Gadgetory

hi I'm David Carnot a executive editor for cnet.com and I'm going to give you a quick video tour of the new Logitech Harmony touch universal remote this is the company's latest high-end model and it sports a 2.4 inch color touch screen and noticeably fewer buttons than other harmony remotes the $250 clicker features the same web-based programming and activity based controls that have made harmony remotes so popular but the focus here is clearly on the touch screen which takes up about a third of the length of the remote the designers have made some interesting choices as far as the look and feel goes what is a nice texturize back it's not like the backs that have that glossy finish that attract finger prints the mote sits comfortably in your hand I really liked how it felt that said heavily use playback buttons like play pause fast-forward etc have been moved from their centralized mission to the very top of the remote about that touch screen it's got QVGA resolution and looks reasonably sharp though it doesn't have nearly the resolution of some of today's smartphones and tablet screens the touchscreen can be used to select activities and devices plus access functions that don't have a dedicated button on the remote what's also cool is that you can program the screen to respond to customized gestures such as simply swiping up and down to control volume clicking the favorite star on the rope brings up your list of favorite channels up to 50 can be programmed in and you can add edit and reorder your favorites right on the remote the ability to make tweaks to the Harmony touch is set up without using computer is a feature exclusive to this remote well that may seem like a minor feature making minor changes on current harmony remotes is a tedious process especially with the sluggish my harmony site dedicated harmony fans will also appreciate that you're my harmony account can now support multi remotes as well as import settings from an existing Harmony remote the Harmony touch also features a built-in rechargeable battery that's supposed to give you about a week's worth of power with light to moderate use with some previous Harmony models you had to lay the remote down on his cradle to charge it with this one you prop it up vertically in its cradle which they nice change hi in harmony fans will also note that the touch lacks RF capability which means you can't control devices that live inside a cabinet or a closet well it should work with eye repeater accessories it doesn't work with existing RF accessories that Logitech sells so far logitech hasn't said anything about doing a step-up RF of the touch but it may be worth waiting for such a model if your setup warrants it I'm David Carnot and that's a first look at the Logitech Harmony touch remote thanks for watching