Gadget of the week: One for all

What is it?

From the Swiss peripherals company Logitech comes this funky, holiday gift-worthy product: The Harmony 900 universal remote.

What's special about it?

Let's answer that with another question: How many remotes do you have? Today, even the most basic entertainment set up will have at least two — one for the television and the other for a DVD player or cable set top box.

Imagine people with gaming consoles, media receivers and just about anything that can be hooked to a television or entertainment set-up and you've got a basket full of remotes to feed 5,000. OK, we got a bit carried away there, but you know what we mean.

The Harmony 900 is a universal remote which is also a sleeker and updated version of Logitech's already existing Harmony One universal remote. What it essentially does, simplistically, is take care of all your commands from one single device and communicates the signal to the right media console.

Setting up is easy — plug in the receiver and you are ready to go. The beauty of the Harmony 900 is that it works on radio frequency (RF), which means you do not have to point your remote at the receiver to control one of your consoles.

A funky full-colour touch screen is placed right at the top to help you browse through your control board. That and all the buttons are backlit so you can also easily see it in the dark.

The Harmony 900 comes with its own rechargeable dock so you don't have to worry about changing the battery. Although it looks rather big, it is ergonomically designed so it fits snugly on your palm.

Tech critics have given this product a rousing reception, with the just one drawback being its price.

So when is it available and for how much?

The Harmony 900 has been on the Eur-opean market for a while. Its direct Euro-dirham conversion price is Dh1,470.

To find out where you can buy it, visit Logitech.com.