Touchscreen universal remotes have long been a popular way to turn a mass of button-covered remotes into a single, customizable unit, but these days the logical next step is to use the touchscreen device we already have – the iPhone. Harmony made the transition last year with the Ultimate Hub, and Philips is now following suit with the $50 Pronto Peel, going on sale in January.
As with the Harmony Ultimate Hub, it works by turning wifi (Harmony) or Bluetooth (Pronto) signals from your iPhone into the correct infrared signals for your device …
The Peel Smart Remote app also serves as a TV guide. Tell it your favorite channels, shows and genres, and it will offer up personalized viewing reocmmendations – as well as telling you which shows are trending on Twitter.
The device is compatible with all iPhones equipped with Bluetooth LE – namely the iPhone 4s and later. More details will be available later from a dedicated website.
