New product idea: a media remote

[TomekWaw]

I'm glad Loxone develops and releases new products every couple months. My "wish list" keeps getting shorter and shorter.
- UPS? - Checked
- Wallbox? - Checked
- AC Control modules? - Checked
- Tree 2 Modbus? - Not really, but Modbus Air is better than nothing
- Sonos (or any other wireless speaker) integration - still missing, but personally I don't miss that as much as before

I was wondering what kind of product am I missing most, lately, and I figure out that... a TV remote! Or to be more precise; a media remote. An universal remote that is at least a "physical" equivalent to Loxone app remote and is closely integrated with Media Controller block, on every-button level, in every configured mode.

For the last few years I've been using Logitech Harmony Hub with a Harmony 950 remote for this purpose. I have [somehow] deeply integrated it with Loxone but it's still far from being perfect because of following reasons:

1. Harmony controls TV, HiFi, Home Theatre and other media devices via IR only [1]. There is no way [2] to call a Miniserver API to execute a command (for example: turn on a Denon receiver controlled by Loxone over tcp integration).
2. Media Controller actions may be executed on Harmony Hub (as IR actions), but not the way around. No Harmony Hub key press can be used to execute a Media Controller action (such as "Play" in Music mode). This seems to be a Media Controller block limitation. Perhaps it's possible via its AC / API Connector, but is it documented anywhere...?
3. Harmony products are EOL'ed by Logitech, so they will ultimately extinct some day.
4. Currently, there are no real alternatives to Logitech Harmony gear. Savant Pro Remote X2 looks pretty, but [according to Amazon reviews] is piece of junk. SofaBaton X1 is still unable to talk to devices over TCP/IP (besides Sonos speakers). Unfoldedcircle Remote has still not been released and will cost a a whopping $500. And that's pretty much all.

This seems to create a perfect opportunity for Loxone to design and deliver a product that is clearly missing, demanded by many and useful to almost everyone. Close integration with Loxone ecosystem could bring additional advantages. For instance, most of the universal remotes have little screens. Loxone could make great use of such screen to display covers of music played by Audioserver in some kind of "Music player mode" (see Savant remote). Other MC modes might just allow to control Home Theatre / media devices integrated with Loxone and configured in Media Controller block.

What do you think of this idea? Would a remote integrated with Media Controller block be useful for you?


[1] And via Bluetooth (such as control of Apple TV). And a very narrow range of products (such as Philips Hue) over TCP/IP. But it's just too limited (and actually limited to "lights").
[2] Beside using FakeRoku ioBroker adapter to fake Roku streamer in your network and use ioBroker to redirect Harmony key presses to Miniserver. I know this workaround and I'm using it heavily, but Roku has a limited number of buttons so this workaround has it's limitations.

[julianbmw]

https://www.unfoldedcircle.com/

[TomekWaw]

Yes, I've mentioned it, looks promising, but it's still not released (beside being expensive). And still doesn't solve the problem of calling following Media Controller block mode commands