Gadgetory

hi I'm David Connelly executive and for cnet.com and I'm going to give you a quick video tour of the Harmony ultimate logitech's new line topping programmable universal remote which is designed for folks with components hidden away in cabinets and closets in many ways the ultimate is a dream remote adding RF and Bluetooth capabilities to last year's IR based Harmony touch remote either RF or Bluetooth require line-of-sight like IR so your remote commands can literally pass through walls and doors the ultimate looks identical to the touch except for a small but important design change to the bottom of the remote that improves its ergonomics a hump that pushes your hand forward make it easier to access the transport controls at the top of the remote when key difference between the two products is the addition of the Harmony hub an accessory that lives near your TV and serves as an IR blaster and Bluetooth link between the ps3 and Nintendo Wii and Wii U game consoles also the 2.4 inch touchscreen display on the ultimate adds vibration to you back so you know it received your touch screen commands and finally the ultimate has tilt sensor so it wakes up upon being picked up and you can program buttons for both short and long presses doubling the available functions in addition to Bluetooth the hub also features integrated Wi-Fi so you can now update your Harmony settings on a computer and sync them wirelessly with your remote that's nice it also allows you to use any iOS or Android device to control your system via the Logitech smart phone app note while the app can be used with tablets it's really a smart phone app even with the new features the ultimate may still face resistance from those who dislike the fundamental changes introduced in the Harmony touch the aforementioned transport controls still don't fall right under the thumb and the touchscreen isn't as responsible or nearly as crisp as the screens you'll find in today's smartphones and tablets and some little things are missing for instance seen an editor David cast matter lamented the fact that there's no dedicated hard button for thirty second commercial skips when you're using your DVR a feature that's found on the entry-level Harmonie 650 but the ultimate does have loads of customization options so you can assign that function to another button perhaps one of the four colored ones at the bottom I think the ultimate still has some economic issues in using the touchscreen to input channel numbers and perform other commands will appeal to some folks more than others overall however the ultimate is a significant improvement over the touch in my case after a couple of hours of tinkering with my setup on my harmony comm it worked well with my home theater rig which is all but two of its ten components tucked away in a closet a small part of that improvement is due to the tweaks Logitech is made to the remote itself but the addition of RF simply makes the remote work more smoothly and responsibly with your equipment I don't have time to dig into all as features but it's worth noting that the ultimate which is a built-in rechargeable battery can control up to 15 components and is geared to those with higher-end home theater setups it comes with two of these IR blasters to cover your equipment while the Harmony smart control which controls up to eight components includes only one the smart control package also includes the Harmony hub but instead of the touchscreen remote it bundles in a new very basic Harmony remote with no display it's sleek and lightweight and operates on a single battery for months or even years depending on how much you watch TV the smart control offers all the features of the ultimate RF control bluetooth communications and the capacity to turn your iOS and Android device into a remote using the Harmony smart app and those with the little simpler setups it's clearly the better deal at $129.99 vs. 349 99 for the ultimate at that price point the ultimate is pretty pricey but then again the fancy RF Wi-Fi tablet style remote setups offered by custom and sellers can end up easily costing triple that I'm David Carr noise and that's the Logitech Harmony ultimate programmable universal remote thanks for watching