Re:Sony launches universal remote control with e-ink screen
by mike-cardwell on Tuesday February 16, 2016 @11:11AM
(#11110794)
I use my phone as a remote control occasionally. It's terrible, because there are no physical buttons, so you have to keep looking at the phone screen instead of the thing you're controlling. There's an interface that lets you use swipe gestures as well, and that's still far inferior to a simple remote with physical buttons.
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Re:Sony launches universal remote control with e-ink screen
by stronglikedan on Tuesday February 16, 2016 @11:44AM
(#11111101)
That's what I love about most of the Logitech Harmony remotes. They have the touchscreen for things like switching between activities and devices, where you could have more than fit on a single screen (paginated). Then they have hard buttons for device/activity specific functions (all illuminated on some versions). Sure they have their own problems (for some), but I think they do a great job of combining the hard and soft buttons.
Re:Sony launches universal remote control with e-ink screen
by stevetrewick on Tuesday February 16, 2016 @11:49AM
(#11111159)
Totally agree that an ergonomically well designed remote with a small number of functions will provide a superior 'eyes off' UX. But it has sadly been quite some time since that description applied to any of the remotes I regularly actually use.
Re:Sony launches universal remote control with e-ink screen
by IgorPartola on Tuesday February 16, 2016 @03:30PM
(#11112906)
You know, I think the Roku remote comes close: https://image.roku.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Roku-...
Unfortunately, their remotes are inconsistent between Roku devices. For example, some come with this layout: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41WCaJRUARL._AC_UL320_.... Why the hell is it a good UX to include these proprietary buttons on there? I have an older version of it that includes Block Buster!
They also have a phone app that I use frequently. It's not bad, but lacks the * button, making it impossible to turn off subtitles.
Lastly, their remotes really need a way to control the TV power and volume. I hate having two remotes, one of which is just to turn the TV on/off. I believe the new Apple TV does have this feature, but of course it doesn't have Amazon Video so that's a no-go for me.