Good-Bye Clutter: Logitech Harmony 900 Remote Controls

August 11th, 2009 by Ryan McLaughlin

Remote Features New Wireless RF Control, Full-Color Touch Screen; Replaces Up to 15 Remotes

FREMONT, Calif. — Aug. 11, 2009 — Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) today introduced the Logitech Harmony® 900 remote. With its redesigned RF technology, full-color touch screen and intuitive button layout, the rechargeable Logitech Harmony 900 remote makes it easy to enjoy and control your TV, movies, games and music – even when your components are neatly hidden behind cabinet doors.

“Like all Harmony remotes, the Harmony 900 simplifies home entertainment, which is particularly relevant with more and more people staying home to watch movies on their big-screen TVs and enjoying surround sound and hi-def video from the comfort of the couch,” said Ashish Arora, vice president and general manager of Logitech’s Harmony business unit. “Unfortunately, more remotes and more wires tend to be byproducts of increasingly sophisticated home-entertainment systems. With the Harmony 900 remote’s RF technology and ability to control up to 15 devices, you can say good-bye to the clutter while gaining better control of your devices.”

Simple-to-Install RF System

The Harmony 900 remote’s completely redesigned RF system makes it easy to control (up to 100 feet away) a cabinet full of devices without the hassles often associated with RF setups. Just place the included IR blaster and one or two of the mini blasters on the cabinet shelves near the devices you want to control. (Unlike other RF remotes, there’s no need to tape emitters to each of your devices.) Then use the Harmony 900 remote’s color touch screen to choose the devices you want to control with RF. Once setup is complete, you’re free to close the doors on entertainment-system clutter and point your remote anywhere you want.

Easy to Hold, Easy to Use

Based on the award-winning design of the Logitech Harmony® One remote, the Logitech Harmony 900 remote’s intuitive button layout is divided into four distinct zones (numbers; traditional DVD controls; D-pad with volume and channel up/down; and on-screen menu buttons), making it easy to find the right one quickly. Only the 44 most-essential buttons appear on the Harmony 900 remote, and each of those buttons is individually sculpted, providing useful tactile cues so you can operate the remote by touch, rather than having to rely on sight.

One Touch to Your Entertainment

As with all Logitech Harmony remotes, the newest addition to the lineup can have you watching your favorite movie or show with one press of a button. With the Harmony 900 remote, there’s no need for complicated lists and long explanations about how to use your home-entertainment system; it simplifies your entertainment with one-touch activity-based control. The whole family, your friends, and even the babysitter can simply select what they want to do by choosing the appropriate on-screen icon – such as “Watch TV” – and the Harmony 900 remote does the rest. The remote will turn on the TV, the cable box, the A/V receiver and any other necessary devices.

Guided Online Setup

Logitech’s online setup makes getting the Harmony 900 remote up and running as easy as possible. The intuitive setup wizard guides you, prompting you to enter the make and model numbers of your components. The Harmony software then programs the remote with the appropriate IR codes from Logitech’s database of more than 225,000 devices from more than 5,000 manufacturers. And with more device codes added every day, you can be confident that devices you buy tomorrow will be covered, too.

Pricing and Availability

The Logitech Harmony 900 remote is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe in September for a suggested retail price of $399.99 (U.S.). The remote ships with a recharging cradle, rechargeable battery, power supply, IR blaster and two mini blasters. Logitech plans to make additional blasters and mini blasters available online in some regions.

About Logitech

Logitech is a world leader in personal peripherals, driving innovation in PC navigation, Internet communications, digital music, home-entertainment control, gaming and wireless devices. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).

Posted in News, Peripherals | 2 comments

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  • Nunyafb

    I own a Harmony 720 it’s a great remote and until recently I didn’t need a sleep function. So I went to the setup software to add this basic button. to my surprise no such function exists. This is as basic a function as you can have in a universal remote. I’ve seen posting for workarounds but they leave your remote out if synch. I’ve seen post extolling the NEW HARMONY 900 which has this function WOW $400 to add 1 function that should have been there already. Let me say I could build a single purpose robot that could physically push the power button for $400. If Logitech wants to charge everyone for this programming then do so I’ll pay $10 to get something I should already have but if that’s what it takes so be it.

    In “Their” defense there is nothing on the packaging that’s says this function is available, then again there is nothing that says it not, this is because I as well as many of U expected the function to be there in the 1st place. I may buy a new remote and it may cost $400 but it won’t be a Logitech if they won’t stand up and make right what is clearly a wrong.

    Normally I would recommend that if you feel as I do that this function should be there you should send them an email requesting politely that a firmware upgrade B made adding a sleep mode function to all their existing remotes that have internal timers (they all do). Include in the text that they clearly already have the programming code (from the HARMONY 900) and modifying it for the existing remotes would be very easy. Like I said NORMALLY that is what I would recommend except I can’t find anywhere what the customer support email address is. I even tried Googling to find it but no such luck I did find a toll free number for sales it is 800-231-7717 call them and again respectfully request the firmware change. If enough people call their toll free number (Call often) they may get the hint. I’m sure they will delete this message soon so please take action now.

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    • http://www.justechn.com Ryan McLaughlin

      As a professional software developer this topic is personal. I don’t think it is reasonable to expect a company to push back new features to old devices. How would they ever sell a new device if all the old ones automatically got updated? They have to sell new devices to stay in business. When your favorite software program comes out with a new version do you demand that they push back all the new features to the old version for free? How do they get paid for all the time they spent writing the new feature? Why not demand that the TV company add the sleep feature? Then you could use IR capture to add it to the remote.

      Also how could they possibly list all the things it cannot do? Where would it end? Do they need to say “It won’t clean your house” or “it won’t steal your socks?” the list would be endless. You MUST always assume that if the feature is not listed, then it is not included.

      Also their support email is easy to find. It is a form you have to fill out. Here is how you get to it:
      1. go to http://www.logitech.com
      2. click the “Support” link at the top of the page
      3. on the right side of the page lick “Email support”
      4. on the bottom of the page click “Email support”
      5. in the middle of the page click “Email us”
      6. fill out the form and click “Continue”

      Also since you lived without it for so long it is obviously not an essential feature. If you are having trouble sleeping and want to watch TV until you pass out, why not try reading a book. It works for me every time I try it. I am out within a few minutes of picking up a book, and when I do finally fall asleep the book does not need a sleep function to turn off. My latest book was “The Hobbit” I highly recommend it, it is very good.

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