Level Up to a One

The home theater should be a cozy, dark, and inviting place. Anyone should be able to sit down and enjoy their favorite shows and movies without needing to refer to a manual and/or a technically proficient family member. Unfortunately, as the home viewing experience has become fragmented with cable boxes, audio receivers, set-top streamers, and videogame consoles, the coffee table has also become a minefield of remotes. Take back control and toss them in a drawer. All you need is one.

The goal here is to fuse all that functionality into a single remote with a simple layout everyone can master - not just the tech savvy. If your home theater requires a five-minute preamble on how to watch a Blu-ray or play a videogame, you've failed. By consolidating all those controls into one device you can decrease the chances a remote will be thrown at a wall (or another person). Who knows, maybe you'll finally get around to watching Solaris (the Tarkovsky version) too.

First off, it's important to emphasize that universal remotes are far from perfect. But they do serve a purpose when set up correctly. The Wirecutter recommends the Logitech Harmony 650 remote. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of its more feature-heavy brothers. But it does have customizable quick buttons for different viewing experiences, and it can be set up via your computer. For a universal remote that's supposed to reduce the anxiety and frustration of turning on a TV and other associated components, that's really all you need.

But while the remote itself is pretty simple to use, the software to set it up can be frustrating. Fortunately there's a robust Harmony software forum on Logitech's site that can help with some of the issues you may encounter. One of the most common problems is not being able to find your exact device while setting up the remote. A quick workaround is to simply choose a similar device from the same manufacturer. For example, if you can't find your Sony TV, choose a TV with a similar model number from Sony.

The 650 also only officially controls five devices. Luckily, it can be hacked to control as many devices as you want it to.

Now if the idea of spending $70 on a remote seems ludicrous, do your homework before bringing home a $20 remote. Be sure to check compatibility and remember that most low-end remotes won't work with RF-controlled devices. Some devices like the TiVo Roamio and the Roku 3 offer both IR and RF receivers. So if you've been using an IR-only remote, be sure that those devices are within the remote's line of sight.

Like the Harmony remote, if while setting up your new remote it's missing your device model, choose codes associated with similar devices from the same manufacturer.

The PlayStation 3 is a whole other problem with its Bluetooth remote. Logitech has an adapter for its remotes. But of course, it only works with Logitech remotes. There is a workaround: Some newer PlayStation 3s feature Control for HDMI. In this mode, the console is controlled via the HDMI port. This feature allows control of the console via your TV remote. Sony says it works with Bravia TVs, but those with Samsung TVs have reported being able to use the feature too. Check in System Settings to see if it's available and works with your TV.

Ideally, all this remote configuration should be the job of the person that set up the home theater. They (hopefully) know how everything works. Just remind them to keep it simple. The universal remote doesn't need to access every feature of your TV, just the basics.

The end game here is that the least technically savvy person in your household should be watching Pacific Rim on Blu-ray with amazing robot-on-kaiju fighting sound effects blasting their hair back without using three separate remotes. Even the home theater snob will appreciate that.

Roberto is a Wired Staff Writer for Gadget Lab covering cord-cutting, e-readers, home technology, and all the gadgets that fit in your backpack. Got a tip? Send him an email at: roberto_baldwin [at] wired.com.

Read more by Roberto Baldwin

Follow @strngwys on Twitter.

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Over the past couple of years, I've read more books than my flat can hold. I judged the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2012 and the Man Booker Prize in 2013 and the latter alone had a submissions list of 151 books. Throw in the rereading of the longlists, the re-rereading of the shortlists and the reviewing I've done on the side and the whole thing adds up to a number which makes my eyes ache, just thinking about it.

I'm often asked whether I read on e-readers or prefer paper books. The short answer is: both. If I'm at home, I almost always choose paper. If I'm reviewing, or judging, I like to tag pages to remember phrases or moments. I have yet to find an e-reader that makes that an easy process: I don't just want to tag a page, but a sentence or even a clause.

Also, I like flipping through pages to remind myself of the feel of a book and e-readers don't have that licked either. But not every physical book is a pleasure to read.

One book on this year's Man Booker longlist is 1,004 pages and holding something that size to read it is a genuine physical effort. And if I'm travelling, I much prefer an e-reader, as it's lighter and doesn't get dog-eared.

£120, 4GB storage (expandable with a MicroSD card), 174g, 6in screen, two months' battery life (e-reader battery life is normally calculated on the basis of 30 mins use per day). Download more than 3.5 million titles from kobobooks.com. Has an edge-to-edge surface display, meaning there is no ridge where the screen meets the frame. £109, 2GB, 206g, 6in screen, two months' battery life. Download titles from the Kindle Store

I have made it this far through the Kobo's existence without realising it is an anagram of the word book. It weighs very little and it's tiny: pocket-sized, like paperbacks once were. It's easy to hold one-handed, so good for commuting/reading 50 Shades of Grey (I imagine). The store has plenty of books, including the Richard and Judy booklist.

£89, 2GB, 200g, 6in screen, two months' battery life. Download titles from Sony's ReaderStore. £269, 16GB, 308g, 7.9in display, 10 hours' battery life (difficult to compare with e-reader battery life since you are likely to be using it for other more power intensive applications also). Apple would prefer you download titles from iBooks but Kobo and Kindle are also accessible via their apps. Not strictly an e-reader, more of mini-computer.

Perfect For: People with pockets or tiny handbags.

Just released, it is an upgraded version of Amazon's widely lauded e-reader, with a faster processor and whiter light. This weighs a similarly tiny amount and looks particularly good and easy to read when the screen light is on. There's a decent browser, but I'm in this for the books. The font is clean and crisp and the pages are well-margined: it's perfect for reading a thriller. The only problem is that it still shows your progress in terms of percentages rather than page numbers, which makes me feel like I'm downloading a book to my brain rather than reading it.

Perfect for: Anyone who wants a huge range of books to buy.

Unlike the Paperwhite, this e-reader relies on ambient light and comes in three different colours: red, white or black. This comes with a cover attached: it looks smart but weighs a paltry 200g. The battery life is good, but that's because it is the only e-reader here which doesn't have a light (though you can buy a different cover with a light attached). It has cute silver buttons at the bottom, which slightly makes up for the fact that the screen isn't super-responsive. It's rather blinky when it loads a page, which makes me blink in sympathy. I really should book that eye-test.

Perfect for: Anyone who keeps their e-reader in the same pocket as their keys.

This is my e-reader of choice, though I can't deny the internet is a temptation for a person reading against the clock. It's the heaviest of the lot, at 310g, but that isn't heavy, considering I can also write this column on it and then flit back to reading.

It's the priciest, and if you only want to read, then it's poor value. But for me, it's probably the most useful piece of tech I have ever owned. Plus, it gives you page-numbers, and allows you to convert that to a percentage in your own mind, which I much prefer. Also, it allows you to download Kindle and Kobo apps and buy books from there as well as from iBooks

Perfect for: Anyone who wants a shiny, pretty thing.

£49, 2GB, 197g, 6in screen, battery life one month. Download titles from the Nook Store. Barnes & Noble's bargain basement device includes a backlight. This has rubberised edges and a squishy back, which makes it feel bouncy, though I suspect it isn't.

The touch screen is pretty responsive and the Nook shop is rammed (2.5 million books, newspapers and magazines). The categories are a bit arbitrary: Crime is divided into Crime Thrillers, Underworld and Crime Stories and Criminal Mind - Mystery and Crime. What if it's an underworld thriller, like The Long Firm? I feel warmly to the Nook, because they sell them in Barnes and Noble in the US, which are lovely bookshops - the missing link between Waterstones and the late, lamented Borders. And this is an interactive fellow: keen to have you sharing your reading habits with friends (it even allows you to make a temporary loan of a book).

Perfect for: sociable readers and book club members.

The 10th Pocket

We're proud to announce the start of the 10th Pocket-lint Gadget Awards, the UK's longest-running awards dedicated to gadgetry, entertainment technology and gizmos.

As with the past nine years, the aim is to find and celebrate the best tech and gadgets from the last 12 months, so you know what to buy when you head down to the shops or go online this Christmas and beyond.

Pocket-lint's vigorous vetting process means that all the products up for nomination need to have been seen by a member of the Pocket-lint team (more than 500 items so far, and counting) and were available somewhere in the world between November 2012 and December 2013.

However, rather than leave it up to a small panel of judges - basically, the Pocket-lint team - the Pocket-lint Gadget Award winners are decided by scores of leading journalists from around the world, a select team of super judges and you, the public.

We believe this makes the Pocket-lint Gadget Awards by far the fairest and most representative within the tech industry.

Therefore, come Awards day, you can be sure that when we announce what the must-have gadgets of the year are, they'll be just that - must have.

This year's categories have changed from previous years to reflect the changing landscape we constantly work in. New categories include Best System Camera, Best Phablet, and Best Wearable/Fitness Gadget.

- Best Compact Camera - Best System Camera - Best Laptop - Best Game - Best Home Entertainment Device - Best TV - Best Tablet - Best Mobile Phone - Best Phablet - Best Wearable/Fitness Gadget - Best Portable Audio Device - Innovation of the Year - Product of the Year

Nominations for the award categories are being taken now, and the final list - narrowed down to five per category - will be announced on Tuesday 12 November.

The deadline for entries will be the Thursday 8 November 2012. You can recommend your favourite products by either emailing us via the feedback form, adding them to the comments below, or getting in touch with anyone on the Pocket-lint team directly.

The winners will be unveiled at the 10th Pocket-lint Gadget Awards party at the end of November in association with our friends at Hotwire.

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Telegraph.co.ukIn-flight gadget rules may be relaxedTelegraph.co.ukA report from an advisory panel set up by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US has said that restrictions should be relaxed on the use of mobile phones, tablets, e-readers and laptops. It found that there was no longer any scientific ...

New iOS App Radically Simplifies Your Finances … With Bubbles

Budgeting is a pain. Apps like Mint can make things easier, but not everyone needs, wants, or cares to track and categorize every expense by type. They just want to know one thing: How much money do I have to spend without going in the red?

These are the folks Level Money is designed for. After linking bank accounts and credit cards, the app determines how much money you can spend today, this week, and the rest of the month, making it easy to ensure you've got savings stowed away for a rainy day.

Level CEO Jake Fuentes thinks of Level Money as Fitbit for your wallet, keeping track of its activities in a simple, straightforward way. Putting things into buckets like 'food' and 'entertainment' - the traditional budgeting way - is not necessary for many of today's mobile users (namely, the Millennial demographic), he says.

And so the experience is super simple. When you open the app, three bubbles show how much money you have to spend today, this week, and the rest of the month. Tapping on one provides a deeper look at where money has gone during each time period. Through a menu on the left, you can also get a list of pending and posted transactions to your accounts. You have the ability to mark them as normal, unusual, or a bill to help the app better determine your spending limits.

For those (rightfully) concerned about their financial data getting into the wrong hands, Level Money is architected with bank-level security standards, and uses Intuit to manage your bank information.

Again, Level Money isn't as comprehensive as other money management apps, but that's by design. It's budget handling at its very simplest, and from our experience, it does a good job of it.

Level Money is iOS-only for now, but an Android version is on the way. You can grab it from the App Store today.

Tame Your Twitter Feed by Killing Annoying Retweets

You follow people on Twitter because you're interested in what they have to say. Who they follow and retweet may not be so relevant. Here's how to cut down on the noise in your Twitter feed without unfollowing interesting people.

Disabling retweets from someone you follow is the quickest way to clean up your timeline. While many apps will let you adjust Twitter settings, to make sure your changes are universal, head to Twitter.com. Log in to your account and click on Followers below your profile avatar in the upper left-hand corner of the page. You'll be presented with all the people (or brand robots) you follow on Twitter. To disable a person's retweets from others, click on the silhouette to the left of the blue Following button. A contextual menu will appear and from there you can select Turn off Retweets.

This won't stop you from seeing manual retweets - the type that begin with RT or have quotes around the text of the original tweet. Fortunately, these always include some sort of commentary from the person you follow. And hey, additional commentary is good. Getting spammed with random tweets from strangers? Less good.

Now when that person (or brand robot) retweets every single update about an intense curling match, you'll only see their excited tweets about a wicked eight-ender.

Roberto is a Wired Staff Writer for Gadget Lab covering cord-cutting, e-readers, home technology, and all the gadgets that fit in your backpack. Got a tip? Send him an email at: roberto_baldwin [at] wired.com.

Read more by Roberto Baldwin

Follow @strngwys on Twitter.

Rumor: Apple iPad Event October 22nd

Last month we told you that Apple planning an event on 10/15. Now AllThingsD is reporting that Apple will in fact host an event on 10/22. It's likely, based on last year's turn of 'events', Apple will unveil new iPads.

Changes likely include the integration of the Touch ID sensor across all models, as well as the unveiling of the Retina iPad Mini to compete with the likes of the new Nexus 7 and recently announced Amazon Kindle HDX. Other updates might include a slightly slimmer iPad that some what mimics the design of the iPad Mini. We might also see a processor bump in the full sized iPad.

Of note, Apple held their iPad Mini event on 10/23 last year.