Logitech Harmony Remote

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Harmony 670, an activity-based universal remote
Harmony 670, an activity-based universal remote

Logitech Harmony Remote is a line of universal remote controls manufactured and sold by Logitech.

Contents

[edit] History

The Harmony was originally created in 2001 by the Canadian company, Easy Zapper and first sold in November 2001.[1] The company later changed its name to Intrigue Technologies and was located in Mississauga Ontario, Canada. It was later acquired by computer peripheral manufacturer Logitech in May 2004 for twenty-nine million dollars.[2]

[edit] Products in production

  • Harmony One (American region)
  • Harmony 1000 (American region)
  • Harmony 895 (European region)
  • Harmony 890 (American region)
  • Harmony 885 (European region)
  • Harmony 880 (American region)
  • Harmony 785 (European region)
  • Harmony 720 (American region)
  • Harmony 688 (European region) (discontinued)
  • Harmony 670 (American region)
  • Harmony 620 (American region)
  • Harmony 659 (American region)
  • Harmony 555 (European region)
  • Harmony 550 (American region)
  • Harmony 525 (European region)
  • Harmony 520 (American region)
  • Harmony for Xbox 360 (American region)

[edit] Harmony One

The newest (as of January 2008) in the product line, the Harmony One features a color touch screen and is rechargeable. It does not offer any RF capability.

[edit] Harmony 1000

The Harmony 1000 is has customizable touchscreen commands, sounds and a rechargeable battery. It is also compatible with the RF extender.

[edit] Harmony 890/895

The Harmony 890/895 is the second most expensive remote of the product line. It is also the only remote to feature radio frequency (RF) component enabling the remote to control devices even without line-of-sight to and from different rooms up to a range of 30 meters.[3] [4]

[edit] Harmony 880/885

The Harmony 880 was the first Harmony with a color LCD screen and a rechargeable battery. The Harmony 885 remote has extra buttons as mentioned below. Most Logitech websites show the Logitech 880 as their image of choice in representing the Harmony range. The 885 replaces up and down keys with four colour keys used for teletext and more recently by some set top boxes.

[edit] Harmony 670

The Harmony 670 is a mid-range universal remote that offers most of the functionality in the Harmony line. The 670 has a monochrome LCD screen and puts DVR functions in the middle of the remote. [5]

[edit] Harmony 620

The Harmony 620 is functionally identical to the Harmony 670, but comes in black instead of silver/black. It is only available from Target retail stores.

[edit] Harmony 659

Harmony 659, an activity-based universal remote
Harmony 659, an activity-based universal remote

The Harmony 659 is another mid-range universal remote that offers most of the functionality in the Harmony line. It has a monochrome LCD screen. [6]

[edit] Harmony 550

The Harmony 550 is a mid-range remote that is similar in functionality to the Harmony 659 and 670, but with a different button arrangement and a squared-off physical design compared to the hourglass design of the 6xx series. It has a backlit monochrome LCD screen.[7]

[edit] Harmony 360

The Harmony 360 is pre-configured to be used with the Xbox 360 console, and has special buttons, X, Y, A, B and media center control, correlating with the same as found on native Xbox controllers. [8]

[edit] Harmony Remote software

The remote software allows users to update the remote configuration, learn IR commands, and upgrade the remote's firmware.

Early versions of the remote software were browser based only. Newer versions are Java based, but the software still requires constant internet connectivity to work, as remote control codes are actually downloaded on demand from Logitech, allowing updates to product database and to remote codes and sequences to be easily distributed. This also allows Logitech to survey their market in order to determine products for investigation and research. The Harmony control software is compatible with Windows and Mac OS X. A group of developers are currently working on Harmony Remote software for the Linux platform[9].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Easy Zapper, Inc. (September 27, 2001). "New Harmony Universal Remote Links Home Entertainment to the Internet". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
  2. ^ Logitech (May 5, 2004). "Logitech Acquires Intrigue Technologies, Maker of Acclaimed Harmony Remote Controls". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
  3. ^ Logitech Harmony 895 Advanced Universal Remote
  4. ^ Logitech Harmony 890 Advanced Universal Remote
  5. ^ Harmony 670
  6. ^ Harmony 659
  7. ^ Harmony 550
  8. ^ Harmony 360
  9. ^ Concordance Project

[edit] External links