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Logitech’s voice-controlled Harmony Express is being discontinued, will stop working in September
Customers are eligible for a full refund or a free Harmony Elite
Logitech took a risk when it launched the Harmony Express, a new take on age-old problems surrounding universal remotes. Instead of plastering the device with every button you could possibly need, the Express' primary input is its microphone, powered by Amazon Alexa. While our own Ryne Hager loved this approach in his review last year, the unique strategy apparently didn't catch on as much as the company had hoped: Logitech is discontinuing the remote on September 30, 2020, when the Express and its companion apps will stop working.Logitech says that the Express "aimed to replace the complexity of the touch screens and programmable buttons found on other Harmony remotes with a simple voice interface," but the product didn't meet the company's expectations. That's why it decided to scrap the project altogether and focus on improving its regular universal remote lineup instead.Before anyone picks up pitchforks, the company offers a full refund or a free Harmony Elite to anyone who purchased the Express. While the replacement lacks a dedicated Alexa button, its hub works with other Alexa-equipped devices, so you won't lose voice control, even if you'll have to adjust to another workflow. To claim your refund or the Elite, head to Logitech's support website.While I'm not happy that a ton of Express units are needlessly going to landfill, I still have to applaud Logitech here: The company acknowledged that it's not happy with its product, communicated the discontinuation well ahead of time, and gives its customers more than generous offers. If only other businesses were this well run.Source: Logitech (1), (2)
Google Assistant adds native support for TVs, set-top boxes, and media remotes
Many have already implemented it, but it's now available for all device makers
Google Assistant already supports more than 60 device types, from smart lights and thermostats to more eccentric ones like dehydrators, pergolas, or fireplaces. Now it's officially adding three new ones: TVs, media remotes, and set-top boxes.
Even though most TVs in our living rooms are becoming smart ones, we often connect them to third-party devices such as set-top boxes, sound systems, and DVD/Blu-Ray players. Using a separate remote control for each can be a pain, mainly because at least one of them is likely to vanish, but also because it's simply inconvenient to switch between several controllers. With the Harmony Smart Control kit, Logitech offers to group all these remotes into a single one, and even control your devices using your phone or smart speaker. Originally sold at $130, the product is now down to $50, which is quite an attractive discount.The kit includes an all-in-one remote, as well as a hub and an extra IR extender. As it names suggests, the hub is actually the device that relays the IR signals to your devices, but you'll be able to use the included remote, your phone, or even your smart speaker with Alexa or Assistant to control it.
Best Buy pushed out a small mountain of early Black Friday deals last week, and if you didn't manage to snag any of them, don't worry, but do rush. There's only a handful of hours left before they go all pumpkin-shaped. For ease and convenience, we've put together a handful of the better ones we've spotted.
Harmony's history with Google Home and Assistant goes way back. When support for the service first rolled out, it was an Actions on Google integration (or Assistant app). That meant you had to "ask Harmony to do something" every time, which only worked with your own voice (no support for other home members unless they added the account in their own Assistant) and was very inconvenient. Sure, you could create shortcuts/routines to avoid having to say "ask Harmony" for every command, but even those were voice-dependent and you had to manually set up an equivalent shortcut for every action.
Our entertainment setups are getting more and more complicated nowadays. You start with the TV as an essential, then can expand to include sound systems, DVD/Blu-Ray players, cable TV and other set-top boxes, gaming systems, and more. If you don't want to juggle remotes and lose half of them to the hungry couch, you need something like the Harmony remotes. They replace all your remotes with one and, today, you can grab one for a smidgen over $50.Harmony's Smart Control bundle comes with the All In One remote as well as the Hub and an extra IR extender for the latter. You teach it to replace all your remotes for various InfraRed electronics (TV, cable box, set-top box, etc) on the hub and then can either use the remote or the phone app to control them. You can also use the Harmony app on Google Assistant to issue voice commands. Direct integration with Assistant has been promised since May, but there's no sign of it yet.The Harmony Smart Control used to cost over $130, but its MSRP was very recently dropped to $59 on Amazon, close to the best deal we had seen on it. Now it's down to $52.99, not a huge discount on the new MSRP, but the lowest price so far and bordering on impulse-buy territory. If you're interested, you can grab yours from the link below.Source: Amazon
Logitech's last-gen universal smart home remote, the Harmony Ultimate, went on sale for $119.99 earlier this month. If you missed out on that deal, the remote is even cheaper now. It's currently $99.99 from Best Buy and the Best Buy eBay store.
If you weren't aware, Logitech has a line of universal remotes under the 'Harmony' name. In addition to controlling TVs/media centers/game consoles, they can also manage a wide range of smart home devices. It's even slated to get direct integration with Google Assistant, so you should soon be able to ask a Google Home to control devices managed by Harmony (like switching the channel on your TV).
Support for the Google Assistant is ramping up from major and minor smart home device makers alike. It was only this January that we reported the Assistant had support for 1500 devices, but now that number has jumped, nay, soared to 5000 devices. Along with that happy threshold comes the news of many other upcoming integrations for our favorite smart home assistant.
If you're neck-deep in smart home devices, trying to control all of them from one place can be difficult. A smart speaker, like an Amazon Echo or Google Home, is one option. Another is to buy a Logitech Harmony remote, which can interact with both entertainment systems and smart home stuff. Or you can buy one of each, and get $100 off compared to the usual prices ($129 for a Home, about $250 for the remote).
Logitech's Harmony remotes are probably the best smart remotes in the business - they're easy to use, quick to set up, and well made. Today the Harmony Smart Control is $60 off on Amazon or Best Buy - 46% off - bringing the price down to $69.99.The Harmony Smart Control means many appliances in your house - cable TV boxes, streaming boxes, televisions, game consoles and a lot more - can be controlled via either the included remote, or your phone provided you download the app from Google Play. This is made possible through the Harmony Hub, which converts RF signals to either Bluetooth or infrared, letting your phone control anything the Harmony system is compatible with - that's over 270,000 devices.
A smart home is every geek's dream, so it's great to see the idea becoming more and more of a reality, with Nest, Alexa, Google Assistant (soon), and Apple's HomeKit making our homes smarter and automated. Accessory maker Logitech, which already has the Harmony Remote, is adding to its range with the Logitech POP button and accompanying app.
Here's something interesting for those of you who've gone head-first into the smart home craze. According to ZatsNotFunny, a blog dedicated to connected home tech, Logitech is recruiting beta testers for a new tool integrating Harmony remotes with the voice control features of Amazon Alexa/Echo. Basically, users who have both should be able to speak commands into their Echo and have the remote perform them without ever picking it up. Neat.
Those of you with pro—or maybe just moderately complicated—home entertainment systems know how much of a pain it can be to manage the various remotes involved. Even worse is if anyone other than you wants to operate them; I had somebody watch my pets while on vacation and I came home to see the TV on and static buzzing because my poor friend just couldn't figure it out. A universal remote like one in the Logitech Harmony series can make things much easier, so why not jump on board today when they are on Amazon's Gold Box daily deal?There are two models, each refurbished, available:
There are many ways to go about building your own smart home. The easy approach is to buy a hub and look for products that are compatible. Logitech makes one of those hubs.
So you've got a TV, then you add a set top box, maybe a Blu-Ray player, Sonos, and a cable box... and suddenly you've got like 20 remotes floating around. Do they breed or something? You can just put all of them in a drawer and pick up this Logitech Harmony Smart Control remote for $70 today only at Best Buy.
Remotes, am I right? Yeah, I know. What are you going to do with them?One option is to toss them all out and replace them with the Logitech Harmony Smart Control. You can then use one interface to manage your Sonos sound system and your Amazon Fire TV Stick. Logitech Harmony will also let you control your Nest Protect thermostat or some Philips Hue lights, but this particular remote doesn't come with the buttons you need. You would have to resort to the Android app for those.But first, you probably want to actually buy the remote. Fortunately you can snag one on Amazon for only . That's a significant drop from the usual price of 0. The deal ends in just under ten hours.Source: Amazon
I don't miss remote controls. Okay, I haven't gotten completely free of them. But aside from my television, I've largely moved away from things that require their own button-laden controller. Blu-Ray players. Sound systems. Cable boxes. Why should relaxing on the couch be so complicated?
Just as expensive universal remotes started to feel outdated, Logitech smartly joined the boom in smart home devices. While your old Logitech Harmony remote handled your cable box, TV, and maybe a couple of other auxiliary media devices, the new stuff goes far beyond entertainment systems. Today, you can jump on the bandwagon at a pretty steep discount as Best Buy offers the white Logitech Harmony Home Control for $80, a discount of $70.
Some homes are smart, and the Logitech Harmony serves as their brain. It provides a single location to control all the things, assuming of course that the products are supported. The latest update adds quite a few more to the list ranging from door locks to thermostats and a few things in between.