When you're Harmony, the world's leading manufacturer of
universal remote controls, what do you do for an encore to replace your best
selling model ever? You start by listening to what your legion of satisfied customers
and loyal dealers have to say about making improvements, then you tweak
everything to near perfection. And then you haul it off to Vegas to show it off
at CES.
Harmony's latest handheld wonder comes with the very Matrix-like
name, “One.”
It’s the direct replacement for the 880, Harmony’s first remote control to
feature a color LCD screen and the company’s most popular all-in-one remote
solution.
Harmony gave the One a complete design overhaul, ditching
the small buttons flanking the screen and replacing them with a far cooler and
easier to use color touch screen. And where the buttons on the 880 all ran
together in a smooth, seamless look, this remote sports a smartly reworked
layout, making it far more ergonomically friendly — especially important when
trying to operate it in the dark. Another improvement is the flattening of the
880’s rounded backside. While it felt good in the hand, it tended to be prone
to rolling off the arms of chairs or couches, often resulting in the remote
taking an unplanned death plunge to the floor. One’s flatter back will make it
more stable and hopefully eliminate these unscheduled remote replacements.
Users and programmers alike will be happy to know the One still uses Harmony’s
version 7 software and retains the 880’s $249 MSRP. The remote’s due the end of
this month, and should be in my hands for testing shortly thereafter!
—John Sciacca
