Indeed, there are already several products on sale that will turn your iPhone into a TV remote, although most of them rely on a dongle that you must connect to your phone before you can start changing channels.

Now comes Logitech (maker of some of the finest, so-called “universal” remotes on the market) and its new Harmony Link ($99, slated to arrive in October), which controls up to eight home-video devices with the help of a glossy, pebble-shaped module that “blasts” wireless commands to your TV, cable box, DVD player, and other components.

The Harmony Link's "mini-blaster" module sits on or near your TV cabinet, where it sends wireless commands to your various home-video components.

As described by Logitech, the setup process is relatively simple. You just install the free Harmony Link app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Android smartphone, and then strategically place the compact Harmony Link module (which connects to your home Wi-Fi network) on or near your TV cabinet.

Then, using the step-by-step menus on the Harmony Link app, you configure the module so it can communicate with your various home video devices (up to 5,000 brands are supported, Logitech says). You’ll also have to set up a few main activities, like “Watch TV,” “Watch a Movie,” or “Play a Game.”

It sounds complicated, I know. But as the satisfied owner of Logitech’s marvelous, easy-to-use Harmony One remote, I’m guessing that configuring the Link to work with your TV, DVR, and other components will be a relatively painless process.

Once the setup is all finished, turning on your TV, changing channels, and futzing with the volume will be a simple process of launching the Harmony Link app on your smartphone or iPad—and thanks to the wireless Link module sitting near your TV cabinet, you won’t have to worry about attaching a dongle to your phone before you start watching.

Even better, the Harmony Link app for iPad boasts a searchable, on-screen programming guide, complete with photos and show descriptions.

So, ready to trade in your old TV remote (or remotes) for an iPad app?

LINK: Logitech Harmony Link

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6_hcGD0_5c&w=550]

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So perhaps it shouldn’t come as too much surprise that the very first Google TV box—the Logitech Revue, which came with a $299 price tag when it first arrived last October—drew little interest from viewers and a $50 price cut earlier this year.

Well, Logitech has just announced that it will soon chop the Revue’s price tag again—to just $99 (as reported by NewTeeVee), same as the revamped Apple TV and the priciest Roku streaming-video box. We’re pretty much talking a fire sale here.

The Revue's back panel: Yep, that'a a lot of wires there.

Don’t be tempted, though. Based on my experience late last year with the tricky-to-install, tough-to-use TV set-top box, the Revue still isn’t a bargain, even after such a steep discount.

The Revue—and the Android-powered Google TV platform in general—seek to (finally) meld TV and the Web into a “single, seamless experience,” complete with a prominent Google search box to help you find shows to watch and record. (Sony is also in the Google TV game, having released a series of Google TV-enabled HDTVs and a Blu-ray player late last year.)

Google TV promises to let you watch TV and browse the Web at the same time using the old, familiar picture-and-picture approach, as well as (eventually, at least) run applications from the Android Market. Apps for streaming video and music services like Netflix, Amazon, and Pandora as also available.

The Revue's picture-and-picture feature, with the web in one window and live TV in another.

But as I wrote last year, setting up the Revue in your living room involves disconnecting your cable box or DVR from your TV and connecting it to the Revue; after that, you use a connect a second HDMI cable to the Revue and plug the other end back into your TV. You’ll then have to attach an infrared transmitter to the Revue that “blasts” wireless commands to your DVR, essentially taking control of it.

If that sounds like a messy setup, well … it is, although the Google TV interface does a reasonably good job of guiding you through the tedious process.

The Revue also comes with a large, clunky keyboard with “squishy,” non-backlit keys (good luck typing in the dark), as well as a “quirky” interface that forces you to switch back and forth between a touchpad and arrow keys when navigating the various on-screen menus.

The Revue's clunky keypad: No backlighting, and "squishy" keys.

Beyond the actual Revue hardware, there’s also the fact that all the major networks have blocked access to their free, streaming TV episodes from Google TV devices—essentially negating one of the big selling points for Google TV in general.

Last but not least, we’re still waiting for Google to allow Google TV users to install applications from the Android Market onto their devices. (Word is that an update will enable Android Market access later this summer.)

In the end, it’s hard to recommend the Revue—even at $200 off its original price tag—over such competing devices as the Apple TV and Roku’s inexpensive set-top boxes.

Still don’t believe me? Consider this: Logitech admitted this week that over the past few months, “returns of [the Revue] were higher than the very modest sales.” Never a good sign.

Read more about Apple TV, as well as the newly updated Roku 2 line of TV set-top boxes.

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