Logitech’s line of programmable remotes have long been the king of multi-device controllers, allowing users not just to control a device, but to cluster device operations into tasks that make it easy to run even the most complex home entertainment set-ups.

With the Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote, Logitech has severed its last tie to the traditional remote by eliminating 90 percent of the buttons. Instead, most of the remote (which isn’t even remote-shaped anymore), is a big touchscreen that configures itself automatically with the controls necessary for the task at hand, and that task alone. This makes the 1000 capable of controlling a plethora of devices while at the same time operating like a single-device remote. (more…)

With everything electronic these days getting smaller, it’s nice once in a while to see something getting big – really big. Big enough for those of us with poor vision and big, clumsy fingers to still hit the right button every time.

That seems to be the idea behind Brookstone’s new Super-Sized Remote, which is a gigantic slab-sized universal remote control measuring 5″ x 11″ x 1″. In all other respects this is a fairly basic 6-in-1 remote control offering one-button selection for TV, VCR, DVD, satellite, cable box and an auxiliary device (and codes for 296 of the most popular A/V equipment). The buttons are correspondingly huge and glow-in-the-dark, meaning if you ever lose the remote again you’ll have no one to blame but yourself. (more…)

We’ve gotten a lot of e-mail from our readers over the last year asking us about our lab facilities, as in - do we really have any?

We most certainly do. And to prove it, here’s a video recently taken in our durability lab, where we stress test products to see how well they’ll hold up for the long haul. Senior Lab Assistant Rudy is (the hirsute individual on the treadmill) is running the Pure Digital Flip Video camcorder through its paces. As you can see, the quality is quite good and, thus far, the Flip camera is holding up quite well.

Wish we could say the same for Rudy.

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There have been many great quests in the annals of myth and legend – The Golden Fleece, The Rescue of Helen of Troy, The Holy Grail, The Fellowship of The Ring. Here at The Geek Beat, one quest has loomed above all others: The Quest for A Functional HDTV Antenna.

Seriously, we’ve tried them all – indoor, outdoor, amplified – and they’ve all failed miserably. It’s embarrassing, really. The Geek Beat offices are based on a hillside overlooking the westside of Los Angeles; we have direct line of sight to every major digital transmitter in the L.A. basin. And yet not a single antenna we tested could manage to tune in more than one station at a time. Position it to get CBS, you lose NBC. Got NBC? Forget about FOX (actually, if it wasn’t for Bones and House, we would; but that’s for another article). It was truly crazy-making. (more…)

The following is a transcript of Inside Serenity: Evolution of a Firefly, Part One, an audio feature that came out today on The Signal, a Firefly/Serenity podcast. I highly recommend you listen to that feature first, then come back here to catch any details you missed. Either way, let us know what you think. We’re planning many more to follow this first effort, – AG

Welcome to the first installment of Inside Serenity, your guided tour through day-to-day life in the ‘Verse. In this series I will be delving into an extensive library of background materials collected from a variety of sources, including the official archives at Universal and the personal collections of folks who worked on both Firefly and Serenity. Included in that library are a lot of previously unreleased information – show and movie reference, conceptual drawings and hero props – that I put in a big pile in the middle of my office every night and roll around in, laughing manically and repeating, “Mine! Mine! Mine!” (more…)