Is there anything the iPhone can’t do? Control a car? No problem. Feed the hungry? Just build a successful app and donate the money. But what about controlling your home theater gear, such as the TV, DVD player or cable box? Well, now you can thanks to something called the Redeye (and a one other product that has since been announced since its launch).
The Redeye is an infrared transmitter that connects to your iPhone over WiFi (it also doubles as a charging dock). You can either jack directly into the Redeye by selecting the SSID from your iPhone’s WiFi menu or bridge it to your home’s network during setup. But, before you get started you’ll need to download Thinkflood’s Redeye app from the app store, which is completely free, but useless unless you have the Redeye hardware. …Continue reading: Redeye Universal Remote Control Review
When it comes to gaming I’m all about my Xbox 360. Years ago I tried my hands at PC gaming, and while it’s extremely easy to obtain pirated games for the PC, I still prefer a dedicated console, living room couch and a designated video game controller.
Now a company called iGuGu is looking to transform your PC into your living room game console, using something called the Gamecore. Aside from the fact that the game pad looks just like an Xbox 360 controller, it features a trackball, joystick, directional pad, 6 accelerometers and a full QWERTY keyboard. They’re also tossing in the necessary hookups to connect your TV to your PC and some software that will enable you to access your games and a variety of portals that offer pay for play or free games.
The company also presented us with their Internet TV product. Much like the GlideTV they’ve built their very own software that lets you manage and play your photos, music and more from a single interface. It complimented by a home theater remote that also features a QWERTY keyboard, trackball and single click button on the back.
I tried my hand at the Gamecore and was far from impressed. I’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it is still in prototype mode, but the controller felt wonky, the trackball wasn’t smooth and my commands were not accurately transferred to the on screen game – it was as if there was a delay or some type of interference.
The Gamecore will launch Q1 for about $80, while the InternetTV will hit sometime in Q4 of this year.
Day 3 of CES we finally wondered into the hall of TVs. There we got a hands on with LG’s newest remote system, Magic Motion. As you can see in the below video it is largely an air mouse slimmed down into a neat little black package.
The remote itself has your standard buttons – channel, volume, mute and power – but the rest of the TV is controlled via an on screen menu. We’re still not convinced that it was a game changer but the system was surprisingly responsive and accurate.
I think it’s fair to say that the living room media player market has become a bit over saturated. Just a few days ago Lacie presented us with yet another option to pipe our network connected media to our living room TV and now D-Link is joining the bunch with the Pebble.
From a UI standpoint (see video below) it doesn’t look too bad and the remote, which will surely get lost in between your seat cushions, is just straight up simple. The box is set to retail some time in the first half of 2010 for about $120. Course, you could just snag yourself the Boxee Box (it’s made by D-Link) for a few extra ducets and enjoy a much wider variety of streaming content on your LCD TV.
Well, if it ain’t yet another Lacie media player. Much like the other members of the Lacinema series, the Mini HD can connect to your homes network and stream full HD movies, music and more to your living room’s TV (or whatever set you have it hooked up to). What’s different about the Mini HD, though, is that it incorporate WiFi N and rocks what Lacie is claiming to be a DVD-sized footprint. Is that a DVD case or an actual DVD? …Continue reading: Lacie Once Again Update Lacinema Series, Adds Mini HD
We’ll probably have to wait until virtual reality is in full bloom to truly experience that next level of video game immersion. But until then we’ll have to settle for 3D TVs and products such as the Immerz’s KOR-fx.
Using any device’s audio, the KOR-fx sends acousto-haptic feedback to your chest, providing you with a heart thumping experience, literally. While I hardly think it will provide you with a “7th sense” awareness of where the danger is lurking in any video game (that’s what they say), it might be a good alternative to those Buttkicker speakers. …Continue reading: Immerz KOR-fx Puts You In The Video Game With Chest Bumping Sound
Sling Media has most certainly found a significant place in the hearts of DVR road warriors. But now the company is trying to appeal those folks who aren’t on the road so much, but are significant home bodies.
The Sling Touch Control is a beauty of a home theater remote, sporting a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen, 272×480 display. On it users will be able to not only control Sling devices over WiFi and IR equipped home theater gear, but easily traverse the always intimidating electronic programming guide.
But before you run out and try to buy this looker, don’t. Sling isn’t selling it direct. Rather they’re providing it to Cable companies and those alike as a “attract new subscribers, retain current customers, and bring placeshifting to the largest audience possible”. …Continue reading: Sling Touch Control 100 Sure Is Purrrrty
I’m still not sold on voice control…in any product. But for those who are handicapped or lack the necessary dexterity to change the channel it might just be a God send. The Amulet Remote, which is apparently on their second iteration, is a voice activated remote that can control your HTPC or just about any piece of home theater equipment just by speaking. It would also seem that this version is built specifically for Windows 7 and is a complete IR learning remote.
The Windows 7 Amulet Remote will ship Q1 2010 and retail for $249.
December 28th, 2009 10:54 AM | by Christen da Costa
I just bought me a Mac Mini and along with it a Logitech DiNovo keyboard with built-in trackpad – I’m doing the whole home theater PC thing. But now, after seeing Lenovo’s latest product, I’m beginning to regret my purchase, of the keyboard that is.
The Lenovo Multimedia Remote with keyboard is actually already on sale (sneaky little buggers) for $60. As you’ve sussed out from the picture it incorporates a full QWERTY keyboard with a trackball. Connectivity comes by way of a 2.4GHz USB receiver with a max range of 10 meters. Currently it’s only Windows compatible, but I’m assuming that means you can plug it into a Mac, you just won’t get any back end software to tweak its settings.
Finally iPhone and iPod Touch users can control their AV gear with their handset. Magic? No, but damn close – I guess it just seems that whimsical and wonderful to me.
Called the RedEye, it’s a dock that receives commands from your iPhone via WiFi and relays them over infrared to your TV, Blu-ray player, home theater receiver or just about any A/V gear that you can think of. Since it operates over WiFi (an RF signal that passes through walls) you can have multiple RedEyes scattered around your home enabling you to control the stereo from any where you sit. And because the software is free and customizable, there is virtually no limit to what and how you can control your gear.
