Motorola

Not long ago it was easy to lean primarily on a traditional remote control – universal, of course -- relegating the keyboard and mouse to the audio & video (A/V) cabinet, closet, or other locale of last resort –dragging it out just for occasional maintenance or troubleshooting. However, as over-the-top (OTT) content providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and YouTube have become more pervasive, the traditional remote can no longer provide enough functionality as we transition to a search, browse and consume environment. Those hesitant to make space on the coffee table for a “normal” sized wireless keyboard alongside the aging universal; or clinging fervently to the dream of a single remote to manage everything, require something small with the flexibility to control multiple heterogeneous devices. Few options meet these requirements, but the number recently increased with Pulse-Eight bringing out a new home theater PC (HTPC) remote from Motorola. Operating as a 2.4GHz wireless keyboard and providing infrared (IR) learning capabilities in a convenient one-handed form factor the NYXboard Hybrid checks the right boxes, but with the last option offering similar features found lacking it is critical to dig deeper.