Gallery: Our Remote Controls Are Amazing, Yet Nobody's Happy
01sony-controller-for-google-tv
We hate our remotes. Every electronic media device comes with its own remote. We lose them and can't control our stuff without them. They break. We confuse them with each other. It's too hard to do simple things. It's way too hard to do hard things. We ask too much of them. The batteries die, and they all take different batteries. They're uncomfortable. They're unresponsive. What we do with our hands doesn't match what's happening on the screen. And the software that's on the devices that are controlled by the remote is frequently terrible. And occasionally, as with Sony's controller for its upcoming Google TV, the remotes just boggle the mind with their [ugliness and complexity](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/sony-google-tv-remote-leaked-designed-in-1980/). We're not alone in disliking remotes. The preceding litany of problems comes from what readers told *Consumer Reports* in an article titled "[Readers Dislike TV Remotes](http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/10/tv-remote-control-universal-remotes-user-reviews-opinions-love-hate-features-buttons-complexity-simplicity-ease-of-use.html)." Now we have an emerging class of internet-connected media devices with powerful software designed to make navigating TVs and movies easier. Google TV, Apple TV, TiVo and Roku join game consoles like Sony's Playstation 3, XBox 360 and Nintendo's Wii in providing multimedia content on the biggest screens in our house. But however sophisticated the software, all of these devices still need hardware devices for us to control them. It's quite likely that some of these devices won't be dedicated remotes at all, but phones, tablets or other handheld media devices running apps. We might use these apps to control not just our TVs, but our entire house. That's one vision of the future of remote control. Here, we want to examine the other side of the equation: dedicated hardware controllers. From traditional remotes to mini-keyboards, video controllers and devices that combine all three, here are 15 devices that offer you a glimpse of everything that's good and bad about the current generation of remote controls. __Above:__ Sony's Google TV Controller --------------------------- __WIRED:__ Offers all the control you could want. Full QWERTY keyboard for text entry, which is essential for search -- sure to be a key part of the Google experience. Raised buttons with different feel make it easier to use in the dark. It's even got tab, control, number and function keys -- not dependent on software to get it done. __TIRED:__ Sheer size of the thing will be a deal-breaker for some. In different shades of gray, it doesn't look like a device from 2010. Too many buttons could be confusing or intimidating to non-expert users. *Image: ABC News*
02remote
Apple Remote ------------ __WIRED:__ Apple's aluminum remote, now shipping with all new-model Apple TVs, is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Sony's Google TV remote: It sets the standard for elegant minimalism. It distills controls to three essential functions: direction, play/pause, and menu. This is all you need to browse your iTunes library. Separating Menu from Play/Pause even lets music play in the background while you browse. __TIRED:__ All that minimalism comes at a price. You have very limited control, especially over text entry. This is a big hassle when performing search or trying to change settings or wireless networks. Remote uses infrared, not Bluetooth, so it's limited to line-of-sight. It's a basic device that looks like a backup or placeholder next to the touchscreen controls offered on iOS devices using Apple's Remote app. *Image: Apple*
03tivo-slide
TiVo Slide ---------- __WIRED:__ Threads the needle between remote and keyboard: full QWERTY text entry when you need it, classic remote look and feel when you don't. Its button layout is nearly identical to TiVo's other remotes, making it an easy upgrade for dedicated TiVo users. Backlit keys mean you can type in the dark. Bluetooth means you don't need an infrared line of sight to control the TV. __TIRED:__ Shorter than TiVo's other peanut-shaped remotes. Some users find it less optimal in-hand. Keyboard is small -- a necessary tradeoff, but text-happy users might prefer a small wireless keyboard rather than one that has to fit inside a conventional remote. *Image: TiVo*
042010-10-06-logitech-revue-5
Logitech Revue -------------- __WIRED:__ Logitech's included remote for the Revue Google TV set-top box puts the keyboard front and center. Built-in touchpad makes navigating Google TV's screen entry intuitive for anyone who's used a laptop or touchpad on a Bluetooth keyboard. __TIRED:__ Design is clunky compared to some of Logitech's other remote and keyboard offerings. May leave the remote part of remote control too far behind. Most users will not be used to changing channels by entering numbers without a telephone-style grid keypad. Like the Apple, feels like a basic entry for Logitech. Goal is to get consumers to upgrade to slicker products or use Logitech's Android remote app on their phones. *Image: Logitech*
05logitech-dinovo-mini
Logitech DiNovo Mini -------------------- __WIRED:__ If you want to go full-keyboard, Logitech's DiNovo Mini is the way to do it. Designed and built for media center PCs, it will also work with Logitech's Google box or any other Bluetooth-capable box. Clamshell + landscape lets it naturally hide away, Unlikely to get lost. __TIRED:__ It's not a remote. People who want media center PCs can get them; the whole point of a digital set-top box is to get something simpler, more familiar to traditional TV users, that integrates with their existing home-theater setup. *Image: Logitech*
06logitech-harmony-900
Logitech Harmony 900 -------------------- __WIRED:__ Logitech makes some of the best universal remotes around. The Harmony 900 looks great, has a full set of hardware keys that will be natural for anyone experienced with contemporary remotes, and adds a small touchscreen for menu navigation and RF capability for controlling devices outside the line of sight. (This is particularly important for universal remotes controlling more than one device, since the line-of-sight isn't always the same.) It's also got a rechargeable battery. __TIRED:__ For $400, you could buy an Android tablet and run Logitech's software on it. It wouldn't be a remote, but you can't watch movies, play games, read books or do light computing on a remote. *Image: Logitech Harmony ONE*
07logitech-harmony-1100
Logitech Harmony 1100 --------------------- __WIRED:__ Like its sister remote the 900, it's packing RF wireless and a rechargeable battery. But instead of putting a small touchscreen on a remote, the 1100 places a small remote on a tablet-sized touchscreen. If you love touch controls and want to use them for all of your devices, this could be a great pick. __TIRED:__ Just as expensive ($400) as the 900. Likewise, touchscreen tablets, whether Android or iOS, with remote control apps (including Logitech's) are quickly catching up. *Image: Logitech*
08boxee-0
Boxee ----- __WIRED:__ Boxee's remote is most often held up as the design that gets the keyboard-vs.-remote balance right. On one side, a simple remote; on the other, a capable keyboard. __TIRED:__ This may not be as important on Boxee's interface as some others, but where are the number keys? Again, if you've got nonalphabetic characters in your network passwords, or you want to search for *District 9* rather than "District," you might have a headache. Also, the Boxee remote's been delayed and altered a few times with the box. It's not clear if this will be the model that will turn up if and when it appears. *Image: Boxee*
09xr-roku-angleremote
Roku Remote ----------- __WIRED:__ Roku's remote is as no-nonsense as the box itself. It's here to get you to your content, which is first-rate. Looks and functions like a half-dozen remotes you probably already have. __TIRED:__ Looks and functions like a half-dozen remotes you probably already have. I can guarantee that I would lose this remote. *Image: Roku*
10motorola-nxyboard-remote-control
Motorola NYXBoard ----------------- __WIRED:__ Motorola's NYXBoard remote for HDTVs is similar to Boxee's, in that it's got a QWERTY keyboard on one side and a traditional remote interface on the other. Motorola's NYXgreen has a quick-charging battery that can complete recharge in less than 60 seconds. __TIRED:__ These aren't retail devices. Really, they're designed for hotels, which eat up batteries like crazy and often offer internet and gaming in addition to pay-per-view on the screen. Still, smart concepts here. *Image: Motorola*
11wiimote-762302
Nintendo Wiimote ---------------- __WIRED:__ Nintendo's Wiimote is a breakthrough game controller, but it's increasingly being used as a device to navigate media content. It was also the first game control that looked and felt more like a remote control than a videogame controller -- you pointed it, moved it around and clicked buttons, holding it your hands just like a remote. The positional device works like a mouse: dragging a software fingertip over your selection. The built-in motion-sensing and gesture controls have begun to influence designers of conventional remotes, like [LG with its Magic Wand](http://www.twice.com/article/456395-Hillcrest_Tech_Used_In_LG_Magic_Wand.php). Netflix recently added search capabilities to its Watch Instantly services for the Wii, so we may see even more users entering text to watch movies and TV from their Wiimotes. __TIRED:__ The Wiimote may be the worst possible device to enter text on the planet. There's a virtual keyboard on the screen. You drag your finger over the keys, then click a button. However, clicking the button often changes (ever so slightly) the position of the remote, which in turn introduces a whole new range of typos. Has a half-dozen add-ons, none of them designed for television or web browsing. It's a device that's designed in work in multiple orientations, but doesn't shine in any of them outside of playing videogames. *Image: Nintendo*
12sony-move
Sony Move --------- __WIRED:__ Sony's answer to the Wiimote, it relies on [slightly different technology](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/playstation-move-controller-is-like-a-smartphone-inside/): Instead of a camera on the controller, it uses a camera sensor above your television set to gauge position and direction. It claims to be both more accurate and more immersive than the Wii, since it can actually photograph the remote and your body. __TIRED:__ Sony may have had an even tougher challenge than Nintendo in trying to combine media controller with game controller in its remote. Because of the PS3's built-in Blu-ray playing, more users are already using their Sonys to play media, not just games. The Move doesn't really change that. If the WiiMote was a game controller that looked and worked like a remote, the Move is a game controller that looks a little like a PS3 controller (whose buttons are so sensitive, they don't work well as remote) and a little like a WiiMote, but doesn't really function like a remote. Plus, it's expensive: Controller and camera together cost $90. *Image: Sony*
13sony-ps3-remote
Sony PS3 Remote --------------- __WIRED:__ Instead, Sony users find themselves buying dedicated DVD remotes to control the Blu-Ray for their PS3s. This model adds Bluetooth functionality, and it's cheap: $25 retail, although you can usually find it for less than $20. __TIRED:__ Stinks to have to buy an extra remote. Can't be used for gaming, or really for multimedia. *Image: Sony*
14screen-shot-2010-10-06-at-11-26-42-am
Brooklyn Three-In-One --------------------- __WIRED:__ Brooklyn's Three-In-One remote for PS3 combines a simple, standard remote with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and videogame controls. It's one a very small handful of devices that tries to address everything that can be done on the new generation of set-top boxes: video entertainment, gaming and the web. It also costs less than $50. __TIRED:__ Doing everything makes no one happy, especially reviewers. It's too big to work as a primary game controller. The QWERTY keys and games are too small and don't give enough tactile feedback. By all accounts, it's a solid remote, but this might be one area where all-in-one is just too much. *Image: Brooklyn/Amazon.com*
15zenith-remote-660x495
Zenith Space Command -------------------- The first remote control ever made, the original [Zenith Space Commander](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gadgets/displays/magazine/test2007/vg_greatestgadget) wasn't even electronic: It used mechanical switches underneath its four buttons that sent out ultrasound in different frequencies. A receiver on the television used those frequences to change the channel and the volume. The remote shown here is a later model with a slightly different name. __WIRED:__ Simple, easy-to-use interface gave you control over everything you needed at the time: Changing channels, raising or lowering the volume, muting the sound, turning the television on or off. The now-obsolete remote shown in this photo has an even better secret feature: It [conceals a TV-B-Gone](http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/VintageRemote), making it into a universal Off switch for most brands of television. __TIRED:__ Doesn't work with most consumer devices made since the 1980s. *Image: [oskay/Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/297852961/in/photostream/)/Creative Commons license*
