ESPN's Ultimate Remote in the wild

Our pals over at Zatz Not Funny go their hands on one of those newfangled, silly-expensive WiFi Ultimate Remotes built by tvCompass for ESPN. They found the built-in episode guide to be quite nice, and the potential for content partnerships beyond the existing ESPN sports content "limitless." So, $300 worth of limitless? Time shall tell.

[derspiess42 @ May 22nd 2008 10:31AM]

Can't wait for these to show up on woot in a few months for $89

[Rocketboy @ May 22nd 2008 11:08AM]

Can't wait for it to be in a Bucket of Crap

[Hooterman @ May 22nd 2008 11:41AM]

They have buckets now? And here I was always refreshing woot-off's looking for simple bags of crap.

[Rocketboy @ May 22nd 2008 2:50PM]

The last BOC's were Buckets.. check the message board.. Limited Edition buckets.. :)

[oliver hart @ May 22nd 2008 10:32AM]

Worth $300 if it walks my dog 5 days a week. pssh.

[Miike @ May 22nd 2008 10:32AM]

Looks like WinMo 6.

[oliver hart @ May 22nd 2008 10:37AM]

or an older nokia device

[Jon @ May 22nd 2008 10:37AM]

I cant say it enough , get a Harmony One .. It is a amazing product , worth every penny

[Hellios @ May 22nd 2008 10:40AM]

The joystick looks like the one in my old SonyEricsson phone, which is the worst kind of navigation possible.

Even though this remote looks like it could be awesome, that joystick alone kills it.

[AirB @ May 22nd 2008 10:58AM]

This doesn't really deviate from ESPN's other attempts at technology. It's bloated, doesn't make any sense, and overpriced (e.g., ESPN360 and ESPNMobile).

As long as I'm complaining about ESPN. Can someone explain why ESPN decided that only my ISP could pay for access to ESPN360 (as opposed to letting a user pay)? I understand that this is their cable business model, but I can't imagine that it's working for the internet.

[OX4 @ May 22nd 2008 10:45AM]

That is some ugly right there.

[OneLove @ May 22nd 2008 10:55AM]

"go their hands on"...dude...Zatz Not Funny!

[murph @ May 22nd 2008 11:00AM]

Ugly as sin. I'll stick with my Harmony 880 and wait for the Harmony One to go on sale in the next year or so.

[murph @ May 22nd 2008 11:01AM]

See...that black TVCompass one looks a 1000x better.

[Matt @ May 22nd 2008 2:13PM]

Now I know a lot of us tech geeks here are "poo,pooing" this remote, but lets not forget its target audience. The sports fanatic. Sure we all probably want some sports here and there, but this device is for the person like my brother who has cable TV for one channel and one channel only. ESPN.

As long as it isn't too complicated (which it may end up being) I think the hardcore sports nuts would be all over this.

[phanbouy @ May 22nd 2008 2:14PM]

shut up! i'm busy watching Ow, My Balls!

[Brian @ May 22nd 2008 4:27PM]

I don't think this fly with the average sports fanatic. I think it will be too complicated and overwhelming for this market. All they really need is power, volume and channel buttons. OK, maybe a guide button too. But not more.

[JT @ May 22nd 2008 11:19AM]

$300 may sound like a lot for a remote, especially if you've only seen what is offered at your local BB/Circuit City. In fact, there are remotes out there that cost far, far more (google Philips, RTI, Crestron, Universal, etc. to see what I mean). I don't know that you can find a programmable remote with this feature set for anywhere near this price anywhere else...though I'll admit I haven't researched that market much lately.

[James T @ May 22nd 2008 11:31AM]

That said.....she isn't pretty enough to take to the mall...

[derspiess42 @ May 22nd 2008 11:39AM]

If it continuously scrolled through NFL, NCAA, MLB, etc. scores/box scores, I'd be all over it... if it were less than $100, anyway.

Until then, I have CBS Sports scores on my Chumby :)

[Chris @ May 22nd 2008 11:43AM]

Wow this would rock!!

[phanbouy @ May 22nd 2008 1:07PM]

sure, it would rock, if it didn't suck