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http://www.macnn.com/articles/03/07/17/harmony.remote/

Harmony Remote offers support for Mac OS X

updated 05:30 pm EDT, Thu July 17, 2003

 
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Intrigue Technologies is showcasing Mac support for its Harmony Remote Control, its internet powered universal remote control. It offers control of all of your home entertainment components with a single button and also offers free TV listings on its LCD screen. The remote ships with a new activity-based paradigm for controlling devices: "All other universal remote controls offer device-by-device control, whereas the Harmony Remote provides activity-based control. All you need to do is select an activity on the LCD screen such as 'Watch Television' or 'Play a Video' and the Harmony Remote sends all the commands to your entertainment devices to set them up perfectly for that activity."

The Harmony Remote offers control of devices such as the TVs, VCRs, DVDs, lighting control units, satellite receivers, CDs, radios, and MP3 players and offers storage of TV listings for up to 14 days. The USB-based device uses the Internet to allow users to configure and update the remote's memory and stores the preferences online in the user's account for future reference. It also offers an IR sensor to learn commands from remotes not listed in the online database. It also offers context sensitive help for users.



The ($200) offers a simpler, large button layout, glow-in-the-dark buttons, and a 1MB of flash memory. It runs on 4 AAA batteries (included).


by MacNN Staff

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  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    07/17, 06:00pm | report spam | Reply |

    this remote sucks

    im sorry but marantz offers a much bettar AIO remote for your home theatre setup. this remote is all flash and no substance. bollocks.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    07/17, 06:27pm | report spam | Reply |

    bollocks my eye


    you have very obviously never used this remote. it thoroughly blows away the other remotes on the market, especially marantz and philips stuff, which is almost unusable. those remotes are particulayly unusable to folks who are technically inept. lots of people like that, who have a hard time learning to command today's AV components, no matter what remote control you give them. this remote changes all that. trust me, i do this for a living. the only remote that clients can use without fail are the harmony ones.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    07/17, 07:01pm | report spam | Reply |

    Bollocks indeed

    $300 for a P.O.S. that looks as sharp as a $4.99 RatShack remote... No thanks.
    The Philips/Marantz Pronto is the cat's meow, although it's true that it requires some effort to program and configure. But once you've done that, it's a lot more capable than the overpriced Harmony remotes.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    07/17, 07:37pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: Bollocks indeed

    Holy c***, you couldn't be more wrong. I didn't see the part about the marantz having TV listings. I could be wrong though. Regardless, more importantly, the Marantz remote has almost all of the buttons on a touch screen. I don't know about you, but I don't want to look at the remote every time I want to push a button. With the Harmony I can feel the buttons with my fingers - can't do that with the Marantz.

    You sound like a Windroid, cite all the features you want, but completely ignore usability.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    07/17, 08:43pm | report spam | Reply |

    Who cares

    For TV listings, I have TiVo. I don't exactly get the point of having to regularly hook up the remote to my computer so I can view the TV listings on a postage stamp-sized hard to read screen.
    Then again, if that's what you like and you have customers dumb enough to buy into this instead of getting TiVo, more power to you. And less to the poor sods, obviously.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    07/17, 10:38pm | report spam | Reply |

    listings

    I see my tv listings on my tv, where they should belong, of course I have a digital cable system, now thats the way to go for listings, You can see the ones that are hours or days ahead, and put reminds on a program you want to see. There is no excuse for someone being too lazy to learn something. Most products today have to be dumbed down to such a degree its pathetic. If they are too lazy to learn, then thats tough s***.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    07/18, 12:24pm | report spam | Reply |

    expo deal

    they also have a massive deal going on at the expo, only. they are offering the remotes for 135/80 for the 768 and 748 respectively, with $15 shipping (they don't have them at the show for sale, they send them later). I went through the setup on the web already, and its pretty stunning. You set all the stuff up on some well crafted web pages. Then you just sync it to the remote. I played with the remote at the show, too, and its very natural. I am very eager to get mine.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    07/18, 12:25pm | report spam | Reply |

    listings

    and yeah, I have digital cable, so I don't care about the TV listings on the remote, but the rest of the features are compelling by themselvse. Make an account on their page, and add all your devices. (its free to make an account). Set up the activities, and try that part of it out. Its pretty slick.

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