USB Remote Control

c13v3rm0nk3y writes "The Easy Zapper from Harmony is a universal A/V remote with a twist. Created to battle the complexities of operating home theatre systems, the Harmony operates a bit like a mobile telephone. There are few buttons to get you into trouble. The idea is that a single gesture is necessary to "watch a DVD", or "listen to music". It also acts as a TV Guide, as it can learn your local programming, and even tweak those choices based on a "zap" from the user. The interesting thing is that the unit itself has no remote "smarts". It learns eveything it has to by downloading code (va USB) and visiting the Harmony website. Support for Windows only right now, but there are plans for Mac OS, Linux, Playstation and XBox support. Very cool toy. The potential ability for this company to collect a lot of data on "typical" viewing habits is a bit scary. RemoteCentral.com has a review."

Comments

DOH!

[yatest5]

The potential ability for this company to collect a lot of data on "typical" viewing habits is a bit scary.

Bloody hell, almost managed to make it through a wholse news artcile without some paranoid 'the world is watching me, geekboy, scratch my balls and see how much star trek I'm watching' comment. Better luck next time!

cool

[brian6string]

looks cool, but, jeez, 200 bucks for a remote control?

Gaea preserve us!

[DrBiscuit]

Young, white, technologist males never fail to amaze me. First you distance yourself from emotional attachment via watching a movie instead of real involvment with a human being. Then instead of grappling with the issues and characters of the story you instead dive into the minutia of making sure the dolby levels are equalized. And then, to top it all off, you want to "ultimate control" (a telling phrase in itself) over the whole thing via a computer.

Get off your blinkered, paternalistic asses, go outside and interact with a real human.