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USB Remote Control

Posted by michael on from the couch-potato dept.

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."

3 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. Uhh... This isn't for this crowd. by dimer0 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For example, when you are watching a video and the phone rings, simply press Mute. The Harmony will not only mute the sound, but will also pause the video.

    Did I SAY I wanted to pause the video? ..

    I'm sure this is configurable, but I really don't think this device is useful. Two years ago, my wife bought me one of those cool lcd-screen remotes (The Marantz), and while it's pretty cool to be able to set it up so one button will dim the lights, kick on the behind-the-tv light (ease the eye strain), turn the TV to input 2, kick on the DVD player and the Receiver -- I found that after a few months I started using my normal remotes again. It was just too much work to keep this configured correctly.

    Now, for my wife who has no clue what inputs things should be on - this is okay. But most of my good remotes (with many buttons - which I like, and with tactile feedback - which I like even more) have the ability to learn the capabilities of a few other remote's functions - so my receiver's remote can control my TV.. I just set up a few of these remotes that I use most often to control a couple other devices that are associated with them, and I'm very happy.

    My Marantz now sits in a closet.

    1. Re:Uhh... This isn't for this crowd. by mccalli · · Score: 3, Interesting
      ...my wife bought me one of those cool lcd-screen remotes (The Marantz)...It was just too much work to keep this configured correctly.

      What, someone used to sneak in and unconfigure it whilst you weren't looking?

      I have one of these - a Philips Pronto. Very nice, and I used to use nothing but this remote. However, since getting a Tivo I find I'm tending to use that. TV only of course, the Pronto is used for everything else.

      Cheers,
      Ian

  2. Program via serial port: JP1 by crow · · Score: 5, Interesting
    If you get a remote like the Radio Shack 2104 that has a 6-pin connector accessible from the battery compartment, you can build a serial cable and program it from your computer. This lets you program any button to do any function or sequence of functions.

    There's an active discussion of these remotes at the JP1 Yahoo Group.