As a whole, it's hard to kvetch too much about Logitech's Harmony line of universal remotes, but as a devout hacker once told us, there's always room for improvement. Phil Dibowitz has been pursuing this project for months, and it looks as if a final release is at long last ready for mass distribution. Put simply, Concordance enables the Harmony family to be programmed in UNIX (which Logitech's software doesn't support) as well as in Windows and Linux. Furthermore, Phil states that the goal is to be "cross-platform," so Mac users should keep an eye out for future updates. Currently, the software supports every model save for the 890 and 1000, though both will hopefully be added in soon. Go on, give the read link a tap and get started -- just don't come crying to us if your "Watch TiVo" command starts opening the boss' garage door.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

If you thought Logitech was going to rest on the laurels of the Harmony 880, think again. The Harmony One looks to pick up where the 880 left off; it takes everything we love about the 880 and steps it up by replacing the terrible buttons with our favorite raised type, and the LCD screen goes touch screen to boot. PJ from PC Magzine appreciates the new ergonomic layout and touch screen, but misses being able to access the LCD screen without looking down at the remote. The charger base was also revised, but no word on if it is more reliable -- PJ does say that he was seeing about a week of battery life. In the end, the Harmony One is a nice upgrade to the 880, but considering that it's priced almost twice that of the Harmony 550, we're not sure it's doubly good.

Logitech put up a strong showing at CES Unveiled this evening, so naturally, we had to stop by and evaluate the wares. We were particularly impressed with the Squeezebox Duet, and we think it's a good sign of things to come out of the company's acquisition of Slim Devices last year -- Sonos better look out with that one. The diNovo Mini won't set any records for typing speed, but it's a fabulous concept for controlling a PC from a few feet away, and as for the Harmony One, we'd wager it's the best looking Harmony remote to date. Click on!

If you wept in great anticipatory globs at the introduction of the Monster Controller 300, then you'd better sit down, Gladys, the review is out. What looks to be an obnoxious clutter of buttons actually delivers an antithesis of ease to home theater and environmental control. See, this mega remote is developed in a partnership with Monster Central and Logitech, yeah the outfit behind the highly regarded Harmony Universal remote controls. As a result, the controller takes full advantage of Harmony's beefy device database and setup infrastructure for AV control. However, it also packs multi-room RF and advanced lighting control. First impression? Well, RemoteShoppe says the AVL300 controller looks "a lot better in person" than it does in the pics. Initial setup was quick and smooth -- the mini-USB-equipped AVL300 remote and OmniLink RF receiver were both auto-detected (by what we assume was XP) and the installed Monster Central Setup software automatically checked and downloaded the latest firmware for the devices. Nice. The software then allowed the reviewer to add additional AVL300 controllers to the home system, one of the "biggest advantages" the Monster Controller has over all other remotes in this price range, according to RemoteShoppe. The reviewer then installed a couple of RF lighting modules for controlling the room brightness before dropping the new room configs into the Monster Central Setup database. After the AV components were added, the AVL300 and OmniLink were update in about 4 minutes. Conclusion? The AVL300 with OmniLink and ControlNet lighting is "revolutionary" with "unbelievably easy set-up," affordable price, and hottastic Z-wave RF technology which obviates the need for direct IR control -- nevertheless, the AVL300 can be used as a line-of-site, IR controller in a pinch. Sure, there were a few nits like a preference for a higher resolution screen; and that center joystick feels just a bit too "fragile." But if your home touts a state-of-the-art, multi-zone, whole-home theater/audio system, well, this is about as good as it gets in this price range.

You can't hit the high-end without giving us less demanding folk a taste of freshness as well, so Logitech is appeasing the mid-range crowd by dishing out the Harmony 670 Universal remote. Boasting the same incredulous functionality traits we've grown to expect from the Harmony lineup, the 670 improves upon the Harmony 659 by placing crucial DVR controls in a "more central location" and adds color-coded "one-touch" buttons to make common tasks easier to execute. This remote is also Logitech's first to feature the Harmony 7.0 software, which makes wading through 175,000 devices in its online setup bank a tad simpler to grasp by reducing it down to "four easy steps." It also sports a backlit keypad, built-in LCD screen, and options to add "additional control functions and custom activities" as your home theater addition grows. The Harmony 670 is available now for a very middle-of-the-road $149.99.

If you felt Logitech's Xbox 360 remote was just too focused for your tastes, the Harmony 1000 should provide the depth and breadth you're craving in a universal remote. Upping the ante on its long-standing lineup of home entertainment controllers, its new flagship unit sports a sleek silver and black finish, a 3.5-inch color touchscreen, internet programmability, rechargeable batteries, and a slew of one-touch activity options. Aside from completely pimping out any living room table, you can control nearly every electronic facet of your home via the IR emitter, and if you toss in the RF-enabling Harmony Wireless Extender ($149.99), you can dictate the gadgetry in any room of your crib. Sporting the Smart State Technology also found in the Harmony 890, the 1000 allows for automated control of various systems / activities with a single button press, and with an online stockpile of 175,000 devices at your disposal, setup shouldn't cause too many headaches. If you have enough remotes to supply a small Radio Shack, and you're looking for one ring remote to rule them all, the Harmony 1000 can get your setup(s) under control for $499.99 later this fall.

[Thanks, Gristle]

It looks like Navio Systems have made good on their promise to open up the iPod to non-iTMS content, at least according to a report by Business 2.0, which says that the company is planning to enable its customers to offer iPod-compatible, copy-protected videos by the end of June. Although the details of Navio's methodology are not entirely clear, it seems that their engineers have deconstructed Cupertino-neighbor Apple's FairPlay DRM in order to create a separate-but-equal copy protection scheme that content providers can use to offer their own encrypted products to iPod owners. You'll remember that RealNetworks employed a similar tactic with their Harmony technology, which allows songs purchased from the RealPlayer Music Store to play on iPods, and which Apple did their part -- albeit unsuccesfully -- to thwart by way of firmware updates. Will Navio's technology spark a similar firmware arms race? Only time will tell, but we can't really see Steve and friends just sitting back listening to Beatles tunes while other players start eating away at iTunes' market share.

[Via iLounge]