a primary encounter with a multitouch device gets any active imagination running, so needless to say a house theater fan thinks it is able to make for the final word remote. But can any of that promise be realized within the dead zone that’s the consumer handheld remote control space? The leader of that dead zone is able to give it a try with the Harmony Link — a WiFi-to-IR bridge in an effort to control your TV from any room of the home via an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android device. For $100, it is a setup that promises to blend ease of programming with network connectivity and multitouch control. So exactly how good is Logitech’s attempt? We’ll reveal that when the break, after all .
Hardware
The Harmony Link fits within the palm of your hand, should blend nicely with most any home theater and at the least requires a small wall-wart power supply and a line of sight to the equipment it’s controlling. The little green light provides the assurance that each one systems are a go without being so bright to the purpose of being a distraction. There are two IR emitter ports at the back for those who’d favor to hide their equipment, or the Harmony Link itself, but just one blaster is included. Lastly, there’s a USB port, used in the course of the WiFi configuration and when learning new IR codes — nearly all of the configuration is finished via WiFi. What’s apparently missing is support for a RS-232 port for 2-way control , or any optional sensors like power or video-out which may raise the accuracy of macros by confirming equipment is on or off.
Programming
Setup was a cinch attributable to the MyHarmony.com configuration wizard, because it knew all of the IR codes of everything we would have liked to manage (namely, our HDTV, AVR, Media Center and Blu-ray player). You plug the Link into your computer via USB, direct your browser to MyHarmony.com and follow the prompts — although many browsers aren’t supported which might be tricky to figure out as a result of the misleading wording of the mistake.
But here’s where we bumped into our first problem. Logitech wants you to purchase a Harmony remote, but only one, as each remote requires its own MyHarmony.com account, because of this hopefully you may have as many email addresses as you do remotes. After adding in the whole model numbers of your devices, you could create Activities to construct macros automatically by answering such things as which TV input is your Blu-ray connected to. When you are lucky, things couldn’t be simpler, but simple configuration usually means limitations. If things just don’t work, the ability so as to add your personal discrete HEX IR codes and other miscellaneous fixes just aren’t at the table. Other customizations like button layout and appear and feel also are not within the mix. We do appreciate the simplicity and the truth that the programming is completed via our computer instead at the iPad or iPhone — especially since our configuration is saved on MyHarmony.com.
Like most remotes, the Harmony Link relies solely on IR, which really exposes it to a lot of opportunities for things to get out of sync — and the scary Harmony Help. Its Activities are basically macros and break down if an IR signal doesn’t make it to the device or if someone turns the television on via the flexibility switch or uses a unique remote. Although IR is the de facto standard in AV handheld remote control, there are numerous other options available on varies devices like RS-232 and IP control via such things as 0 DLNA 0 . While these aren’t even options on an ordinary programmable remote, it’s a big missed opportunity for a tool just like the Harmony Link because it is designed to live next to the devices it controls, gets plugged into the wall and is already network connected.
Usability
Both the iPhone and the iPad remote interfaces look great, launch quickly and resume when multitasking, as any good app should. The indisputable fact that all you need to do at the iOS device is install the app and login via the identical MyHarmony.com account, is greatly appreciated. You get things started by selecting one of many activities, like Watch TV, after which wait because the Harmony Link seems to take a life-time to emit your complete IR codes required. Multiple iPads do stay in sync, though, as you turn activities the entire remotes update their screens accordingly — you possibly can use two to manipulate your house theater jointly. The long delays continue as you are trying to quickly navigate menus, of course there is a noticeable lag in comparison with the remote that came with the device. This combined with the dearth of gesture-based control at the iPad version, makes navigating on-screen menus a nauseating experience as you repetitively lookup and down.
0 Now, we absolutely love the concept of using a touchscreen for a handheld remote control, but another big miss by the Harmony Link is its inability to integrate with a conventional Harmony remote. While there are occasions when nothing beats a touchscreen, there are numerous others whilst you can’t beat an old-fashioned, wand remote. Theoretically, you are able to switch from side to side, but with the style the Activities work, you’d in general need to turn off your TV and back directly to switch between remotes. Or hold your give up the emitter at the physical remote and let it think it’s doing something your Harmony Link already did — let alone program them both separately. It would’ve been really cool if Logitech would’ve designed the Link to work in cooperation with its other Harmony remotes, but for the reason that is all done in software, who knows what’s to return.
Harmony Link and the iPad
Using your phone as a remote is pretty slick, but chances are you’ll take a phone with you while another person desires to watch TV, and the screen isn’t exactly large enough to do anything terribly interesting. It’s where the iPad app is available in. The 1st difference we noticed during setup at the iPad is that we were prompted for our TV provider. The reason being quickly revealed as we were presented with a view of what is on TV right away. While that view is inviting, it’s not familiar.
1 We’re always seeking new how you can discover content, but if all else fails we love to return to the old faithful grid guide, that’s glaringly absent. The clip art does look cool, though, but isn’t high-quality. You could tap Watch Now on a show and wait while the Harmony Link fires off the entire required IR signals to tune to that show, but that’s about it. We would’ve appreciated more show info, links to other shows, just like the one in question, or maybe the power to share what we’re watching with our friends — like another 1 iPad apps available 1 . You could search to work out what’s on now, but not what’s approaching sooner or later. Due to a technique nature of IR, the app also doesn’t know what you’re watching rapidly, can’t offer you easy access to what is to your DVR or assist you to quickly record something without navigating on-screen menus. The opposite big miss — that we’ve actually never seen before — is a sports mode. What we mean is that it might be really cool while you could quickly see each of the physical activities that were on in the present day, their scores and be one tap faraway from changing the channel to that game without ever knowing which channel it’s on.
The only last missing feature, that the 2 competition 2 does have, is integration with services like Netflix or Hulu. The facility to regulate a suite-top or TV with this sort of over-the-top services would obviously be very useful, but even an inventory of all of your viewing options that included both shows that were on TV now in addition to shows on your queue. Leverage this integration that can assist you discover content and also you may have something really special.
Wrap-up
Like most Harmony products from Logitech, the hardware is astounding and the software leaves lots to be desired. Sure, it is easy to program and stand up and running, but going outside the box even a bit isn’t something we’d recommend trying. Combine that with an inability to customise the button layout, no gesture control at the iPad version and the bare-bones touchscreen features, and we will consider other IR-to-WiFi bridges that may be a better choice. If all you will need is the fundamentals and love how simple MyHarmony.com is to apply, then here’s still the missing-IR-link for you, but anyone attempting to find a better great point in home theater control can keep looking.
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