Beacon for Android uses hardware and an app to control your home entertainment system.The hardware part connects wirelessly to your tablet or smartphone using Bluetooth. It then turns the BT commands your phone sends out into IR commands your home theater gear can understand. The app has a database of 200,000 devices that it can control, and also has an integrated guide that tells you more about the programs and tells you what is on.

You can buy Beacon for either Android or iOS now for $69.99 (USD) over at the Griffin website.

The ANDI-ONE can interact with devices via Wi-Fi, IR or RF. It also remembers the last 20 actions that you made, so you can quickly search the list and repeat them, although frankly I don’t know exactly how this works, or what it counts as an action. You can also set up macros and organize devices by room. Downloading channel guides is also an option.

But more than that, the Android 2.1 remote is also a portable media player. It can have up to 8GB of internal memory and supports microSD cards up to 64GB. You can watch videos on its 3.5″ touchscreen, connect a 3.5mm jack or just use its built-in speakers and play tracks on it, and you can even download and use over 10,000 Android apps. You can even make VOIP calls on it. And what about its charging cradle? In addition to having a couple of 3W speakers, an HDMI port and an Ethernet port, you can also dock an iPhone or iPad on it.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I wonder why the remote in the video has a different layout than the one on Conspin’s website; must be a prototype or something. Anyway, now that you know what the ANDI-ONE is capable of, you’d be a fool to think that this remote is cheap. Its suggested retail price is $350 (USD), but Krex already has it listed at about $290. They’re out of stock right now though. If you’re looking to replace your your remote and your Android media player, keep an eye out for the ANDI-ONE.

[via Conspin & Talk Android via Gadgetell]

The front side of the Smart Qwerty has all your standard home theater and media controls for playback, device selection, changing channels and audio. But flip the remote over, and you’ll discover a 66-key QWERTY keyboard. There’s also a trackball mouse for speedy navigation. A built-in gyroscope figures out which side is currently facing up.

The Smart Qwerty’s front is a six-device IR universal remote, while the keyboard and trackball works with Google TV devices, gaming systems and HTPCs that support USB keyboards. Just plug the included RF dongle into your device, and you have a mini wireless keyboard. It’ll also work in IR mode if your device supports infrared keyboard remotes. There’s no word yet on where you can buy the Smart Qwerty yet, but it will retail for $129.99 (USD) when it eventually hits stores.

Thankfully, before I went crazy or started running around smacking family members with the remote, I found the Logitech Harmony One. The sweet remote lets you set up activities that change inputs and all for you with the press of a button. The downside is that the Harmony remotes tend to be expensive.

Logitech has unveiled a new remote today called the Harmony 300. This remote lacks the LCD screen and activities functions of its big brethren, but is cheap. The 300 will replace four remotes and can be yours for $49.99 (USD). It also uses a cloud programming system that promises to be very easy. I say spend the extra $50 bucks and get a Harmony remote with activities, otherwise you are still going to have to change the inputs for someone in your house.

For those of you out there who have put their PlayStation 3 at the center of their home entertainment system because of its stellar Blu-ray player, you know what a pain it is to control both your PS3 and your other A/V devices because of Sony’s choice of Bluetooth instead of IR as their remote communication protocol.

The new Blu-Link remote combines both Bluetooth and infrared capabilities in a single remote control. While it’s not as full-featured as higher-priced universal remotes, the six-device remote does have built-in support for hundreds of brands of consumer electronics, plus it can “learn” infrared commands from other devices as well. It’s also got all of the specialized controls for interacting with Blu-ray discs, as well as dedicated PS3 control buttons. With one of these in hand, you really can think about throwing your Sony Bluetooth remote out in the trash bin.

Priced at just $49.95 (USD) it’s really a great deal if you want to finally pare down from multiple remotes to a single control. You can order the Blu-Link now over at Interlink Electronics.

The cool.con remote control fits neatly into the palm of your hand, and features a bumpy exterior that’s designed to provide a pressure-point massage to your hand as you sit on the couch flipping through your favorite channels. They’ve even provided this handy palm reflexology diagram to help you get the greatest phony health benefit out of your channel-surfing experience.

Who knew you could get rid of a stomach ache while you watched Law and Order:SVU? Or that you could fix that case of chronic bronchitis as you flip over to an old re-run of Matlock? Who knew?

Currently, the cool.con controller is available only in Korea, where it’s available through Funshop for 15,500 KRW (appx. $13 USD). Maybe the same guys will come out with a hand-massaging iPhone case – I might actually buy one of those.

Now I’m sure you’ve all seen this remote control interface floating around the net, but let’s have a look at it once more to compare it with the Xsight Touch. This is “Everyone’s Remote”:

Haha. Funny. But when you think about it… It works. So how does the Xsight Touch compete with it’s cardboard covered cousin? By using a touchscreen interface. Universal Electronics claims that the Xsight doesn’t need a manual to set it up. To pair it with your devices, all you have to do is access a menu on the touchscreen.

Simple so far. Then you choose the brand of the chosen device. Supposedly the Xsight Touch can be used with all widely available home A/V devices.

After picking a brand, the Xsight Touch will then flash a picture of a tiger on your screen to scare you into agreeing that yes, it works. Kidding. Just test if the thing works.

Real simple right? Awesome. If you think that’s advanced, the Xsight can do more than that. It can actually be used to control more than one device with a single-click of a button. It’s useful for people who have quite an elaborate home entertainment setup. Say you have an HDTV, a DVD player, and then a separate home theater. You can lump the controls for turning these things on and setting them up under a single Activity, so that when you want to watch a DVD, all you have to do is click a single button.

Simplicity at its finest, right? Unfortunately, no. You have to use a computer to program the Activity. And that is where the Epic Fail is. The Xsight is a remote that requires people to have computer skills – and a computer -  in order to be fully utilized.

Same with the Xsight’s other great feature. In the ‘Users’ menu you can personalize the touchscreen by assigning the logos of your favorite channels for touch-channel switching. No more memorizing numbers, which means it’s a really helpful feature for very old, very young people or very lazy people.

However, it again requires you to go use a computer to program this option. The Xsight’s product page doesn’t go into details about setting up the remote control on a computer. They do mention that the setup is done over the internet, but the point is that the Xsight Touch isn’t really that simple to use. If you want to maximize it’s functions you’ll have to know a bit of other stuff aside from button-pushing.

But is it useful and versatile? Of course it is. But is it available to people outside the UK? Of course not. Not right now anyway. So if you live in the UK and you’re interested, you can go to Universal Electronics’ site to find a store near your area where you can buy the Xsight Touch, or you can get it at Amazon UK for £147.10 ($202.70 USD). Semi-simple ain’t cheap.

[via Shiny Shiny]

RoboStool has three modes- universal remote, beacon navigation, and thermal sensor following. This video demonstrates the beacon navigation. It looks a little scary when the footstool springs into action, but then again, robots springing into action are always inherently a little scary, no?

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

To explain how he turned this cheap vinyl footstool into this robotic wonder, the creator says, “As with all my current robot projects I’m using the Parallax Propeller Chip on a Proto Board. For the drive I’m using the new Parallax Motor Mount Kit and two HB-25 motor controllers. A third HB-25 is used to control the two ServoCity linear actuators which are used to raise and lower the body and lid.” (Hopefully you understood some of those words because I’m not sure I did.)

This is the latest project from Norris Labs. You can get the schematics to build your very own RoboStool, and learn about previous projects, right here.

[via Make:]