Today I’m very pleased to present our latest full-length review, for the Intrigue Technologies Harmony SST-659 activity-based remote control. The SST-659, like all other Harmony models, is an Internet-programmed remote that merges your individual home theater components into familiar activities, such as “Watch TV” or “Watch a Movie”, each containing the most practical controls from every device involved in making that activity work.

The Harmony SST-659 is a significant change from previous models, incorporating a new case design, more hard buttons, full backlighting, LCD-labelled buttons, simpler setup and a completely rethought user interface. The SST-659 still includes popular Harmony exclusives, such as a built-in television program guide and “Smart State Technology” to ensure all devices remain in sync. You’ll want to check this one out!

Marantz Wizz.it released...
Although no longer owned by Philips, Marantz continues to have customized versions of the Pronto developed. The latest model is the Marantz RC5400, which looks very similar to the previous RC5200 but is based on the new Philips ProntoNG TSU3000 platform. For more information on the RC5400, check out our first report.

The news today is that Marantz has released their new editing program for the RC5400, called Wizz.it. If you’ve been following the Marantz lineup of remotes, you’ll know that the company likes to completely change program names every major version – so far they’ve had “RC5000 Setup”, “RCEdit”, “Touch Screen Setup” and now “Wizz.it”.

Although Wizz.it looks identical to ProntoEdit NG, several differences can be found:

• As is standard practice with Marantz, no preprogrammed code database is included.
• The redesigned “Add IR Code” window now includes an always-visible preview of the hex code (although editing the code still requires clicking on “View/Edit IR”).
• The “Advanced” button for entering RC5, RC5x, RC6 and RC-MM codes has returned.
• A new “Special Action” option, “No IR”, works just like the “No IR” button on the original Pronto – hold it down and hit another button to prevent sending any attached IR codes. Useful for switching device control without changing inputs on your equipment.
• The “Object” and “Layout” toolboxes have been made dockable, as with ProntoProEdit NG.
• The bitmaps, fonts and colors on most system objects can now be changed (except for device name, page number, battery level indication and clock).
• Several bugs that exist in the current version of ProntoEdit NG have been fixed.

ProntoEdit NG updated...
Philips has released a slightly updated version of ProntoEdit NG – to version 1.2.6.0. The difference between this and the previous version is the addition of an IR code scrubber for CCF files, designed to improve hex code reliability on imported files.

If this sounds like something you could use, download the latest version here.