Use your iPhone to control your entertainment center: Logitech Harmony Smart Control

Logitech will soon allow you to control your entire home entertainment system from your iPhone using its new Harmony Smart Control system. Centered around a small black box called the Harmony Hub that connects to up to eight devices through Wi-Fi, the Harmony Smart Control lets users control their television, sound system, game console and media players using Logitech’s iOS app.

Control your home theater devices from the iPhone or Android mobile phone you already own. Anyone in the house can download the Harmony iPhone or Android app turn their mobile phone into a personal universal remote control, including 50 favorite channel icons and gesture control.

Although it comes with a remote, the power that this system is supposed to have really centers on the app, which requires iOS 5.0 or later. You can set up the Harmony Hub through the app using Bluetooth, and then configure your devices individually. Then you can use the app to do things like change the channel and control movie playback on a game console. Logitech makes a point of saying that the Harmony Hub can be hidden in a cabinet or on a shelf, getting out of the way. The Harmony app will be free, while the Harmony Smart Control, the Hub with a basic remote, is available for pre-order for $129, and is expected to be released in May.

Source: Logitech