Charlie:

I hear you, and have wondered about this same thing for quite a while. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

The 950 comes within spitting distance of being such a device, if only it had about 4 times the housekeeping horsepower and a really intelligent interface. There are some really expensive devices made by Crestron (I think) that do a lot of what you say, but they rely on stone in ax technology of I.R. repeaters to communicate.