I haven't programmed one of these yet, but I would imagine that you can assign whichever command you want to the normal press and long press of a button.

The lack of dedicated FF/RW and skip buttons does bother me a bit. 95% of the time I use skip, but when using my DVR if I want to FF I usually go at 8x speed, which requires 3 presses of the FF button. Kind of annoying to have to go for 3 half second presses on the button, and if I slip off the button, thus doing a skip, that will change what the DVR is doing.

Well I was at Best Buy today and they had the Harmony Ultimate in stock. I was not in need of a new remote, but the idea that my iphone, ipad could be used as well as being able to control the PS3 changed my mind.

The good news thus far: the software works off the myharmony.com website. My 1100 worked off the old software. I was worried my settings and devices would not move over, but they did!. Sweet!!!!

Download app and it found the hub and controls everything very well!!! Tested with the PS3 and the Wii U and same. Works like a charm!

I also programmed a button, "red button", to be short press to turn ON the LED lights on back of TV and long press to turn OFF. Again this seems to be working well.

The app is very well written!. Very easy to use. It is only coded for iphone, but I downloaded and installed on my Ipad mini. Works very well however you can not use in landscape as the app will not turn.

Also the changes you make on the web can be sync with the device through the app. In other words I went in and made a change. Instead of bring the device to the computer like my 1100, I was able to from the app tell the remote to sync with the database. Worked!!! You can also do this from the website, but seemed cooler from the app.

So far so good. Glad I purchased. Will update more on remote as I get it setup and tested a little more

PS: BB did not have the Smart on in stalk. They had the price marker setup but non available.

anyone have any ideas when the Harmony Smart Control is being released... the $129 remote. I want it as it seems like a better option than the $350 version to me especially since it has numeric buttons.

My media closet is locked away and standing up to do something won't cut it for long (my room was just finished).

Thanks,
BD

Hi guys,

Keith - although one solution will never fit all wrt to the FF vs Skip Forward priority, the situation you're talking about is one reason why FF is the default short-press behavior and Skip FWD is the default long-press. It is easier to quickly press the button 3 or 4 times to get to 8x speed (or whatever your DVR does) than it is to do a half second press multiple times in a row. On the other hand, multiple long presses to skip through multiple commercials seemed more natural in our testing. Basically short press = "a little bit FW" and long press = "a bigger jump forward".

Not perfect, but we did think about it and as has been said by others already, if your personal behavior differs, you can always change it to suit your preferences.

shrktank - glad you're enjoying it so far!

bdunn13 - Smart Control should start shipping to stores at the end of the month.

Cheers,

Ian.

What's the deal with the Play/Pause button? Is it a rocker? Can you do discrete play/pause with the Ultimate?

Yes, just like Harmony One, Play/Pause on Harmony Touch and Ultimate is a rocker and each button is discretely programmable if you want to change the defaults.

Cheers,

Ian.

Hey Ian,

Do you guy know if this will be able to use to control a HTPC. Act a media center remote through WIFI.

XBMC allows control over ip. Would be nice to see this type of functionality.

To add to the previous question (if you don't mind), a great use of the touchscreen for HTPC would be to emulate mouse control. Ian is that something that might ever be implemented?

Thanks

Space2001 & tdx,

Good questions. Short answer to both is Yes. Actually, for Wii and WiiU users today, the Harmony Ultimate already acts like a touchpad for cursor control. It's the only way to navigate the main menu on the TV screen and Harmony Ultimate actually works really well for that.

Although our focus for non-IR control started with Bluetooth game consoles (PS3, Wii and WiiU) and IP lighting (Philips Hue), we do want to expand this type of control for other devices. HTPC is definitely on the list. I can't provide a time frame right now, but I'll update here when I can.

Cheers,

Ian.

Guys, I was one of the lucky ones who was able to get my hands on the Harmony Ultimate prior to its release last week. I have been using it for the past week and have put together some of my thoughts based on my other past Harmony remotes and wanted to share them with the group. I am not an advanced User and my experience is more from the general Users point of view. Hope the information is helpfull. JT

Current thoughts on the Harmony Ultimate Remote from Logitech
May 13, 2013

At the end of April I received an promotional email from Logitech indicating if I were one of the first fifty people to respond I would receive a free Harmony Ultimate Remote. I replied right away and sure enough I received the remote. All Logitech asked in return was to use the remote and provide feedback on it. Here are my impressions so far.

The Harmony Ultimate is a new universal remote from Logitech and is a big step forward from the Harmony Touch which was introduced last year. The Ultimate and the Touch share the same body and button layout. What sets the Ultimate a part from Touch for me are the updated menus, the ability to assign multiple commands to the same physical buttons, the mobile apps for ISO and Android OS and the RF functionality with the included Hub.

There are many changes to the menus on the Ultimate which remove some of the major complaints with the menus on the Harmony Touch. One issue with the Touch was the placement of the “Help” button on the top of the touch screen. When using the transport buttons on Harmony Touch my thumb would often touch the Help and it would be launched inadvertently. Another annoyance was that I would have to drill into the menu to bring up the swipe functions. It seems that Logitech has listen to User’s recommandations and has designed the new menu on the Harmony Ultimate to be more logical and User friendly. The Swipe function now has its own dedicated arrow which launches the Swipe function by dragging the arrow up from the bottom of the screen with your thumb. The Help function has been moved to the main menu and removes the accidental hijacking of the remote’s functions by simply resting your thumb below the transport buttons. The remote also vibrates when one of the soft buttons on the touch screen is selected.

One of the biggest complaints with the Harmony Touch was the limited hard buttons to control the remote. Not having a physical buttons for the skip forward and skip backward functions was for most a deal breaker. All non hard buttons on the Touch were housed with in the remote’s touch screen or menu and required the User to divert their eyes from what they were watching and look at the remote to key enter a command. This was fine for all advanced functions that were not needed by the User for general operation. To remedy the lack of hard buttons, Harmony has provided the ability for the User to designate two commands for each hard button. The User can now assign a short tap for one command and a long tap for another for the same button. This new functionality allows the operator to assign a short tap to the” >>” button to control the Skip forward and a long tap for the fast forward operation. This repurposing of the hard buttons expands the hard buttons available for the User to assign and removes the need to divert the eyes from the screen. So now the User has two methods to skip forward and backward; use the swipe on the screen or a set up the dual tap method on the remotes physical buttons. Using either method is very easy and doesn’t detract from the User’s experience with the Ultimate. It should also be noted that the updated menu and dual button functionality will be available to the Harmony Touch as a firmware update sometime this summer according to Logitech as will the RF functions as well.

The Ultimate also has a mobile app which turns your smart phone into a remote with the included Hub. This is good step forward and is very similar to the Harmony Link that was out a couple of years ago that worked with Smart phones running IOS and Android and also with expanded operations on the IPad. However if you used the Link in combination with the Harmony One for example, the system would be out of synch and would cause chaos with your equipment. The new Harmony Ultimate Hub handles all the work of synching the equipment between the IPhone and the Ultimate remote to ensure smooth operations. I have only used the Iphone and IPad and have yet to try the Android app. There is currently no IPad app, however the IPhone app works on the IPad though it is some what basic compared with the old Harmony Link application that is available for the IPad.

The new RF capabilities really set this remote apart from the other IR remotes that Harmony or other manufacturers have. The ability to have your equipment behind closed cabinet doors or in an AV closet is great. I no longer have to point the remote at the equipment or worry about line of site when executing a command. The Ultimate allows you to make configuration changes on the fly within the remotes own menu. You can also use the web application to make configuration changes to the remote and synch all change whether completed on the remote or the web GUI without connecting the remote to the computer. This is very convenient.

I currently have several Harmony remotes that include the 676, 510, 650, Harmony One, Harmony Link, Harmony Touch and now the Harmony Ultimate. I have always recommended the Harmony line of remotes to my friends and have used the Harmony One as my standard to compare all other remotes to. When the Harmony Touch was introduced last year it had a very good build quality, but there where things that just didn’t measure up to the Harmony One. The lack of skip forward and skip backward hard buttons for instance. The awkward touch screen and the somewhat confusing menu made it hard for me to recommend it. The new Ultimate has changed that and I find myself wanting to use it more and more. It is for these reasons that would recommend this remote. The new web application is also much better and allows the User to carry multiple Harmony remotes with in the same User profile.

Hope this is helpfull. JT

So after the FW updates for the Touch bring RF and dual function buttons, will there be anything to differentiate the Touch from the Ultimate?

Also, can the Touch/Ultimate output IR and RF for any device or is it either/or?

**Edit to add a thanks to JT for his thoughts on the Ultimate**

Thanks baldbull. The Touch doesn't come with the Hub and the Hub would be an add on avalible in the future based on Ian's early comments.

Interesting question. What circumstance would require both IR and RF for the same device? Wouldn't double, slightly out of phase signals cause problems? Is this really a desirable feature?

I agree that it may not usually be desirable, but it's always good to have options. For me specifically I was just thinking about my projector that sometimes doesn't respond to the initial power on command. Repeated power on commands would not negatively affect it. I realize you can configure the number of power on commands to send, but my current remote does both all the time and it hasn't affected me even when the cabinet is open.

My understanding is if the Hub or the Hub's
IR blasters don't reach all units, you have the option to have remote send the IR signal for each selected piece of equipment .

You could fake it by adding duplicate devices, one RF and one IR, then include them both in the macro.

Hi,

IR signals for each device can come from EITHER the remote directly or the Hub & mini blasters (basically IR or RF control). You cannot fire IR from both the remote and the Hub. When controlling devices from the Hub, you can further choose to fire IR from the Hub only.

Baldbull - after updating a Touch, a few physical differences remain between an upgraded Touch and an Ultimate:

• Ultimate has a tilt sensor to activate the LCD and haptic feedback for touch screen interactions.
• Ultimate has a different grip design and darker paint on the underside.

Regarding the RF and Bluetooth functionality and the on-screen menu designs, an upgraded Touch will be the same as Ultimate.

Cheers,

Ian.

This is just incredibly frustrating. For some dumb reason Logitech has switched to a smaller connector for their IR emitters, ignoring what has become a de-facto standard for IR emitters. No longer are the outputs on their hub compatible with my receiver, blu-ray, or Logitech Transporter. Wonderful. I have to see if there's some sort of adapter I can by so I can use the standard IR emitters everyone else seems to use, or perhaps do some wire splicing. This is just unbelievably stupid. If I have to use their giant emitters I have to deal with how to get them outside of my rack and placed where they can somehow blast everything.

Well this is definitely going to delay my transition. Why do companies like Logitech ignore common conventions? I have tons of emitters, from Logitech, TiVo, some TVs, the RF module that works with my AR remote, etc, and all are the same size. All of them. Every device I have that has an IR input on the back is the same size. Every, single, one. Not one of the devices I own uses this smaller size. So many devices provide direct IR input using 1/8" connectors that there is absolutely no reason to use anything else. The only reason someone would do this is to inconvenience the customer. Why would they do that?

Both of which are small but fairly significant, IMO. Thanks.

Well I'm even more unimpressed. First I went to Radio Shack and paid way too much for some 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapters. I ran through the setup routine, for some reason it prompted me twice to input my old account info. Whatever, minor problem. It didn't import the receiver's input for my TV watching activity, and didn't guide me through fixing that. No biggie. I tried one activity, it seemed to work, tried a second, and the remote locked up. The screen just kept acting as if it was executing the activity steps, after turning everything on. I went through the software, it said to connect the remote, it tried updating for a long time, froze on 68%, then it errored out, but left me with no way to exit the dialog it was on. Wow. So after waiting a few minutes I disconnected the cable. Only then did the software prompted me to disconnect the cable. The remote then reset, and I was able to plug it in and get it synced again.

Also, the setup software never guided me through the process of choosing whether to use the hub or the remote to control a particular device. That's a bit short-sighted. The remote can automate fixing that, but it took forever, and then it used power toggle instead of discreet on and off.

The lack a of an easily accessible battery is also a real nuisance. That thing better last a long, long time, well past the time something better comes along. Instructions are provided to remove it though, so I'm sure at some point someone will provide new batteries.

At the moment it is operating multiple IR emitters through a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter, then a 3.5mm Y cable. So at least that works. There's absolutely no reason for this 2.5mm nonsense other than to annoy the customer.

The RF is working better than my Acoustic Research remote. So after enough time, and more money spent on adapters, this will hopefully satisfy my needs. But the software is flaky at this point. I recommend holding off and seeing if Logitech fixes any of these problems.

Another weird hardware design choice, the power for the charger and for the hub use standard USB-micro cables (yay!), but the wall warts they provide are 5.15v @ 1A. Standard for USB is 5v. So will it run off a standard power adapter? I have no idea. And their wall warts are annoyingly wide too, but the plugs aren't polarized so you can turn it either way.

On the positive side, no blue LEDs. The 890's charger has a blue LED ring in it that is always on, I had to color it with a sharpie, and I have a power cable for one of my Squeezeboxes that for some unknown reason has a blue LED nightlight in it. For the Harmony Ultimate there are no LEDs on the charger or on the hub. That's a relief.

So my initial impression is this: Getting it up and running is incredibly annoying. Once it's running it seems pretty nifty. Reliability is a big unknown at this point since it's already locked up once. I'll report back after some more use.

Keith Mickunas "So my initial impression is this: Getting it up and running is incredibly annoying. Once it's running it seems pretty nifty. Reliability is a big unknown at this point since it's already locked up once. I'll report back after some more use."

Keith sorry you ran into problems. I didn't incounter any of the set up bugs that you did when I set up the Ultimate. Maybe because I have been using the software with the Touch and the 650 for a year or so. I did run into problems I remember when setting up the Touch for the first time, but have not had problems since. JT

Why didn't you just add 2 more buttons for Skip and be done with it? It would have made it so much easier than press and hold.

Hello all. Just picked up the new Harmony Ultimate. Has anyone noticed that the backlight for the physical buttons is very low? I know the touchscreen backlight is adjustable but wonder if there is a way to increase the backlight for the physical keys. Compared to the Harmony Touch I own, the backlight for both physical buttons and touchscreen is brighter and the screen is more vibrant than the Ultimate even at max brightness. Has anyone experienced this?

The bigger question is how on earth did any remote get released without them in the first place?: And why would any designer with an ounce of sense put Transport buttons above the Touch screen?

I did some TV watching last night, tried out the transport controls, and the lack of the two sets of forward and back buttons is a nuisance. Near as I can tell they did it for looks, it'd be tricky to incorporate in there without increasing the size of the remote. Still, it just doesn't make sense to not include those buttons, and using the long press for skip isn't the greatest thing in the world. I'm going to flip the short and long press and see how that works for me. I don't think I'll miss those buttons on any other device, but it is very useful for DVRs. And considering the amount of time I use the DVR compared to my other devices it is a noticeable omission.

Having the transport controls at the top of the remote was not a problem for me. Compared to my AR remote the buttons are so dissimilar and placed differently that I won't accidentally press something else. Often times with my AR remote I pressed channel up when I went to press skip forward.

Hi Keith,

The Harmony Ultimate mini blasters are the same as those used in Harmony 900, Harmony Link an the Harmony IR Repeater, products launched over the last 4 years. The original decision on the plug size was partially based on the different electrical current being sent to the mini blasters vs the stick-on type single LED emitters. We do offer 4-ended emitter cables of our own that fit the Harmony Hub without needing an adaptor but I recognize this is frustrating for users like yourself who already have other emitter cables that you want to use.

Out of curiosity, what about your cabinet/rack design make the use of the Hub & mini blasters not viable or at least not easy for you?

Ian.

Ian, I have a rackmount system and at this point only one device, my DVR, needs an IR emitter on the front of the rack. Running a cable to the front of the rackmount is a bit of a nuisance, there are a few places where one can be run, however doing so often requires temporarily removing a device or at least a faceplate so I can pull the wire through the front. And if the IR emitter can't be stuck on somewhere where it can easily blast the equipment that will be another problem.

Of the seven devices I have that need IR three of those have direct IR input using the standard 3.5mm connector (technically 4 have that input, but the Motorola DVR doesn't recognize IR via that input). Three others reside in the rack, or have an IR receiver that sits in the rack (HTPC with a USB IR receiver, Roku, X-10 IR Receiver), those three are blasted by the hub itself.

I bought one 2.5mm -> 3.5mm adapter and one 3.5mm Y connector for about $12, and that is currently handling an IR emitter pair from my 890 and the direct connection to the receiver which then connects to the blu-ray player. If the current the hub is outputting can handle all that, I'm guessing it could have driven 3.5mm directly just fine. I've ordered a pair of each of those connectors from Monoprice for a grand total of $3.83 and will return the others to Radio Shack when the Monoprice ones arrive. It would have been nice to know that I was going to have to deal with such nonsense before the remote arrived so I could have ordered the adapters back then.

Hi. I'm new to the Harmony scene, as I have had the Pronto 3000 for a number of years that has finally fully given up the ghost and "allowed" me to feel ok about spending on another remote. It's horrible screen contrast since day 1 ( I typically had to have my glasses on to read it until I memorized which blob performed which function) and the fact that the app now wouldn't run under current operating systems is the last straw. The unit was, for its time, reasoanbly full featured, and I liked it's flexibility but the programming was a bear and full of compromises.

I did some research, and found the information about the Touch. Nice product and I liked it's price point better, but had one really annoying habit (at least for my usage) in that I was constantly brushing the help icon. Very frustrating. It also seemed to have some IR strength or angle issues with my Lutron Spacer lighting control which is set deep into the cabinet. In anything other than the prime viewing location, it was difficult to get consistent control.

So, off to Best Buy to return for the Ultimate. Played with it a bit last night (after programming because it would not load the Touch configuration that I had on myharmony.com , and was very pleased with the resutls. No issues with the help, as it is properly stowed in the menu, and it completely handled the IR issues I experienced with the Touch. VERY NICE! This remote is a dream to program compared to my old Pronto, and the wireless sync is particularly sweet, especially in the experimental mode that I am currently in and the tweak and test cycles. Once the configuration is as I like it and stable, that won't be as much of a wow feature, but for now, it is very much appreciated.

Ian, one question if you don't mind. I am very concerned about the non-replaceable battery, and given the remote's cost (and my frugal nature) I'd like to make this thing last as long as possible. The manual recommends putting the remote back in the charger after use, and while that certainly avoids the possibility of a drained battery, I am thinking it is not so good for longevity of the battery. As I understand it, Lion batteries have a number of advantages over other types, but hit a proverbial and literal wall after XX number of charging cycles and cannot be recharged. Is that the case here? If so, is it better to have the remote sit out of the cradle until it really needs to be charged rather than "wasting" the charge cycle? What is the expected life of the battery (and therefore the remote if the battery is non-replaceable)?

One more thing. many here seem to have a real problem with the fast forward / skip features, and frankly, when I was reading about the unit before I had it in hand, I did too. That is where the Ultimate is much improved over the Touch as well (IMHO) in that the gesture feature is very accessible with a quick upward swipe, and it defaults to a skip on a a quick swipe from left to right across the screen..... even better than finding buttons from my ergonomic viewpoint. So far I am really really liking the Ultimate!!

Jeff

For those whohave had or may be having trouble setting up the Ultimate, I received this email from Logitech yesterday and wanted to share it with the group. I had no problems with my set up and the remote successfully applied the new firmware update when I did the synch process. JT



Important Note: we have discovered a small number of Harmony Ultimate remotes that have an issue preventing a successful setup. For those few who have experienced this issue please contact follow the below instructions to address your issue.

A firmware update is available for your Hub, and there are two options to receive this update:

OPTION 1 - Create a new account
1.Reboot your hub by unplugging it from your electrical outlet and plugging it back in.
2.Create a new account at www.myharmony.com. You will need to use a new email address when creating a new account.
3.Proceed with setting up your remote. You will receive the new firmware during the setup process.

OPTION 2 - Use your existing account:
1.Reboot your hub by unplugging it from your electrical outlet and plugging it back in.
2.Connect your Harmony Ultimate remote to your computer using the USB cable.
3.Sign In to your existing account at www.myharmony.com.
4.Proceed with your setup from where you previously left off.

1.If you previously stopped at the Wi-Fi step, you will be prompted to connect your Hub to your computer during this step. Once your Hub is updated, continue with your setup as normal.
2.If you previously skipped Wi-Fi and stopped during sync, you will be prompted to finish your setup after the Activities step. During sync, you will connect your remote and then your Hub to receive the FW update. You may see a delay at 95% during the Hub update. Once complete, you will be able to go back and enable Wi-Fi if you choose (choose your remote from the Gallery screen and choose Settings > Set up / Change Wi-Fi Settings).

No problems setting the Ultimate up on my end, jnnt29 with the exception that it would not import the Touch configuration that I had developed. Had to re-enter all after returning the Touch and upgrading to the Ultimate. A minor inconvenience given the ease of setup really.