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Are there any good bluetooth universal remotes?

post #1 of 12
11/24/09 at 9:59am
Thread Starter 
I did a half-assed search on this forum and came up empty handed, so it's thread-making time.

Does anyone know of any RF universal remotes that use bluetooth? ... Maybe any that also support wifi and can be updated/programmed wirelessly through your home network? When I say "use bluetooth", I mean in addition to being able to control devices like the PS3, they hopefully even can support a wireless bluetooth-to-IR extender like the Logitech and URC remotes' RF-to-IR extenders.

I'm willing to drop a decent amount of cash on my next remote, so I'm basically just trying to find the most future-proof remote possible. So I'm just dreaming up features that I think high-end remotes could/should have.

But really, both of these things seem like obviously useful features that remotes of today should have, but I can't find anything. The closest thing I can find is this, which isn't available yet:

http://www.amazon.com/Ricavision-VAV...9084948&sr=8-4

I'm not really sure what exactly this remote will do yet, either.

Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 12
11/24/09 at 10:56am
No.
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post #3 of 12
11/24/09 at 11:19am
Thread Starter 
Heh, I see...

Anyone know anything more about the remote I linked to? I guess the reason for the lack of options is the dearth of bluetooth-controlled AV devices right now?
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post #4 of 12
11/24/09 at 12:13pm
Bluetooth in a remote is a solution looking for a problem. There is no need for it other than the PS3 for some reason using it instead of adding a $2 IR receiver in addition to Bluetooth.

Just get an IR to Bluetooth converter for the PS3 such as the PS3IR-500 and focus on a nice RF remote and base station combo.

As for the remote that you linked too... if you read the discussion towards the bottom of the page: "This company has purportedly closed operations. Many news outlets have reported that the company is unreachable since October: http://www.cepro.com/article/goodbye...ng_disappears/. Amazon should not still be taking orders for this product."
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post #5 of 12
11/24/09 at 12:58pm
Thread Starter 
What problem are you saying it poses? It's a little extra initial complexity, I suppose, but it's pretty handy otherwise.

Either way, that's a bit of a digression. I guess there just isn't much of a market for it. I mean I understand that even if/when devices do start to support bluetooth/RF controls, they will likely still have an IR receiver, but it would be nice to be able to use the bluetooth/RF capability rather than the IR if I can.

You think a regular IR/RF remote will be all I should need for the foreseeable future?
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post #6 of 12
11/24/09 at 1:32pm
I was just saying that adding Bluetooth to a remote is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

If I wanted something beyond a regular IR/RF remote then I might look into a WiFi campatible remote such as the URC MX-5000. There are also remotes that have the ability to control Z-wave or Zigbee RF systems, such as a Nevo and MX-880z.

However, if you build your lighting system around one of those remotes you are sort of locked in if you plan to upgrade the remote in the future. I think an IR to whatever converter is the best bet to future-proof your setup. If you do happen to find an IR to Bluetooth remote simply to control your PS3 you are missing out on a whole range of possibly better IR/RF remotes. If you simply use an IR to Bluetooth converter to solve that problem you can now purchase virtually any universal remote.

Same goes for RF lighting. Just get an IR to XXXX (Z-wave, Zigbee, X10...) converter and choose any universal remote to control it.
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post #7 of 12
11/24/09 at 3:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bryansj View Post

...I think an IR to whatever converter is the best bet to future-proof your setup. ...

The major problem with this is that you must keep the remote pointed at this generic converter for a few seconds at the start or end of an activity involving sending signals to multiple devices. With an RF to IR solution you push the activity button and forget about the remote's orientation and line-of-sight.

This may or may not be important to a given household. Or, YMMV.
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post #8 of 12
11/24/09 at 6:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaltiDawg View Post

The major problem with this is that you must keep the remote pointed at this generic converter for a few seconds at the start or end of an activity involving sending signals to multiple devices. With an RF to IR solution you push the activity button and forget about the remote's orientation and line-of-sight.

This may or may not be important to a given household. Or, YMMV.

I was assuming that if you purchased a RF remote that you would run an IR emitter from the RF base to the IR to whatever converter. I agree with going to an RF to IR solution. I just don't think it is a good idea to get locked into a particular protocol (besides IR and RF) with the remote.

For example I'm stuck with a Harmony 890 and Z-wave switches. There are very few remotes that I can upgrade to at this point without redoing my lighting. If I had an IR to Z-wave converter (attached to an RF extender's IR emitter) then I could upgrade to any universal remote and keep my Z-wave setup.
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post #9 of 12
11/25/09 at 4:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bryansj View Post

For example I'm stuck with a Harmony 890 and Z-wave switches. There are very few remotes that I can upgrade to at this point without redoing my lighting. If I had an IR to Z-wave converter (attached to an RF extender's IR emitter) then I could upgrade to any universal remote and keep my Z-wave setup.

You can do that with the 890, can't you? I thought it comes with an RF-to-IR extender, which you could then direct towards an IR-to-Z-wave converter, right?
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post #10 of 12
11/26/09 at 5:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RocketGuy3 View Post

You can do that with the 890, can't you? I thought it comes with an RF-to-IR extender, which you could then direct towards an IR-to-Z-wave converter, right?

Yes you can. I guess what I'm not happy with is that the 890 directed me towards Z-wave since it had it built-in. However, there might have been a better solution for me than Z-wave. This is just hindsight.
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post #11 of 12
11/26/09 at 11:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bryansj View Post

Bluetooth in a remote is a solution looking for a problem. There is no need for it other than the PS3 for some reason using it instead of adding a $2 IR receiver in addition to Bluetooth.

- Exactly. It's bad enough trying to get a PS3 or Wii controller synched up if it gets out of sync for some reason. Sony can't even seem to do things right with their premeir BT system. The last PS3 firmware introduced a lot of BT synching issues for a lot of people.
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post #12 of 12
1/28/13 at 7:43am
Check out TuneLink Home from New Potato Technologies... it's also a Bluetooth audio receiver. There's an IR output on the back of the unit that can be used for hidden components... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008LTJKU8/ref=s9_simh_gw_p107_d2_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1MZJTPM5ASR7V45NAZMC&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846
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