Logitech Revue and Acoustic Research XSight Touch

Yesterday was a good gadget day for me. Both my Logitech Revue and Acoustic Research XSight Touch arrived in the mail.

So far I like the Revue. $99 is a much better price for that device, I don't know if I would have been too happy if I paid the $249 for it. What I really want is ADB access to it, or I would settle for the Android Market. It needs "more" apps. My TV has more apps then the Revue, but I really like Chrome and the Logitech Media Player (I think its just a DLNA client). It works well, I watched a couple videos streamed from my PC to the Revue and used TVersity to do the transcoding.

The Netflix app is what you would expect, actually, it is the exact same app that is on my Vizio TV. The gallery app will pull down your images from Picasa.

I also like the Queue, but I will probably use it more for NetCasts like TWiT and TWiG. The Queue does fall a little short when it comes to searching for NetCasts. There is no way to manually type in the RSS feed in the Queue, and some that I searched for, like TWiG, would only give me the audio feed. You can get around this limitation by opening up Chrome and visit the NetCast site and select the RSS icon in the Search bar, or open the RSS feed directly if it is available. This will open up the Queue subscription option screen.

I am very eager for the Market to come to the Revue. I can’t wait to start writing Android applications for this and other Google TV enabled devices.

I still have a lot of playing around to do with the Revue, but so far, I am of the opinion that it is well worth the $99. If you don't have one, and thought about getting one before, I say go get it now.

 

That brings me to the AR XSight Touch Universal Remote. I got the XSight Touch off Woot.com when they had it on there about a week or so ago. It was a good deal, they retailed for about $250, but Amazon has them now for about $75. Woot had them for $40 with shipping.

The remote will control up to 18 different devices and has a 2.2" Color LCD touch display. It has built in 433 MHz RF but requires an accessory to make use of that. The buttons are back-lit and are easy to see in the dark. The remote as an accelerometer of some sort, as it will automatically turn on the display and key lights when the device is picked up. It comes with a lithium-ion battery and a dock for charging the remote. The remote can "learn" from other IR remotes, programmed via the remote itself, or you can program it using an online tool with a huge collection of devices in their database.

Setup was pretty easy, I did one device from the remote, and 2 more from the website. The website tool did seem a little slow, but I hope it was because all the "wooters" were trying to setup their devices. The website saves your configuration so if the remote loses its configuration, it can be easily restored. You can also setup "key macros" so you can easily turn on/off a range of devices with one key press. It can even control some home automation stuff, like security systems, lighting, etc. I have mine set up to control my Vizio TV, Xfinity HD Cablebox and Xbox 360.

Overall, I am happy with the XSight, and I will be using that as my main remote for the TV/Cable, and the Revue keyboard will be when I want to actually make use of the Google TV functionality.

Logitech Revue w/ Google TV - http://amzn.to/pulB7a
XSight Touch Universal Remote - http://amzn.to/oFHrNE

I always feel like, somebody’s watching me…

There has been a lot of news lately about Android devices logging, and reporting GPS information back to Google. Not to mention the same thing going on with the iPhone. Two women from Michigan have even filed a Class Action suite against Google. I think this is ridiculous! Of course they are reporting your location back to Google/Apple. How do you think they can give you maps with your current location? Or even Turn-By-Turn directions… How about when you “check in” on Facebook, how do you think they know your location? You give it to them with the GPS coordinates.

Ok, you may argue that “you are giving them permission” when you get directions, or check in to Facebook, but you already gave Google permission also when you set up your phone and the little checkbox that said “provide Google with location data” was checked, or when you downloaded an application and it said one of the “permissions” that is uses is “GPS Location”.

Let me talk about this GPS data that everyone is talking about. Google, and Apple for that matter, couldn’t care less about where you are. What they actually care about is that you will continue to use their products, so they use your data to make the experience better, for you. That location data that you are so worried about is telling Google where WiFi access points are and cell towers are in regards to your location. This information is used so when you fire up Google Maps, or Google Navigation, they can quickly pinpoint your location, even if you don’t yet have a GPS lock. If they did not have this data, the time it would take for you to get your location and the information you want to know, like where you are going, would take way longer.

If you don’t want your device to report GPS info, there is a quick and easy “opt out”, don’t turn on your GPS, and also turn off “use wifi to find your location”. Also, when you set up your device, uncheck the option to send the data to Google. If you want someone to “worry” about, worry about companies like AT&T and Verizon, for example, that know, basically, where you are at all times of the day, even if you turn off your GPS. They know exactly what cell towers you are in range of at any given time of day. Where is the case against them asking how they use this data and if they store it.

I like the benefits that I get out of having the data sent. I use Google Maps, and Navigation all the time, if you don’t use it, or don’t want your data “sent” then don’t send it, but don’t screw things up for the people that do use it, and don’t think it’s 1984.