Logitech Harmony Smart Control

I've been using the Harmony remotes since their very start with the SST-745 from Intrigues Technologies, and several Logitech remotes later, decided to try the Harmony Smart Control, convinced that I would return it to the
shop early, but it seems I'll keep it after all...




I was eager to try the Harmony Smart Control but also prepared to shortly return to the online shop for the following reasons:
- I had strong doubts that, with my particular Home Cinema setup (devices in 3 separated zones), the hub and unique IR Mini blaster bundled with the Smart Control kit would suffice to control all my gear.
- The product future was uncertain with rumors of Logitech to ditch the Harmony division. Fortunately, Logitech came back on that decision.

The Smart Control is an evolution of the unconvincing Harmony Link (O-R0003) and a cheaper alternative to the 270€ worth Harmony Ultimate.  

The cheapest place I found to buy this gizmo was Amazon.fr (90€). For some strange reason, the very same was 20€ on Amazon.co.uk.

Unlike the Ultimate version, the provided  remote cannot be used to relay the IR signal to out-of-reach equipment as it doesn't have any IR LED (it talks Bluetooth to the hub only). However, the Hub itself and the IR Blaster provided managed to reach all my devices, even those not on the same shelf!

IR Range: the main question and the biggest surprise
I was convinced that I'd need an additional IR Blaster to reach all the components of my home theatre.

The components are distributed as follow in a 3 levels TV Unit:
- The TV is on top
- The lower level is open and holds the Sat Receiver, an X10-IR converter and the Wii.
- The lowest level is a closet with BD player, DVD player and Home Cinema receiver (I keep the doors ajar).

The Harmony Hub is sitting beside the TV and the IR MiniBlaster is in front of the Sat Receiver.
Despite the absence of IR emitters in the lowest closet, DVD, BD and Surround could all be controlled! (and I'm not using LG Simplink)

Thanks to the Bluetooth, I could also turn on the Nintendo Wii with a remote...amusing but useless. This feature only makes sense with game consoles that double as decent media center like the PS3.

MyHarmony.com, SmartPhone and Tablet apps:

The Hub must be connected to a PC for the initial setup. Once registered as a user on myHarmony.com , the assistant will search for the local Wi-Fi access point and help identifying each AV component. This web site is also the place where changes to the button layout of the handheld remote will be defined. The first sync is done via the USB connection to the hub but later it can be initiated from the Harmony Smartphone app.


To deal with its limited number of buttons, two functions can be assigned to each key, one for the short-press, one for the long-press action.

The Harmony app for Android and iOS devices is simple but usable, with clean and proper button layout for each defined activities, where additional buttons can be added if necessary. Gestures are also used for simple control of volume and channel +/-.  The control of specific devices is not that neat: the buttons layout is random/messy and impossible to change. The app is not tablet-ready and shows over sized controls on a Retina display. The current v.2.1.2 is often unresponsive and unstable on Android 4.1.1. Definitely room for improvement.

Phone view of Harmony (Android)

Tablet view of Harmony (Android)

TV Device view: no way to re-arrange the buttons

On the French offer (same would exist for Germany but I didn't details) however, the TV Guide provider Télé7 merged a much nicer looking remote control interface with their own TV Guide.  This app is a real added value to the Logitech product. Let's hope that something similar will emerge for other countries. I've seen something similar but only for Logitech Link in Apple store.

The remote control part can be expanded
into several control panels 

The right control bar slide from the right to reveal
a full remote control.

Conclusion:
The Harmony Smart Hub is an affordable product that succeeds in easily turning smartphones and tablets into URCs. Logitech understood that the best mobile app doesn't beat the instant availability of a dedicated remote control (no unlock, no app launch) and provided a simple one in the kit.
It might however be too simple. In my case, the absence of direct access to devices controls is a pain and for that my old Harmony 600 remains on the coffee table. The IR coverage is impressive
While the mobile app is usable, it badly needs work.

Good:
- Very strong IR range of the hub and IR blaster provided reaching even out-of-sight equipment!
- Currently French customers can use an app integrating both TV program and remote control, which is a true added value giving a much  better experience than with the original Harmony app.

Not so good:
- The original Harmony app badly needs a way to customize the button layout for Devices, no just for Activities
- The original Harmony app is not optimized for tablets
- The provided Bluetooth remote is too limited (no separate device control) despite its ability to host 2 functions per button.

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Mouse without Borders

If you're working with 2 Windows computers side-by-side (or more), you will probably adopt rightly this excellent tool from "The Garage" (a Microsoft geeks nest).

It would already be great if it was only a software alternative to KVM's but it also allows you to share your clipboard between computers as well.


In my profession, I frequently experiment on one PC and document the operation on another. I'm using Greenshot to capture screens and save them in a central network location, but sharing clipboard is sometimes better as you can directly copy/paste picture, text, anything...into the final document.
A menu option allows to send a screenshot to, or receive it from, another PC, but you also can use the PrintScreen button (or Alt-PrintScreen) to get the screenshot directly in the shared clipboard without always openning 'Paint'. An option to automatically save the screenshots to file would be a nice addition . 

Installing:
All it takes, is to download a tiny file (1.1MB) and install it on each computer. A security key will be created to associate only the computers you choose. From that point, your mouse will be able to travel from one computer screen to another by just crossing the 'border'. You need to ensure that your screens disposition in the "Machine matric" matches the real situation. If needed, this can be adjusted by a simple drag an drop.

Get "Mouse without Borders" here

With its large media coverage, this tool from Microsoft brings an another software under the spotlights to people (like me...) who didn't know that such a solution already existed for quite some time: Synergy, a Multi-Platform (Linux, OSX, Windows) and Open Source alternative, which is definitely worth a try!

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Wiimote plus: genuine vs chinese

If a brand is unbeatable for selling the same thing over and over again,  it's well Nintendo (Zelda for GameCube, Zelda for Wii, Zelda for DS, 3DS, ...). The Wii controllers are not forgotten in this game.
Just once you bought enough extra Wiimotes for the whole family, the Motion Plus dongle came out. Now that you eventually equipped all your Wiimotes with this add-on, the integrated version is there...


So do you feel like spending once more a third of the console price in another round of controllers ?

The first Wii MotionPlus Remote can be acquired bundled with the game Wii Motion Play, kind of justifying the price of ~ €45. Then it's about €35.- for each additional unit.
So the low cost alternative is tempting ... but it is a lottery as well!
Anyway let's find out...

I made a random pick on eBay for a red Chinese-mote at €15.- delivered (The red choice is to match the only color that was available for the genuine unit bundled with Wii Motion Play).

The fake remote is visually identical to the Nintendo, too identical...with the same "Wii MotionPlus INSIDE", Nintendo and RVL-003 imprints. This is my biggest problem with this unit: producing a Wii compatible controller is not illegal (see Datel, Bigben, Hubb, Venom...) but copying the brand name and model is, and  stupid: who's seriously thinking it comes from Nintendo when buying at such a low price?

The quality difference is immediately obvious with the plastic. The battery cover in particular is expected to be short lived! The only thing looked so cheapm that I started to wonder if it would actually contain a Motion plus, IR camera, rumble and speaker.

Well, the first test seemed to confirm my expectations...with the pointer going all over the places and no way to target anything accurately!... until I did some adjustments:

- I went to the Wii settings to changed the Sensor bar sensitivity to a lower value. Obviously the camera in those Chinese remotes has a different sensitivity than the originals. This simple step mostly did the trick for me and the remote became stable and accurate (tested with Wii Sport Resort and Wii Motion Play).

- My "sensor bar" was sitting on top of the TV, so I tried moving it below (adjusting the corresponding setting in the Wii setup of course). Some forum suggest that changing the position of the LED bar can help. While it didn't change much for me, it didn't make things any worse. As a third option, most non-Nintendo replacement "sensor bar" on the market are said to increase the accuracy to the remotes, mostly due to brighter LEDs.

Once the remote accuracy was resolved, I tested the compatibility with the official Nunchuck and it also worked properly.



So it seem that some non-official remotes for Wii can be a good alternative once you don't expect the same build quality for the price difference. Beside the obscure Chinese non-brand remotes, there are alternatives from more renowned manufacturers like Datel Wildfire FX, Bigben LX, Hubb, Venom V-mote, with prices in-between if you don't feel too adventurous.

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More:
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/wii/en_na/settingsSensorBar.jsp

http://www.davidhawley.co.uk/WiiSensorBar.aspx

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Ultimate tool for the tribe's Big Chief

Back in the late 80's, a particular episode from Jim Henson's TV series Dinosaurs, was showing Robbie, the son, , challenging Earl, his father, for the alpha-male supremacy by taking the TV remote from him.

This marked me as the best illustration of a true social fact: whoever holds the remote control, rules the house!

To secure this fact, a sophisticated device that you only can understand is a great help: for me the first Harmony "web-powered" remote control was just that!


Back in 2001, the Canadian company Intrigue Technologies launched a small remote, shaped like a mobile phone, called Harmony 745: the idea was brilliant, the staff behind the web site very responsive, and despite the relative complexity of fine-tuning the configuration directly from the xml source, the remote was very flexible. There was even a page (it actually still exists) to convert waveform files grabbed from other evolved universal remotes (such as Philips Pronto). The developers quickly overcame some difficulties with non-standard waveforms (Nokia, B&O,...) and added support for home automation IR to X10 converters such as IR7243) and soon the H745 could virtually control everything.

Around 2004, Logitech aquired Intrigue Technologies and the Harmony remote range started to be officially distributed in Europe. Logitech even advertised his new remotes through short videos basically claiming "it's so simple, even your wife can used it!" ...Doh!

My next model, the Logitech Harmony 659, was a major evolution, more like a traditional remote, making it simpler to use indeed. The web site also received a lifting and while it became nicer, some options, like the waveform lab page, disappeared.
It would probably still be in use if the soft rubber buttons around the LCD screen had not started to literally liquefy at some stage! This was a know design flaw that many H659 users experienced.









Logitech Harmony 525 and 555: Today, these 2 similar remotes are the entry range of Logitech Harmony, starting at €60, far better and cheaper than the first model (H745) that was around €200!

Resources: RemoteCentral.com , Logitech UK

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