RedEye Universal Remote: Review and Set Up Guide

2010-03-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

The RedEye remote control appliance (think of it as a universal remote only on steroids) makes your iPhone or iPod touch into a remote control for lots of different devices that use infra red as a controlling feature. Here’s how I set mine up – maybe I can save you a few steps!

Of course, being a male, I never read instructions or ask for directions. Therefore I only read the “quick setup” guide which is very limited in verbiage. So I took it upon myself to set this thing up with just the quick reference. First things first: un-box the device, which is about the size of just about any other charging base (I’ve seen this size in many forms, from phone base chargers, to USB hard drive bases).

Your iPhone or iPod touch can sit on the top of this device, which charges it at the same time. You don’t need to keep it on the base at any time--it’s only a built in feature for your convenience. It plugs in with a wall wart and it has to sit in view of the devices that you are going to control. The base is actually the IR emitter and can be used at any angle on the device; in fact if you have a big room or two rooms with line of sight it will control a number of devices within a reasonable distance. You will notice that the device glows blue (the plastic is a translucent blue) when you plug it in. Now you are ready for the next step.

The process was a bit confusing -- the guide doesn’t tell you specifically where on the iPhone each task is accomplished, so here’s how you do it. Download the free RedEye app from the iPhone app store. Once installed, you will need to go into your iPhone/iPod Touch and configure the wireless settings. This is inside the settings applet! Not the RedEye application! If you open the Wi-Fi settings you will see a “Redeye” wireless network. Choose this wireless network and it will disconnect you from your current wireless access point, so make sure you have your wireless key because you will need this after a few settings. Once you are connected to the RedEye wireless, you can now open up the RedEye app. I am not going to go into how to set each individual device up fully but it is truly intuitive so this will not be a problem. Set up a room (where ever you want to control the devices --home theater, living room, bedroom etc...) To do this, you need to go into the setup tab on the bottom of the app. Once the room is added, you can go into this room (Right Arrow) and go down to the networking options and select your existing Wi-Fi network (which the system should detect). It will prompt you for your access point encryption key and then save your changes. The RedEye will then be on your home network and you can connect back to your home Wi-Fi and you can get into the RedEye app directly. Setup of each room, device and adding commands is pretty simple. The only issue I had was when selecting your equipment (for instance Sony Television) you are prompted to test the settings. I could never get this to work. I simply saved the settings and I was able to control each and every device I added. Nice!

This is a great appliance! If you want more information go to http://thinkflood.com they have FAQs and other troubleshooting tips online, but if you’re like me the quick setup guide will be your reference.

JJ's Gadgets & Gizmos

RedEye Universal Remote: Review and Set Up Guide