This universal remote wants to control your smart home sans hub

Jun 19, 2024 06:00 AM - 4 months ago 58502

Universal remotes mightiness beryllium connected a comeback circuit if devices for illustration Cantata’s Haptique RS90 and RS90X really materialize and are arsenic bully arsenic advertised. The connected distant purports to double arsenic a broad smart location controller, but it’s simply a Kickstarter hopeful for now. Serial remoters (remotees?) person pledged much than $300,00, pinch little than $10,000 needed to afloat money nan task arsenic of writing, and there’s presently an estimated vessel day of August 2024.

What separates this from nan sparse title is that it’s hub-free. You won’t request a abstracted container plugged successful to nan TV aliases IR repeaters to make this work. It comes pinch a charging dock and has a comparatively roomy 3.2-inch colour touchscreen for nan Android-based OS. The show sits supra a suite of 24 basal beingness buttons to navigate and power it all, including 1 that initiates sound control. In summation to compatibility pinch much than 3,000 accepted devices pinch infrared for illustration TVs, projectors, Blu-ray players, and A/V receivers, nan sleek phone-shaped RS90 has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to interface pinch newer smart location devices and platforms (and moreover nan PS5, eventually).

Cantata is promising early support for smart location integrations pinch devices from celebrated brands specified arsenic Philips Hue and Sonos, third-party and different open-source hubs and platforms for illustration Samsung SmartThings, Homey, and Home Assistant, and nonstop power for web-based services for illustration Spotify and Netflix. That’s successful summation to receivers from nan likes of Yamaha and Denon, positive celebrated streaming devices specified arsenic nan Amazon Fire TV Stick, Nvidia Shield TV, Apple TV, and Roku.

Photo: Cantata

Cantata hopes nan Haptique RS90 will capable nan sizable void near successful nan cosmopolitan power marketplace (and our hearts) erstwhile Logitech abandoned nan category and spurred a full caller distant repair business niche. In 2021, we felt morally and emotionally obligated to inquire then-CEO Bracken Darrell to warrant nan heartbreak.

“Now you’ve sewage a full bunch of apps alternatively of remotes,” he said to The Verge’s Nilay Patel successful the extended interview. “The existent mobility was, ‘Can we beryllium an app selector? Can we someway beryllium nan interface betwixt each those apps and you?’ We looked astatine it. We each thought difficult astir it. We realized that app action is nan domain of players that are already successful nan marketplace doing a bully job. We’ve sewage to beryllium capable to do thing typical for customers.”

Which is true! I’m now capable to get by pinch a azygous LG magic distant to power astir elemental functions for my soundbar, TV, streaming boxes, and moreover my Xbox Series X / S (mostly acknowledgment to HDMI-CEC). I only request to support way of a fewer remotes for nan overseas juncture that I request to do thing much specific. But that equation changes if you person dozens of different smart location devices aliases a much analyzable A/V setup pinch pieces from different brands, but to this point, my smartphone fills those gaps good enough.

Cantata’s distant isn’t nan first disruption successful nan underserved space. Competitors for illustration Sofabaton already waste connected remotes that scope beyond nan infrared barrier, but it’s not arsenic ubiquitous arsenic nan RS90 claims to be. Others (like Caavo’s early labyrinthian setup) are often expensive, complicated, require a hub, aliases are otherwise constricted to prime industries.

The Haptique RS90 intends to lick each of that. The thought that it tin adequately service arsenic a one-stop smart location hub sounds excessively bully to beryllium true, considering it’s already a small down nan curve — it lacks Matter support, for illustration — but astatine slightest someone’s trying. You tin presently promise €240 (about $258) for nan caller Kickstarter darling, but nan listing suggests it’ll unit starting astatine €360 (about $387) erstwhile early vertebrate preorders barren up.

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