As 2011 draws to a close and we all look to see just where we put that 2012 calendar, our thoughts go out to everyone who has contributed to making Remote Central such a great place to be for the past year.

This includes our valued advertisers, without whom we would not be here (support those that support RC!); all of our volunteer forum moderators who do a fantastic job fighting spam and maintaining the peace; the great folks at ipHouse.com who keep our server running in tip-top shape and always available; plus the custom installation and control community as a whole – everyone who takes the time to interact by sharing their knowledge, wit, files (thanks djy!)... or even just their two cents!

Please accept my heartfelt appreciation – and all the best for the coming year!

- Daniel & RemoteCentral.com

For those of you waking up today with a brand new universal remote control, congratulations! You’ll want to explore further around this site for helpful resources such as the community forums, our redesigned file download area, discrete code collection, our collection of 1400+ universal remote control manuals, the CEC Wiki and much more!

And if you didn't get that special clicker you were waiting for... no worries! You can use our reviews, user reviews and the Which Remote Should I Buy? forum for help deciding exactly what you need!

If you have questions about anything, post them in our forums!

It's time to scout the stores for universal remote control deals on this Cyber Monday!

First up, Amazon.com is having a Lighting Deal on the Harmony 700 at 8:15 AM PST, or 11:15 AM EST. Next, later on today there's another deal for the Acoustic Research Xsight Color at 6:15 PM PST, or 9:15 PM EST. (The normal price is $59.99, but note that you can buy the higher-end Xsight Touch for just $52.67).

For either of these you'll need to click on the deal at the right time from this page.

At BestBuy.com the sale continues, with the Logitech Harmony 650 for $39.99, or the Logitech Harmony One for $139.99.

At RadioShack.com: the Logitech Harmony One continues on sale for $129.99.

If you spot any other deals add them to comments! Read more...

I'm not seeing a huge number of remote control deals online for this Black Friday, however here's a few for interest:

Amazon.com is having a Lighting Deal on the Harmony 650 at 9:15 AM EST. The normal price is $65, and the special price will be... less. You'll find the deal countdown on this page. Also find the Logitech Harmony One for $139.99.

At RadioShack.com: the Logitech Harmony 600 for $29.99 or the Logitech Harmony One for $129.99.

At BestBuy.com: the Logitech Harmony 650 for $39.99, or the Logitech Harmony One for $139.99.

If you spot any other deals add them to comments! Read more...

This news update may not be remote control related, but it might still interest a few of you. On the weekend I completed a 5-day time-lapse video of a house being demolished by a backhoe, followed by rubble cleanup and preparation of the land for its new life as a parking lot for a car dealership. Read more...

Good news, everyone! I’m pleased to announce that Remote Central and Philips have reached an agreement and we are now able to offer everyone free access to the latest beta version of ProntoEdit Professional 3.0 software, as well as related control panel and extender firmware upgrades.

With this new software you’ll gain additional capabilities for your Pronto Professional control panel including Master Project View, overlay pages, punch-throughs and more. Read more...

I'm going to be a bit delayed releasing the next videos - the primary hard drive on my system failed catastrophically on Saturday, and it's probably going to be at least a few days before it's up and running again.

This was a new Intel 510 SSD, less than 60 days old, and considering Intel's reputation in the SSD arena I'm rather surprised that this happened. Good thing I perform daily backups... remember folks, never trust your data to only one hard drive!

If you're a Remote Central account holder and meet a few brief qualifications, you can obtain an activation code to download the latest beta version of Philips ProntoEdit Professional 3.0. Read more...

For those of you waking up today with a brand new universal remote control, congratulations! You’ll want to explore further around this site for helpful resources such as the community forums, file download area, discrete code collection, user manual collection, CEC Wiki and much more!

And if you didn't get that something special... no worries! You can use our reviews, user reviews and the Which Remote Should I Buy? forum for help deciding exactly what you need!

Although the number of universal remote control deals available this Black Friday / Cyber Monday definitely seem fewer compared to last year, if you're after a Logitech Harmony this holiday season you should be able to score a deal at Amazon.

• Logitech Harmony 300 (the all hard buttoned model) for $29.99 - save 40% or $20.
• Logitech Harmony 700 (color LCD & hard buttons) for $74.99 - save 50% or $75.
• Logitech Harmony One (hybrid touchscreen/hard buttons) for $149.99 - save 40% or $100.
• At 3:30 PM PST (6:20PM EST) there will be a mystery Lighting Deal for a "universal learning remote control" at 55% off. Be sure to check out what it is!

Read more...