Sony's BD remote control for PS3 reviewed
By Cyrus Farivar 
posted Dec 8th 2006 7:46AM
posted Dec 8th 2006 7:46AM
Sony's BD remote control went on sale Thursday in Japan for ¥3,600 (about $31), and AV Watch took one for a spin with a Blu-ray disc as soon as they could. We're going to have to enjoy their review for now via Google's translation service, which means that we may have missed some of the finer points that were garbled by machine translation. First, in order to use it, you're going to need the 1.3 firmware update, and the reviewer also cautions that you can't use more than one remote with a particular PS3, nor can you use multiple PS3s with one remote, because you have to pair them as you would any other Bluetooth device. From what we can tell, the remote seems to operate just like any other, but of course given that it has Bluetooth, it also packs a range of 10 meters (32 feet). Another neat feature is the fact that the remote has a battery monitor, so those days of trying to smack the batteries to squeeze just a little more juice out of them are over. While the reviewer felt that the remote was a bit high priced at $31, it might be worth it because it's pretty much the only alternative unless you want to try to watch a movie with the controller that isn't really designed as a proper remote. Now when are us Yanks going to get one to try for ourselves?
Best Controller of 1997
I think it's going to be maybe a month or less before someone fixes it to run from a computer, then from other BT (if they exist) remotes.
Bluetooth is nice, but IR is still the best for TV. Hell, the best High Def TV out there still uses IR. I just don't see any advantage to BT over IR, unless you're on the pooper and need to pause it without setting up some tricky mirrors.
Why not use iR? Because the P$3 doesnt have iR and to use this would have bumped up the cost of the PS3 more so. It has Bluethooth and wifi so hence the reason it uses one of these technologys.
Also means you dont have to worry about obsticales in the way.
For me its good. I have one of those transmitters which beams the TV signal from downstairs to my TV upstairs, but I can only use iR to connect to the one device its pointed to (sky +). But with BT remote I can control the movies too :D
its an ugly beast
This owuld be quite annoying if you use a Harmony or another similar remote... Now you can do everything (but turn control your movies) from one remote. Adding an IR sensor would not have raised the cost of the PS3. That is one of the cheapest technologies available and would have cost them less than 10 cents per console.
This would be quite annoying if you use a Harmony or another similar remote... Now you can do everything (but control your movies) from one remote. Adding an IR sensor would not have raised the cost of the PS3. That is one of the cheapest technologies available and would have cost them less than 10 cents per console.
That's why you get an xbox 360 with HD DVD which allows you to use your harmony remote... That and the PS3 is a piece
It's Ugly It Looks like the ps2 remote :-(
SWEET...
Can't wait to get this little gem.
For PS3 haters...go play your 360, hehehehe...
It's nice to own a PS3. To be the envy of all you 360 bots...I love it. Don't hate the player, hate the game.
So when you play your beloved ps3 online, their is what 7 or 8 other people to game with?
Sounds like a hoot.
Bluetooth has been pretty much a waste of a technology. I can't tell you how many people I see yelling into their cyborg head attachments because their phone's crappy BT implememtation doesn't work as it should. It's amazing that the gaming systems are the first to actually put it to good use with reliable input products. Good for Sony for creating a real remote that eliminates line-of-sight headaches and will probably work well with their other entertainment devices.
Looks much like my Bravia remote, just black instead of silvergrey
Upside: No more setting up IR sensors and relays to control components from multiple locations.
Downside: Fancy-Shmancy universal remotes, no longer universal
Using bluetooth allows them to make sure you have to purchase their remote; it also allows you to control a device from another room (RF would have been a better choice, but whatever). Keep in mind that you can use this this to control your music as well, so it would be cool to have the PS3 in the living room connected to your homes speaker system and control it from other rooms.
I prefer controlling my PS3 using my PSP; this is different than the current remote play as that lets you access the information from your PS3 instead of playing files on your PS3 by selecting them on your PSP. I think they mentioned that would be added later.
Remember most mobiles with bluetooth have bluetooth remote capabilities nowadays, does anyone know if they work OK with the PS3? If they do I would much rather have a device I can control with my phone over infrared or a specific remote.
I have this remote!! It came with my Sony receiver.. from the 80's.
Doesn't that seem like a lot of wasted space on the bottom. It's like waiting for the credits at the end of a movie to see who it was made by...
Use your brain and figure out what that long space at the bottom is for, it's fairly logical.
Oh you mean for batteries?? I guess I figured Sony would use their brains and find some space behind the buttons... kind of like a dozen of my other controllers.
What are you smoking "Maestro"?
I have been playing n games with 30 - 40 people for the few weeks that the console has been out. Why are people wasting their time fighting about every aspect of the PS3? They must not be having enough fun with their 360s if they are sitting hear complaining about PS3. I have a PS3, IT ROCKS! blows 360 out of the water... runs cooler, the first batch of games released are way beyond the first batch of 360 games released. The only thing that give the 360 a chance is Halo. Microsoft knows that next year the PS3 will be way beyond what it is now. (Remember most games out now are all ported... and they still have slight graphic enhancements or added features in comparison to the 360). Anyway, microsoft is pulling out the "flagship" card next holoday season, and for good reason. PS3 will be cheaper, it will be better and it is already winning the console war. I;m never playing my 360 again. I'm just waiting till Jan - Feb when the next batch of PS3 games come out.
as far as remote prices go, $31 is not that much!
The BT thing is way over-hyped. What people fail to realize and understand is its limitations in overall coverage area. Other than that, this will probably be an awesome toy to have around the entertainment center.
You mean as opposed to setting up IR repeaters in your stereo cabinet because you don't have line of sight? I have a PS3 and the controller works through walls, under the thickest blankets and sitting behind the coffee table. My IR remotes so far have caused me to have to reach out my arms at times to get line of sight just to reduce the volume.
What limitations to overall coverage are you talking about?
i wish the remote just came out in the us. I hate using the ps3 controller for playing movies.
Why would I want the PS3 for movies if I can't use my Harmony Remote. Anyone defending this does not have a real home theater system, because you need a universal remote like the harmony. Anyway, that makes the PS3 price another $30 because the HD-DVD addon comes with a really nice remote, and you aren't forced to use it if you don't want too.
Thank god for Blue-tooth no more IR line-of-sight problems.
To the person who said the IR would add to the cost of PS3, you need check your prices. The cheapest DVD players from China have an IR so it wouldn't add much. And yes, if you add this to a home theater system with a Harmony or Universal MX series remote, youre screwed. Sony should sell a USB IR sensor to accommodate users that already have a better remote. That would be the right thing to do.
I'm just going to wait until there is a PS3 Harmony remote like the one for X360. I hope they make one anyway! Might be a little more pricey with the addition of bluetooth, but I'd pay it. At least it won't be a nasty looking white remote. It's got more buttons than the Harmony 550, but it looks like a toy.
Oh, and people just take any opportunity to bash the PS3. It's a friggin remote, get over it. Isn't the MS 360 remote just as similiar to the old XBox dvd remote as this one is to older Sony remotes? I hope the people with this fanboy mentality are like 15 years old. If you're not in your teens, you should be ashamed of yourself.
I think the real argument here is that Sony was foolish to not include an IR sensor *in addition to* the Bluetooth functionality. The cost of adding such a sensor and associated logic is less than $1, so the cost argument doesn't fly.
The Bluetooth remote is an excellent idea, but omitting IR functionality is just another example of Sony ignoring what customers actually want.
"Use your brain and figure out what that long space at the bottom is for, it's fairly logical."
I've had a think about it and I cant work it out, It can't be batteries since I have remotes that use batteries that are 1/6th the size of that remote, It can't be bluetooth as I have a bluetooth earpiece and mouse that are tiny in comparison.
It's a completely worthless piece of kit, any Home Theatre enthusiast who wanted to use a PS3 as a "Cheap" Blu-Ray player (lol) will also hate this because it won't integrate with their all-in-one controls. I don't know anyone who is serious about home theatre who has a remote for every piece of equipment, and you cant get ANY universal remote with the ability to control this bluetooth device.
Doesn't the 360 come with a free remote? I got one with mine - Sony are going to bomb, the games are shit, the PS3 has worse graphics than the 360, Online is a joke and I have yet to hear anyone say anything positive about the crippled blu-ray playback (that looks worse in every case than the equivelant HD DVD film). Cheap Blu-Ray player?, Shit I can get a 360 AND a seperate Toshiba HD DVD player for the price of a PS3.
Have to say that bluetooth is a pretty mature technology and when implemented well by the manufacturers it's a godsend. I use a SE A2DP handsfree with my phone, laptop and GPS. No wires and it handles being paired to more than one device fine.
Another good thing about the PS3 using BT for the remote control is that it won't be long before people make PC/Mac utilities which allow your BT-enabled PC/Mac to control your PS3 remotely (I have yet to think of a practical use for that though!)
Someone needs to do an IR to Bluetooth adapter to allow the PS3 to co-exist with AV setups using universal remotes. The last thing I need/want is another remote after the pain that went into getting everything working together properly with a single device.
I could see that. It's a logical solution to the problem. The only problem(s) I could see pertain to compatibility (future BT remote compatibility), cost, size? Is the demand enough to make enough units to drive the price down?
I think if the demand is high enough, we might see something you plug into one of the front USB ports that has IR and emulates the BT communication (or bypasses it) to the PS3. It would pretty much be an IR->USB dongle.
I am waiting for a game and/or hdtv entertainment remote control with OLED buttons. Similar to the optimus keyboard (except wireless of course). The OLED can have large and/or ergonomic buttons that display icons and colors or controlling different things based on the mode that it is in. Unlike what I saw of the optimus keeyboard, since it will be a remote that has feedback (maybe even shows a live preview of possible actions) not every display on the thing needs to be a button I suppose though. So if you are watching a DVD you probably are going to need different functionality than say playing a game. I guess maybe the buttons and/or remote controllers shape can also change to an ergonoomic and usable shape according to what you are doing. Maybe it will be user programmable so you can control household appliances, stereo system, and lighting too.
Hell, maybe throw in 3D acceleromater system or camera or doppler based movement tracking and give it Wii remote like features too.
Ok, and it should be cheap too! There a remote that does a lot of crap :P
Optimus style Home Theatre remotes do exist...
Have a look at the Philips pronto series or the Logitech Harmony remotes as described here.
I can see Sony allowing wifi access to an internal config page that can function as a remote. I have a Home Cinema remote with a wifi extender and can see this being used to control PS3.
I don't see why people that have spent so much money on high end home cinema equipment would be so preturbed at having saved nearly 500 on existing Blu Ray players in exchange for having to use a separate remote, and gaining a next gen gaming system that also acts as a wifi 'information hub' complaining so much! Its actually better for the grand consensus of users (not everyone has their own home cinema rig with a universal remote).
sp4rkz: "not everyone has their own home cinema rig with a universal remote"
Yup, and that's the whole problem coming to a tech blog to try to get market opinions on stuff. It's clear that the only people that come here have "gadget fetishes" and want to see or hear about the latest and greatest. If not, they must have some sick fantasy about people bickering over stuff.
My comment was directed at scott berfield. (You need an easier thread view Engadget)
@Xendris: I guess it really does boil down to what the consumers wants? Don't you think the consumers will decide what they want and buy/not buy what they want/don't want? Is there any point arguing this? The only reason I see for your post is to attempt to bash Sony for some reason. If you don't like it, don't buy it. It's really that simple.
In addition to the OLED keys and preview display /shape changing stuff I said before all remotes should have voice control capability as a standard feature .. it's obvious.
"The BT thing is way over-hyped. What people fail to realize and understand is its limitations in overall coverage area."
Not really. Considering Bluetooth's type of application with the PlayStation 3, it is the perfect choice. You need the high transfer speeds and easy connectivity. Connectivity is just so good with Bluetooth cuz there is the automatic synchronization. My only concern with Bluetooth is the marginally higher power-consumption. But the advantages just outweigh the disadvantages. Bluetooth is the future. Although I understand what you're getting at with coverage area, but most people will only be in their living rooms anyway.
i myself must say that i hope someone does make an IR receiver adapter for the PS3...i would much prefer to use a URC remote with macro functions...not a fan of harmonys
http://www.usbuirt.com/order.htm
Well I got it from Amazon and it works great with Blue Ray DVDs' Why complain about a 30 dollar remote? There are bigger fish to fry :)
So far the PS3 is a paperweight compared to my Xbox and 360 and the lack of IR port is part of the reason. They hype it as some sort of multimedia hub for your living room/home theater but complete incompatibility with universal remotes makes it the last choice for networked media in my home.
To say that the argument is only valid for gadget collecting geeks is untrue since if all you have is a cable/Sat box, TV and game console then already the limitations of bluetooth are obvious. Pretty much any decent television and/or receiver comes with a remote with some universal options (adding receiver, dvd, or other device control). Bluetooth will never become mainstream in the remote control market due to the higher costs over IR/UHF since from a remote control standpoint there are zero advantages gained by that increase in cost.
A PDA with a decent IR transmitter can make a nice customizable remote so if any remote software adds the ability to mix in some bluetooth support then that may become the only universal remote option for PS3 owners.
It seems shortsighted to market a product as an important addition to any home entertainment center without giving it IR which is the standard for remote control with almost any home audio/video/entertainment product including literally hundreds already wearing the Sony label.
it annoys me that sony just had to be different and not put an ir reciver on a device that is essentialy a BR/DVD player... dont get me wrong i love my PS3, but this reminds me of umd those stupid psp discs, root kit scandle, and all thier other proprietry crap they have released over the years... at least it doesnt have a chuncky power supply ;)