The CES Innovations awards were also announced last week and Logitech took seven awards, ranging from the Logitech Flight System G940 to our Logitech Squeezebox Touch! Check out our blog post and I4U for all the winning product details.

We also had some good reviews come in; Wired reviewed our Harmony 900 Remote and said it’s “button layout is pleasing to both the eye and touch, making finding the right key in a dark room easy. And its cradle keeps it charged, which saves us from stockpiling batteries lest we run out of juice on Friday night.” Our Harmony 700 Remote was included in PC Magazine’s “Daily Gift Idea” series.

Much more coverage below, including ABC’s “video vigilante” story featuring Logitech’s Video Security System.

• Logitech Harmony 900 Universal Remote – Wired
• Logitech Wins 7 Awards at CES 2010 – I4U News
• Daily Gift Idea: Logitech Harmony 700 – PC Magazine
• Logitech G500 Review – CNET Australia
• Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX (Review) – Technology Review
• San Jose homeowner catches burglars on live camera – ABC 7
• Logitech finally refreshes its flagship universal remote – CNET Asia
• Logitech Buys Videoconferencing Outfit LifeSize – BusinessWeek
• Logitech Takes on Cisco, to Buy LifeSize for $405M – GigaOM
• Logitech gobbles up LifeSize; Enters video conferencing – ZDNet
• Logitech Breaks Into Videoconferencing – New York Times
• Logitech To Buy LifeSize Communications For $405 Million – Barron’s
• Logitech to Buy LifeSize for $405 Million – WSJ
• Logitech mice for any surface – The Star Online
• Logitech G500 – Maximum PC

Seven Logitech products have received the prestigious CES Innovations Honoree Award for excellence in design and engineering. The award-winning products include:

Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX

Logitech Harmony 900

Logitech Squeezebox Radio

Logitech Squeezebox Touch

Ultimate Ears 700

Logitech Flight System G940

Logitech Wireless Guitar Controllers

Also, in case you missed it last week, we announced our Logitech Harmony IR Extender System, which allows anyone with an existing IR-only remote operate A/V devices hidden inside a cabinet.

Full coverage below:

• Hardware Remotes for Your Media Center Mac – Network World
• Logitech Squeezebox Radio – PC Magazine
• Review: Logitech G330 Gaming Headset – Geek.com
• Logitech Squeezebox Radio Review – Big Picture Big Sound
• Gift Tip 8: Logitech Harmony 700 Remote Control – I4U
• Gift Tip 9: Logitech Squeezebox Radio – I4U

Today, Logitech is pleased to announce the Logitech Harmony IR Extender System. It allows anyone with an existing IR-only remote operate A/V devices hidden inside a cabinet. Now you can finally get the streamlined look you want without having to buy a new remote.

The Logitech Harmony team had three primary objectives when developing the Harmony IR Extender System:

Great IR reception

The biggest challenge in creating an IR Extender is ensuring the IR receiver is sensitive enough to detect a broad range of IR signal frequencies at a useful distance and angle – without detecting outside interference that would compromise performance. The Harmony IR Extender System’s receiver is finely tuned to recognize genuine IR commands while filtering out unwanted ”noise” from lights, windows, TVs, etc.

Great device control

The IR blaster and mini blaster design for the IR Extender System, similar to that used in the Logitech Harmony 900 RF System, is a great solution for getting IR commands to hidden devices. By blasting IR signals to multiple devices rather than sticking emitters on individual devices, you can have a lot of flexibility in how you set up your system. When combined with the activity-based control of a Harmony remote, great device control is closer than ever!

Simple setup

As A/V products and experiences go, it’s one of the simplest you’re likely to come across. Three simple steps (2 if you’re lucky) are all it takes:

1. Place the Harmony IR Receiver in a convenient, visible location. It’s pretty small so that shouldn’t be a problem. (If you want, you can even mount it right on your TV.)

2. Place the Harmony IR blaster inside the cabinet, plug it in and connect the Harmony IR Receiver to the back of it.

3. Connect the Harmony IR mini blasters to the IR blaster and place them on other shelves in your cabinet. Depending on your cabinet, you may not even need step 3, making the whole thing that much simpler.

The Harmony IR Extender System doesn’t require any programming, so you’ll be up and running in no time.

The Logitech Harmony IR Extender System is available in the U.S. at www.logitech.com for a suggested retail price of $59.99 (U.S.).

In the Harmony remote category, SF Gate says the “Harmony 900 is one of the better and more intelligent universal remote controls” and the Harmony 700 “may be an entry level universal remote, but it will run your living room with authority,” says About.com.

Check out more coverage below. Also, if you aren’t already, become a fan of our Logitech Gaming Facebook fan page!

• Logitech Speaker System Z520 Review – Macworld
• Think Small (Logitech’s Wireless Keyboard K340) – ScrippsNews
• Logitech G27 Review – PSXExtreme
• Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX Mouse reviews – CNET
• Logitech upgrades mice with anywhere tracking and a unified signal – Geek.com
• Logitech Harmony 700 Universal Remote PlayStation 3 (PS3) Review – About.com
• Digital Gear: Battle the clutter of remotes – SF Gate

Blast Magazine provides a description for the Wii Wireless Guitar: “a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and full-on metal frets. Aesthetically, the guitar has a white body with a black pickguard with realistic looking humbuckers and whammy bar.” The Wii Drum Controller, mentioned in SlashGear’s coverage, is equipped with “to slot in your Wiimote, together with an analog stick for navigating through menus.” Destructoid says these controllers “look like pretty solid offerings”

As for the Xbox Wirless Drum Controller, CrunchGear says it’s “just what the doctor ordered.”

Another Harmony 900 review also came in last week, and Premiere.com says the “Harmony 900 continues Logitech’s dominance of easy-to-use universal remotes.”

• Logitech rock Wii and Xbox 360 with Wireless Drum and Guitar Controllers – Gizmag
• Logitech Notebook Riser N110 – CNET
• Logitech releases new guitars, drums for Wii/XB3600 Guitar Hero – CrunchGear
• Perfect Harmony: Logitech’s Newest Universal Remote Reviewed – Premiere
• Logitech launches ‘premium’ Wii music game controllers – Destructoid
• Logitech unveil Drum and Guitar controllers for Wii and Xbox 360 – SlashGear
• Logitech unveils sexy Guitar Hero peripherals – Blast Magazine
• Logitech Wireless Drum Controller for Wii – Ubergizmo
• Logitech’s high-end Guitar Hero controllers headed to Wii – Joystiq

Engadget says the Harmony 700 Remote “packs an awful lot of promise into a package that practically any serious home theater junkie will be able to finance” and Examiner says “a solid choice just like any of the other PC/Mac programmable Logitech remotes.”

ZDNET says the Squeezebox Radio “has neat social network integration, pairing with Facebook, Rhapsody, Pandora, Slacker, iTunes, Sirius, and Last.fm and more for music recommendations and tunes, respectively” and CNET says the “Squeezebox Radio will be one of the most highly anticipated products for us of 2009.” For more information on the Squeezebox Radio and Squeezebox Touch, check out Product Marketing Director, Sam Feng’s video, which breaks down all the new features!

More coverage below:

• Logitech aims for a chicken in every pot, a remote in every hand with Harmony 700 – Engadget
• Logitech Harmony 700 universal remote recharges, replaces six devices – ZDNet
• Logitech Harmony 700 universal remote debuts – SlashGear
• Logitech Harmony 700 universal remote: Harmony One’s little brother – Examiner
• Logitech Harmony 700 – At A Glance – PC Magazine
• Logitech Announces Squeezebox Wi-Fi Music Devices – Gearlog
• Logitech Squeezebox Radio: The next great Wi-Fi radio? – CNET
• Look out Sonos, Logitech rolls touchscreen music streamer – Seattle Times
• Logitech debuts Squeezebox Radio, Touch network music players – ZDNet
• Logitech makes Squeezebox Radio and Touch official – Engadget
• Logitech Flight System G940 Review – I4U
• Logitech declares One Millionth Logitech Vid customer – TechShout
• The verdict: Logitech takes the mouse prize with Darkfield sensor – CNET

Over the last few years, we’ve really focused on the details that make a remote enjoyable to use. For the Harmony 700, we included hard buttons for the activities you use most often, a color LCD screen for easy browsing of your favorite channel icons, texture and paint finishes that feel great and resist fingerprints and perfectly shaped, back-lit, soft-touch buttons.

But Harmony 700 isn’t just beautiful, it’s brainy too. One of the most interesting features of the Harmony 700 is the way it can help you recover from incorrect delay settings. IR delays are pretty complicated stuff, and when they’re not set correctly you might experience a device not turning on or an input not being switched correctly when starting an activity such as “Watch TV”. Now, with Harmony 700, if you use the on-remote Help button repeatedly to solve the same delay-related problem, the remote will recognize that and prompt you to fix the setting right on the remote.

And to make sure the Harmony 700 is always ready to entertain, it’s rechargeable. In fact, the same USB cable that you use to program the remote connects to an AC adaptor that plugs into the wall. So whether you want to recharge your remote, or reprogram it, the cable is always handy.

We introduced the new Harmony 900, Wireless Desktop MK 700, Rechargeable Speaker S315i and Portable Speaker S125i.

CNET reviewed the new Harmony 900 and said it’s “hands down, the best universal remote control we’ve ever tested” and Gizmodo says the remote’s “form factor, plus the included charging dock and the RF to IR blasters make this the best remote package Logitech has right now.”

The Wireless Desktop MK 700 is a mouse-and-keyboard combination and has a three-year keyboard and one-year battery life – CrunchGear says this is “impressive, folks.” In Gadgetizer’s coverage on the S315i and S125i iPod/iPhone docks they say, “Logitech always manages to stay on top with the best reliable sound.”

Check out full coverage below:

• Logitech Rechargeable Speaker S315i – CNET
• Logitech S315i iPod / iPhone Dock – Gadgetizer
• Logitech Harmony 900 Remote Control reviews – CNET
• Logitech debuts new iPod speaker systems – Macworld
• Logitech dishes two new iPod / iPhone speaker docks, one of them rechargeable – Engadget
• New Logitech iPod Speakers Are Almost Certainly Sufficient – Logitech – Gizmodo
• Logitech announces new energy-efficient wireless mouse/keyboard combo – CNET
• Logitech announces S315i and S125i iPod speakers – CNET
• 16 great back-to-school gadgets – Computerworld
• Logitech Rechargeable Speaker S315i and Logitech Portable Speaker S125i – Ubergizmo
• Logitech MK700 Wireless Desktop Features Concave Keys to Cradle Your Fingertips – Gizmodo
• The Logitech Wireless Desktop treats your fingers to a new key design – CrunchGear
• Logitech Introduces Two New iPod Speakers – SlashGear
• Logitech Debuts Two iPod Speakers – Gearlog
• Logitech Debuts iPod Speakers, Desktop Set – TWICE
• Logitech’s Harmony 900 remote controls components behind closed doors – Engadget
• Logitech Harmony 900 Universal Remote Review – Gizmodo
• Harmony 900: Take Control of Your Home Theater – Gearlog
• Logitech Bows Newest Harmony – TWICE
• Logitech debuts Harmony 900 universal remote with RF tech – ZDNet

Do you love home entertainment but hate the mess of all the devices and wires? If so, you’re not alone.
Announced today, the Logitech Harmony 900 Remote takes clutter-free home entertainment to a new level by using radio frequency (RF) technology. RF signals can travel in all directions and through walls and doors (just like a cordless phone) so you can hide all your gear inside a cabinet or closet and control it all without having to point the remote.

The remote’s physical design is based on the award-winning Harmony One, but we’ve added a higher-resolution screen, a more sophisticated user interface and four additional programmable buttons for STB/DVR/teletext controls. And, like all Harmony remotes, it offers the benefits of one-touch activity-based control and online setup.

The coolest thing about the Harmony 900, however, is the bits that go inside the cabinet to receive the RF signal and send the IR commands to the AV devices. Most RF products require you to attach small IR emitters to the front of all your devices. If you’ve ever tried this, you know how frustrating it can be to find the IR sensor on a DVD player or AV receiver, not to mention getting the emitters to stay in place. And good luck if you need to move anything around later on.

Harmony 900 takes a different approach to in-cabinet control. Our new RF System includes an IR blaster and two mini blasters that sit on the shelves in your cabinet and can each control multiple stacked or side-by-side devices. They are simple to set up and move around as your system evolves and are a lot more attractive than the stick-on emitters. And they won’t leave you looking for tape or hot glue to keep them in place! If you want to control equipment outside of the cabinet, like your TV or video projector, etc., just leave one of the mini blasters on top of the cabinet.

The flexibility of an RF system is hard to appreciate until you try it. Even if your devices aren’t behind closed doors, just not having to point my remote makes a huge difference. In my case, I have an open system and with a single IR blaster I can pause my DVR from the kitchen or change the volume from my porch. It’s made a big difference for me, and my wife refuses to go back to the old ‘pointy remote’ since I brought home the Harmony 900.

Related Reads:

• Logitech’s Harmony 900 remote controls components behind closed doors (Engadget)
• Logitech Harmony 900 Universal Remote Review (Gizmodo)
• Harmony 900: Take Control of Your Home Theater (Gearlog)
• Logitech Bows Newest Harmony (TWICE)
• Logitech debuts Harmony 900 universal remote with RF tech (ZDNet)