Sony HomeShare RMN-U1 universal remote hands-on

Trade shows obviously aren’t the best environment for evaluating a universal remote, but we couldn’t resist taking Sony’s RMN-U1 HomeShare IR / WiFi controller for a quick test drive here at the CES. Physically the device is surprisingly light and has a decent screen resolution. Clicking the home menu displays icons for every system component as well as an activities button for accessing online music services like Slacker, playing tracks from a networked Blu-ray player / iPhone / iPod, or even sending media files between DLNA-networked devices. If a BRAVIA TV is connected to the system, users can select the particular input they’d like to hear audio from or cue a movie. Once a track is playing, the screen will display the song’s album art and metadata along with playlists. Overall the RMN-U1 looks pretty capable at managing music — though it’s a bit menu heavy. It also seems fairly expensive considering what else is available at its $300 price point, but then again, we’re not aware of another IR universal remote that’s compatible with Sony’s WiFi HomeSharing. Check out our gallery below for more shots of the interface and you may even spy photos of the rest of the new HomeShare line too. Gallery: Sony HomeShare RMN-U1 universal remote hands-on Sony HomeShare RMN-U1 universal remote hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 18:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Posted by on January 8, 2011. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry