Basically it came down to holding the remote right in front of the iPaq's IR receiver.

ENGADGET: HOW-TO: Enable web based viewing and remote control over your TiVo

This all brings us straight to our biggest complaint: there's also no IR receiver.

ENGADGET: Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player with Google TV review

If you can get around the lack of an IR receiver for standard remotes, both considered the PS3 an attractive option for anyone considering a Blu-ray player.

ENGADGET: PlayStation 3 as Blu-ray player, how does it rate? HD

By connecting the external IR receiver to the adapter box, and then plugging the resulting combination into a USB port, you've created an unsightly way to talk to your PS3 via infrared.

ENGADGET: Control your PlayStation 3 with IR

Just as the name suggests, the device comes in the shape of a cube, with an IR receiver on the front side, a USB port on the right, and a bunch more on the back: HDMI-in, HDMI-out, another USB port, RJ-45 and IR-out.

ENGADGET: ASUS Qube hands-on (video) HD