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Unfolded Circle today unveiled Remote 3 in a more compact and beautiful body, packed with new features. This is the next product in Unfolded Circle’s lineup after Remote Two, that is now in the hands of happy customers.
“We introduced Remote Two three years ago on Kickstarter with overwhelming success. The global pandemic and chip shortage slowed down the development at that point, but we pulled through and delivered to every backer before the end of 2023 and many more customers afterwards.” said Marton Borzak, Unfolded Circle’s CEO and Head of Design. “With Remote 3 we’re taking the next step towards creating a companion for smart homes and home theatres with local control and privacy in focus.”
Remote 3 shares the same quad-core 64bit ARM SOC and architecture with its predecessor, but brings improvements in a few important areas. Wireless charging, 5GHz Wifi and a refined button layout with RGB backlight are packed into a sleek 9.7 mm thin aluminium body. Upgraded RAM and storage make Remote 3 future proof and ready to tackle more.
Dock 3 is the remote’s companion that has also been upgraded with features like Power over Ethernet, configurable 3.5mm jack ports to send IR signals or control compatible RS232 devices. Additionally the new dock comes with built-in microphone and speaker to be ready for its upcoming voice capabilities. Starting with Dock 3, customers will be able to upload custom firmware via its USB-C port. Unfolded Circle will provide configuration files for ESP Home, a popular system for controlling microcontrollers.
A new accessory, a powerful IR blaster, will be shipped with the new dock. Using the 3.5mm jack port on Dock 3, users can use the IR blaster to reach devices, for example, inside closed-door cabinets.
Remote 3 can work standalone with a smart home system, like Home Assistant, making it an affordable option to those, who does not need the dock’s extended infrared and RS232 control capabilities. “We never wanted to create a new smart home platform. There are many great options out there and that is the reason why the brains of the operations and even the web configuration app lives inside the remote. We did this already with Remote Two, enabling it to connect to smart home systems, but control devices directly at the same time without the need of additional hubs.” added Marton Borzak.
Unfolded Circle has shipped 20+ over the air software updates since December 2023 to improve the software experience as well as add support for more devices and integrations. Developers from the enthusiastic community have also contributed to the ever growing list of integrations, using the well-documented open APIs and developer libraries.
Remote 3 will ship with the all-new Web configurator 2.0, that has been redesigned from the ground up to make configuration even easier. With added mobile support and copy-paste functionality, it ensures that users can customise the user interface and button configuration of their remotes with a few simple clicks. The new software will be available to all Remote Two owners already at the end of the summer.
Just like Remote Two, Remote 3 will launch on Kickstarter, the 21st of June and will be available in three configurations: