Elan G Gets a Sleek Handheld Remote

Elan delivers first handheld remote control, the new Elan G HR2 ($760) with 802.11g for control and metadata feedback; touchscreen controls media, security, temperature, lighting, more.

CEDIA Expo 2010, the big custom electronics tradeshow taking place later this month, may be the most important event in Elan’s 20-year history. For the first time, the company will reveal its complete line of Elan G home-control systems, including the brand new HR2 handheld remote.

The remote is a first for Elan Home Systems, which has always wanted to offer one, but never managed to do it.

“Every time we started looking at a remote control over the years, we were close, but then someone came out with something cheaper and fancier,” says chief technology officer Bob Farinelli. “We thought, maybe it it’s not our space. And maybe that was our mistake. Now remote control companies are coming into our space.”

The HR2 is a two-way WiFi (802.11g) remote with IR control as well. A 2.4-inch OLED screen provides feedback from security, lighting and climate controls, plus metadata from supported A/V devices. It is expected to retail for $760 (sans controller).

Like the rest of the products in the new Elan G line, which Elan president Paul Starkey calls “the biggest product introduction ever,” the remote is programmed using Elan’s Configurator software. The user interface mimics that of the other G displays including touchscreens, OLED touchpads and iPhone/iPad apps.

Uniformity across all interfaces is a cornerstone of the G platform, which blends the best of Elan and HomeLogic, the little company acquired by Elan in 2007.

“We’ve worked very hard together to deliver the best-in-class from the two companies,” says Farinelli. “The new products going forward takes their good IP technology and our experience in control – especially IR control – and creates a very elegant solution that is competitive.”

Here are some notable features, as provided to our sister publication CE Pro:

• All the speed, response & graphics of a touchscreen
• All the ease-of-use, simplicity-of-programming & affordability of a remote control
• 45 backlit Hard buttons
• 2.4” OLED display
• Noise-less accelerometer for activating LCD or backlight
• 802.11g communication provides robust metadata feedback
• IR blaster for line-of-sight control
• Quick & easy programming using the Elan Configurator
• Compatible with all g! System Controllers
• Ships standard with battery and charging base
• Controls all AV sources with metadata feedback for supported devices
• Controls security, lighting, and climate with metadata feedback