Nifty concept leverages Apple’s inexpensive and highly capable hardware.
Posted by Daniel Tonks on September 22, 2010 at 9:35 PM
There’s no doubt that Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch have the technical capabilities of being great remote controls – but because they weren’t originally designed for that purpose, they ended up being less than ideal as primary controllers. At least, that was until now.
Savant has just announced their latest product, the Savant Touch Remote, which actually embeds an iPod Touch into a custom housing that adds 18 backlit hard buttons, better ergonomics and RF in addition to WiFi. It still has the same 3.5” retina display and continues to run Apple software complete with access to the App Store, but on top of all of this iis Savant’s software that allows it to be used to control home lighting, security, cameras, and yes, A/V equipment. It can even be used as a VOIP phone over WiFi.
The Touch Remote will be available in black or white, with a desktop charger, for an expected MSRP of $399 USD in the first quarter of 2011.
Two DACs, a delay module and extender kit highlight new offerings.
Features push-to-talk voice control of Amazon Alexa and Apple TV via Siri.