The device is called the Violent Elephant Control Gear and is basically a 7kg box that attaches to the hind leg of an elephant. If necessary, it’s triggered by remote and woosh – ziiiip-tied is the elephant. I just hope that the poor thing doesn’t trip as a result and crush someone. [Psyorg via Fast Company]

Photo by Henry Brett

According to the witches and wizards at NEC Electronics and Onryoku Hatsuden, their new remote generates electricity when the users clicks on any button. They are planning to see the first production remotes in 2011. [Aiajin via Crunchgear]

The 700, which we first heard about in September, costs $US150 overseas. Here, it’s $300. The 900, which Jason reviewed back in August, sells for $US400 in the States. Here, it’ll set you back $900.

I’m not going to spend time ranting about copping the short end of the stick on international gadget pricing again. I’ll just suggest you shop around online – there’s no reason why the US version wouldn’t work in Australia…

[Logitech]

Featuring a trackpad, backlit buttons and connectivity with most devices through a wireless USB dongle, the Navigator combines crucial mouse functions with practical remote functions in a barebones, minimalist design that won’t take over your lap (aka cuddle space aka pizza box space aka fart fallout area).

For the full-blown home theatre PC, all you’re missing is text input. But GlideTV offers a downloadable onscreen keyboard to address the issue.

The Navigator, bundled with a rechargeable base and USB wireless hub, is available now for $US150. [GlideTV]

GLIDETV® SIMPLIFIES THE PC EXPERIENCE IN THE LIVING ROOM

Introduces the perfect input device to navigate the Internet from your TV.

San Francisco, CA – October 13, 2009 – GlideTV, the company dedicated to simplifying the digital entertainment experience in the living room, announced today the release of its first product, the GlideTV® NavigatorTM. This award-winning and stylish device, which fits in the palm of a hand, combines the functionality of a keyboard, mouse and AV remote and makes it a breeze to access digital content stored on a home theatre PC (HTPC) that is connected to a TV. The product is available for purchase from select online retailers worldwide with an MSRP of $US149.

The new GlideTV Navigator, a study in modern design, reinvents the computer input device for the living room. The contrast of the highly-polished material and elegant curves is a fitting reflection of the sophisticated technology held within. The product includes a remote, charging station, USB wireless receiver and is compatible with Windows PC, Apple Mac, Sony PlayStation 3 or any set-top box that supports standard mouse and keyboard HID devices.

“Up to now, consumers who wanted to connect a computer to the TV to take advantage of digital content had to bring office equipment to their living room, making the experience bulky and cumbersome,” said Chris Painter, President and founder. “With the Navigator, GlideTV brings simplicity to accessing internet-based entertainment and ushers in a new era for computing in the living room.”

Consumers plug the USB wireless receiver into their PC and they’re ready to take control of their computing experience or explore the Internet with a point and a click. GlideTV Navigator works with popular media applications including Windows Media centre, Apple iTunes, Boxee, Apple Front Row, SageTV, Firefox, and any web browser.

This product features:

· Clickable touchpad mapped to your TV screen — precise cursor control, one-thumb scrolling, single and double-click selection.

· Backlit AV buttons to control volume and playback.

· Directional buttons for easy two-axis navigation.

· Dedicated Esc, Enter, Back, and Function keys to control applications.

· On-screen keyboard — requires download, Windows only.

· Integrated search menu with links to Google, Amazon Video on Demand, Hulu, Netflix, YouTube and more — requires download, Windows only.

· Rechargeable battery.

“GlideTV nailed the customer experience,” said Aaron Burt, a beta test user who lives in the Washington DC area. “It’s a great way to control Windows Media centre in the living room and even my kids enjoy using it. GlideTV Navigator is the perfect couch-mouse.”

The product has garnered significant industry attention by winning the prestigious 2009 Best of Innovations Award at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The GlideTV team, led by Mike Machado and Christopher Painter, consists of consumer electronics and Silicon Valley technology veterans from Sony, SageTV, Slim Devices, and VUDU.

GlideTV Navigator is available worldwide from select retailers and directly from the manufacturer in the US and Europe. The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price is:

· United States — $US149

· Eurozone — €129 (VAT included)

· United Kingdom — £119 (VAT included)

For more information, visit www.glidetv.com.

The details are slim on the FCC page, but the pictures show a very simple, Fisher Price looking, design. Could Flip be getting into the home video recording space? My guess is as good as yours. [FCC via Engadget]

The Price: $US100

The Verdict: Actually a good deal.

There are two components of the remote that, depending on your habits, you may use more or less of. There’s the “universal remote” part of the iconRemote RF, which acts similar to the Logitech Harmony remotes in that it controls all your electronics, but it doesn’t have the fancy software programming suite to back it up. And there’s the X10 part of the remote, which acts as a wireless control—via the included wireless receiver and appliance/lamp modules—to various appliances around your house.

The Remote: The iconRemote RF is a so-so universal remote, and you program it like you do the old style ones you buy at Radio Shack; you point it at your TV and you stop cycling when the TV turns on. Repeat as many times as you have A/V equipment you want to control.

This method makes initial setup actually easier than the Logitech Harmony remotes, but limits you to how much fine-grained control you have. The remote may “know” how to turn on and off your receiver, but it doesn’t understand how many HDMI inputs there are or how to switch between them. So it’s a universal remote only for more simple systems with just a TV and maybe a DVD player.

One nice feature the iconRemote introduces is the semi-hard coded favourites, which has network logos on screen that you can click to jump to. And, as the name of the remote implies, it has an RF to IR blaster included, so you can eschew line-of-sight and put your equipment in a cabinet and still be able to change channels.

Package includes an RF to IR blaster

It’s only a rudimentary universal remote

Also, it’s kind of gigantic

The X10 Wireless Control: X10 has dialled down their popup ads in recent years, but their product is the same: home automation via light, appliance and electronics controls. The package includes one wireless transceiver, one lamp module and one appliance module. The transceiver takes the wireless signals and shoots them over your powerline, which them gets interpreted by your lamp or appliance module to turn on/off whatever’s plugged in.

Its major flaw is the fact that the whole transceiver + module has to be on the same circuit. A transceiver upstairs wouldn’t control a lamp downstairs, for example, because they weren’t able to talk to each other over the electrical system. You’ll have to go and buy more transceivers to control every room of your house this way.

But, once you do have everything set up, being able to dim lights, turn on and off appliances, and otherwise interact with other X10 home automation devices, is a pretty valuable thing to have in your universal remote.

Controls X10’s home automation modules

Comes with one transceiver and two control modules

You’ll have to buy a lot more to control your entire house

At $US100, the iconRemote RF is a pretty interesting package. It’s not great enough of a remote to replace a Logitech Harmony for hardcore users, but it is decent enough to be a step up from those cheaper universal remotes you may have. Coupled with the fact that it’s an X10 remote, it’s a very handy thing to have at all times.

To get the package, add both the iconRemote RF and the Remote-Controlled Dimmable theatre Lighting to your cart before checkout. [X10]

Once your signals hit the receiver, you can support Windows, Linux, Mac or Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii (supposedly). Hard to tell whether or not it can actually do all of these things, since the website looks like one a kid would make for his dad’s business over the summer between Primary and High School, so we’ll have to see for ourselves to be sure. [EFO via The Gadgeteer via Oh Gizmo]