Logitech puts home entertainment smarts in the remote control for everything

It’s only logical. If you want to have smarter home entertainment systems that are capable of talking to each other, you have to have smarter remote controls.
Logitech is launching the Harmony 700 remote control today in the name of simplifying home entertainment. It’s one more universal remote in a long line of remote controls that try to unify all of your living room devices. But it’s interesting how much progress the company — whose mission in life is to create mice and electronic periperhals — is making toward the simplicity mission. In the process, the humble remote control is getting a makeover as a smart device that might be worth buying for more than a few bucks.
There are those who think that the remote control is a strategic device that can tie together all sorts of consumer electronics gadgets. It’s not a crazy idea, and it may become more and more fashionable as our living rooms get more crowded with game machines, TVs, settop boxes, music players and such. There are theories that Apple wants to open up a much bigger AppStore on AppleTV one of these days, with all sorts of apps that could be controlled through an iPhone that doubles as a remote control.
For now, this rechargeable device features a color screen and one-click controls. It can replace up to six remotes and should work fine as a master control as long as you don’t forget how to operate it. The color liquid crystal display screen helps a lot. You can click on “watch a DVD” and your remote takes over. If you’re watching TV, the display will show you icons for your favorite channels. You can jump to those with a single click. You won’t even have to remember the channel number.
The device comes with rechargeable AA batteries that can go several weeks between charges. You can plug it into an adaptor when it’s time to recharge. You don’t have to punch codes into your remote to program it. Instead, you connect the remote to your PC or Mac, go to Logitech’s site and then download the software. You will be prompted to enter the name of your component (that you want to control) and the model number. The Logitech Harmony software will then put your Logitech Harmony 700 in control of that device. It is compatible with 250,000 home entertainment devices.
Of course, this kind of remote isn’t cheap. It will be available in the U.S. and Europe in September for $149.99. There are going to be all sorts of schemes to control your home entertainment systems, usually in the name of someone who wants to build a consumer electronics empire. Logitech has thrown its hat in the ring, and there will be others. Maybe we’ll wake up one day and find that we love our remote controls more than our iPhones. Stranger things have happened.