, Logitech’s Harmony remotes can sync with virtually any home entertainment product.
Also, with the new Smart Hub, synced devices can remain connected even behind cabinets and walls. The Harmony Ultimate remote sends signals not only via IR, but also via Bluetooth and RF to the Hub, which then transmits the signal to the necessary devices. With the addition of the Smart Hub, the Harmony remote can now also control game consoles such as the Xbox 360, PS3 and the Wii.
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Besides the Harmony Ultimate, Logitech also announced the Harmony Smart Control, which features a remote that looks more like a traditional remote. However, unlike the Ultimate remote, the Smart Control can “only” control up to 8 devices. Nevertheless, even without the touchscreen, the Smart Control is still a formidable universal remote thanks to the Smart Hub – so much so that the Smart Control is really only meant to be a back-up remote…for your smartphone or tablet. The free app available on Android and iOS for smartphones (tablet apps coming soon) mimics the touch controls found on the Ultimate remote, as well as the more advanced features.
The Logitech Harmony Touch and Smart Control universal remotes will be available at the end of the month or early next month in Europe and the US at a retail price of $349.99 and $129.99 respectively. In addition, those who owned the previous generation Harmony Touch remote can opt to buy the Smart Hub at $99.99 and enjoy similar features as the new Ultimate remote. Unfortunately, there is no word on whether these remotes will be making its way to Malaysia anytime soon – something that will undoubtedly sadden a certain editor of the site.
To find out more about Logitech’s Harmony remotes, head on to the official website here.
(Source: Engadget)
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