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The one device that most – especially the young - never lose is their music player and all the ‘i’ devices can do that, of course it may run out of power but that’s another story. Here a device that turns your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad into a remote control so whether it is a TV, Blu-ray player, Hi-Fi or other such device your ‘i’ can control them all.
So with the aid of the Unity Remote from Gear4, a circular device of just over 6cm that forms a black screw top type pot 5cm high, your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch - from now I will just say ‘i’ – can control almost all your devices remotely.
The problem with replacement remote controls or even the very good specialist multiple control items such as the Logitech Harmony offerings is that they are still remote controls and slip down the side of the sofas get put in pockets or get attacked by the dog as you show the remote more affection than the dog. Here only the circular pot stays in situ. It is still possible to use all the various remotes this provides a master control so even when one ‘disappears’ the ‘i’ device is still available because that is guarded the most carefully, as it controls so many lives.
Install the supplied 3x‘AA’ batteries in the pot and press the on/off button on the side, it then enters pairing mode and go to your ‘i’ device and enter Settings>General>Bluetooth and somewhere there it will find the Unity Remote, pair with it and your ‘i’ device will then state that you need an application to control the device ‘do you want to download it from the Apple store’ answer ‘Yes’ and enter your password the application is free and downloads to your ‘i’ device. Now everything should run from the applet. A bow tie wearing gentleman offers to help you setup your devices. This is stated to take no more than five minutes but of course it depends on how many devices.
TV’s, DVD’s, Audio Systems etc can all be controlled. Most items are straightforward but be aware that while in this setup mode any screen blanking is overridden to show a fairly default screen that teaches the Unity how to control your device.
Assuming you have several devices your front screen will show TV, DVD and say Audio System, press the required one and then a screen with three rows of three icons plus ‘Power’ at the top and ‘Help’ at the bottom take up the screen.
There is a small ‘User Manual’ the first 12 pages are in English but really this only covers the initial pairing to the ‘Pot’ everything else is within the downloaded app so any questions should be able to be answered from there.
For those whose life is controlled by their ‘i’ then once setup it is just a matter of touching to control so no more crawling around the floor looking for the remote or trying to remember where the buttons are on the TV to change the channel.
Just remember that any Bluetooth device has a range limit so while you might be able to control devices in the bedroom it will not be from the same ‘Pot’ as the one that controls devices in the lounge, the same ‘i’ device can be used as the manual does cover using multiple devices, however for some it will be controlling the ‘Pot’ from more than one ‘i’ device and this is possible also.
If you are going to go the Unity Remote way then I suggest that the ‘Pot’ be placed in a central position and attached to something that does not move, or the cry maybe where is the ‘……. pot’
Doing my searches found the Gear4 Unity Remote at a best price of £63.55 with Free Delivery.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004CRU3IQ?ie=UTF8&tag=gadge0a-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634
http://www.gear4.com/product/_/29/unityremote/?cid=215
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