4. Remotes With More Control

Not only does every new flat screen TV, media extender, Blu-Ray and HD DVD player introduced at the show have its own remote, but there was a fine crop of universal remote controls on display as well. These included the Harmony One from Logitech, which reduces the 311 buttons on the five remote controls sitting on the average coffee table down to 40 buttons and a touch screen. Another innovative remote is the VAVE 100 from Ricavision. This is a learning universal remote pre-programmed for Media Center and over 1,500 home entertainment devices, with a combination of fixed and on-screen buttons. Like the Harmony, you can set up macros for complex sequences, like turning on a screen, set-top box and DVD recorder together.

The 2.4” QVGA screen is also a Vista SideShow, and because the VAVE 100 has Bluetooth, you can be getting email, weather reports, stock prices, photos or music from a PC in another room and controlling your TV at the same time. You can even stream music via A2DP Bluetooth from your PC to the stereo speakers on the charging station.

B&O’s new Beo5 universal remote control was inspired by a jeweled scepter, with a touch screen on top of a ball of carefully arranged buttons. The fixed buttons control the same functions with any source: stop, play, fast forward, rewind, volume and so on. The touch screen has the controls that change between devices, which can include logos for your favorite channels, and it’s designed to give you more feedback than most touch screens. When you run your thumb over the screen, the button you’ve selected is highlighted, and when you press it you get “acoustic feedback”. That’s a click designed in co-operation with NASA, based on the control systems designed for astronauts who can’t tell if they’ve physically pushed a button through six layers of gloves. The price is also sky high: $560 for a remote that has to be set up by the dealer!