One puck to control them all
Square Connect’s SQ Blaster solves a problem we’ve been grappling with for some time now: Integrating control over the devices we manage using the Z-Wave home-control protocol (especially lighting) with control over the devices we manage using infrared, all with a single universal remote. The fact that this hardware/software combo is inexpensive is icing on the cake.
Inexpensive is, however, a relative term: The SQ Blaster’s $200 price tag is pricey if all you’re looking for is a basic infrared repeater (although some kits, such as $320 Niles Audio’s RCA-HT2, are priced a lot higher). But the SQ Blaster does much more than just repeat IR commands, and it’s many times cheaper than custom-installed systems that accomplish the same tasks. The system consists of the SQ Blaster unit itself, (a puck fabricated from your choice of cherry wood or environmentally friendly bamboo), a three-headed IR emitter cable to control your home-theater components, a USB cable, a USB power adapter, and software that turns your iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone into a universal remote control.
Square Connect fabricates the SQ Blaster from wood to help it blend in with your décor.
Square Connect licenses a comprehensive IR code library, and the SQ Blaster can learn IR commands for any esoteric devices that are not in its database. The system taps your Wi-Fi network, so there is no line-of-sight requirement, and it links to Mi Casa Verde’s Vera (reviewed here) for Z-Wave control. The SQ Remote software is free, and you can install it on multiple iOS devices and copy your control settings to each one. The software can control multiple SQ Blasters and multiple Veras, too.
Our evaluation kit came with two options that we didn’t actually need: an IR signal splitter cable ($10) and a long-range IR blaster ($12). If you don’t need any of the cables or the power supply (the device can be powered by a computer or any common USB power supply), you can purchase just the SQ Blaster and software for $180.
You can place the puck either on a table in front of your entertainment center (it has three built-in IR emitter lenses), or you can plug in the emitter cables and stash the puck inside your entertainment center. The components in our home theater are hidden behind wood-panel doors, so we put it inside the cabinet and glued the emitters to our A/V receiver, satellite set-top box, Blu-ray disc player. Thanks to the SQ Blaster’s removable antenna, the device had no problem connecting to our wireless network.
This is how the SQ Remote software looks running on an iPad.
Once you’ve accomplished that step and installed the SQ Blaster software on your iOS device, the real work begins: configuring the software to do your bidding. This consists of informing the software of the devices you wish to control and downloading the appropriate IR commands for them. In the next step, you assign activities (watch a Blu-ray disc, for instance) to what SQ Connect calls Control Pads. These are represented by simple icons arranged in a carousel motif on the iOS device’s screen; you swipe your finger tip left or right to bring the Control Pad you wish to use or program to the fore.
You can design each Control Pad to be as complex or as simple as you wish. In this shot, the SQ Blaster is using the Z-Wave protocol and a Mi Casa Verde Vera to manage everything from the home's lighting to its door locks and HVAC system.
Configuring the Control Pads for all your IR and Z-Wave is a bit tedious, but it need be performed only once (at least until you add or swap out gear). Once you’ve finished, you can create macros to execute any series of commands (turn on the A/V receiver and set its inputs and outputs; turn on the Blu-ray player and video projector; drop the screen from the ceiling; close the shades and dim the lights; and start the movie) with a single button press.
Square Connect’s SQ Blaster and SQ Remote, combined with your existing iOS device and a Vera, form a powerful, do-it-yourself home-control front-end rivaling custom-installed solutions that cost several times more. Programming the system is time consuming, but the icon-oriented software eliminates most of the pain. Our only major complaint is that there’s no Android support.
