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Most universal remotes have the functional appeal of an abacus: lots of operations that only a math major can puzzle out. So when Bang & Olufsen designed its Beo5 Remote Controller, the company focused on ergonomics rather than buttons. The new clicker has only 10, and they can be operated with just one paw, thanks to a spherical base that nestles in your palm. The buttons that survived the cut are preset to the most common tasks — play, rewind, fast-forward, and so on — but a B&O dealer can customize them for free (the first time) to drive anything from your DVR to the drapes. For deeper functions, there's a 2.5-inch LCD touchscreen with soft controls that simulate the tactile experience of their carved-from-plastic neighbors. Mash down a virtual button: It glows white while clicking audibly and even feels like it's sinking in. The only bummer is you won't be able to reprogram it yourself. For that you have to head back to the store and pay a technician to jack in and deploy his special program. And while we'd never encourage you to hack the unit, we just thought we'd mention the USB port for the sake of, you know, completeness.
$560, bang-olufsen.com
