Unity turns iPhone, iPad into ultimate remote

June 5, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

These days, remote controls are how we control all of our electronic entertainment products. Trouble is, each device usually has its own remote control to operate it. Typically, the TV has its own remote, the cable/satellite box has another, the audio receiver has its own, another for the DVD player, the list goes on and on.

Over the years, there have been many attempts to get a handle on this situation, but for many, there’s still a handful of remotes you need just to sit down and watch a movie on your TV set. The TV manufacturers these days usually make their remotes adaptable to control other devices.

At the very least, the cable and satellite providers make a good attempt at making their remotes universal.

My DirecTV, for example, lets me program the remote to control the aforementioned devices. However, if I want to do more than just turn on the TV set and adjust the volume — say, watch a DVD, I have to pick up and deal with another remote for the DVD player.

Then there are the so-called Universal Remotes that try to control a variety of media products, and there are some out there that do a really good job of it. These devices usually fall into one of two basic categories: learning remotes or pre-programmed versions.

Learning remotes require you to have the original remote. Via a variety of sequences, these remotes can actually read the signals from the original remotes and do a pretty good job.

The other class of remotes comes already pre-programmed with the codes for different manufacturers. You simply tell them the make and model of the device you wish to control and it’s done. Depending on the remote you buy, you can typically control from three to 10 devices.

I like the Harmony Remote from Logitech because it’s a pre-programmed version and you can also download the latest codes from the Internet, even set it up to control several devices with a single button.

For those of you who own an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, there’s a brand-new device you need to know about. GEAR4’s Unity- Remote lets you control most all of your media devices via your Apple device, yet it does so in an interesting and unique manner.

The UnityRemote is a small, black, polished, cylindrical device that sits anywhere near your media gear. And while the Unity- Remote is small enough, you just may want to put it where everyone can see it, as it’s like a little work of technology art. You download the UnityRemote app and you are ready to set things up.

The UnityRemote supports all media devices that use an infrared remote — most do these days— and it is both pre-programmed and a learning remote all in one, so you get the best of both worlds. Depending on what you want to control, you simply touch your iPhone’s screen and it’s done. You can even set up one virtual button to perform multiple actions.

For example, pressing one button on your iPhone will turn on your TV, stereo system and DVD player. But it really goes a lot further than just pushing buttons on your iPhone’s screen. Unity-Remote takes advantage of the multitouch display so it can also recognize gestures. Swiping your finger from left to right, for example, can turn everything on and left to right to turn everything off, or it can control volume, change channels, whatever you assign the gestures to be.

The UnityRemote app is customizable, so you can create new devices on the screen and move function buttons around to suit your needs, and it’s extremely flexible. The UnityRemote uses low-power Bluetooth to communicate to your iPhone and has a 360-degree emitter so that you pretty much just have to place it on a table. As long as it’s within line of sight, the UnityRemote should be able to control any device in the room.

Check out the UnityRemote at the GEAR4 website and watch the video to see it in action. The UnityRemote sells for $99 and can be ordered there as well. Now your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad can control even more things in your life. Sweet.

For information, go to http://us.gear4.com/showcase-unity.

Craig Crossman is a national newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the No. 1 daily national computer radio talk show, “Computer America,” heard on Business TalkRadio Monday through Friday, 10 p.m.-midnight. For more information, visit his website at www.computeramerica.com.

2011, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services