Jerrold was the remote in your home depending on which cable provider you used.įirst known commercial use of "Universal Remote" The Arrival of the IR Remote Many of our earliest experiences with remote controls were designed specifically to control the cable TV box that sat atop more and more TV sets as cable grew in popularity through the late 70s. It was a large device the size of a computer keyboard that remained hard wired to the set-top-box it controlled. But it wasn’t anything we’d recognize today. The term Universal Remote had already been adopted by Jerrold, a cable box company (a subsidiary of General Instruments) in the 1970s to describe a cable TV remote. These were usually wooden or pressed-wood display cabinets used to house the growing array of television accessories would nestle into the shag carpet of 80s homes across America. New Tabletop TVs and a proliferation of set-top-boxes consumer preference led to the 1980s interior abomination known as the entertainment center. Through the 80s the TV-set itself would evolve into innovative compact designs that began edging out your grandmother’s old wooden floor-model. The future of the set-top-box and a corresponding flood of remote controls was now unstoppable. By 1984 Sony won its landmark case against Universal Studios, unequivocally granting permission to record broadcast TV for playback anytime over the fledgling VCR. The VCR would revolutionize our viewing habits, but at the dawn of the 80s it still had a controversial and uncertain future. We may not have known it at the time, but the era of the set-top-box had begun. It was such an obvious solution by the early 80s when cable TV and VCRs became permanent fixtures atop wooden floor model TVs. It’s difficult to imagine a time when the universal remote didn’t exist. What does the loss of Harmony say about the ever-changing consumer electronics market itself, and where do we go from here? The Era of the Set-top-Box Begins But of all of our electronics, the universal remote control is the one we held in our hands as we'd lovingly wipe away the Cheeto dust and sometimes search for in the couch cushions. But why would one of the most widely loved and objectively successful products just shut down? Sure, universal remotes often arrived into our living-rooms as mere accessories to more important devices in our home audio/video systems. For almost two decades the iconic clicker has tamed over-abundances of remotes on coffee tables the world over. IMPORTANT: If you delete a device, it may disable or modify the function of activities associated with that device.Ĭlick the icon for the device you want to delete, and then click Delete This Device.Ĭlick Delete to confirm and return to the Devices summary page.Logitech's announcement that it has ceased production of Harmony marked an important milestone in the decline of a once critical product category, the universal remote control. When the update completes, your remote will control the updated activity using your replacement device.ĭeleting devices from your Harmony account NOTE: To delete an old device from your account, see the instructions below. Confirm the name of the input being used by the replacement device before you add it to an existing activity.Ĭonfirm that the activity settings are correct, and then click Done. NOTE: Inputs may change when you add or replace a device. When prompted, select the newly added or replaced device to be used in that activity.ĭeselect the device that is being replaced and then click Next.Ĭomplete the setup wizard by selecting the other devices and inputs used in the activity, and then click Next. NOTE: You'll need to know the name of the new device later.Ĭlick the activity you want to update with your new device.Ĭhange the name and icon of your activity or accept the default, and then click Next. Locate the new device in the Devices section. You can replace an existing device in your account on with one that is similar (ex. Replacing an existing device with a related or newer device NOTE: You can also sync your changes on the PC:Ĭlick Sync and follow the instructions to Sync from PC.Īfter you've added a new device, you can create activities to use it by clicking Activities and then clicking Add Activity. ![]() To update your smart device with these changes: To add additional devices to your account, click Add Device and repeat steps 1-5 for each device. IMPORTANT: Be sure you enter the correct device model number or you won't be able to properly configure your remote. Start typing the device manufacturer name in the Manufacturer text field, and then select the correct name from the drop-down menu that appears.Įnter the device model number in the Model Number text field. Select your Harmony Smart Control from the Welcome screen. If you add a new device to your system, or replace or delete an existing one, you'll need to update your account information.Īdding a new device to your Harmony account
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