According to the gadget guru web site at [Link: gadgetguru.com] the pronto can recive information back from devices that transmit (like the new Sony CD players that will display the CD text info on the remote). Has any one else read about this? The text on that site was provided by Philips so one would hope that its accurate.

Are you referring to this?

Pronto receives infrared (IR) feedback from electronic components, including TVs, VCRs, DVD players, CD players, cable boxes, laser disc players, DSS systems, AM/FM tuners and a variety of other A/V devices.

It's confusingly written. What that really means is that it will receive and learn signals from the *remote controls* of TVs, VCRs, etc.

Yes. I thought that it would be a little hard to implement. However it would seem to me possible with a software upgrade to do this. It already has an IR reciever, so why not (perhaps some one at philips is listening.)

Although I've not had a Pronto hood open yet, I suspect that the only IR receiver is in the back for learning with an Emitter only in the front. I also suspect that the one in the back has narrow field lensing to help reduce stray noise when teaching codes.
Of course at the moment, Philips is the ultimate answer on your questions.

The Pronto hardware has two infrared receivers, one in the 'tail' for learning, and another in the 'head' (that the software doesn't support).

The one in the tail has a wide bandwidth, but has a range of only a few inches, to avoid picking up background IR noise. The one in the head has much longer range, but only accepts a narrow range of carrier frequencies (which is somewhat irrelevent, since the software doesn't support it anyhow).

As to the 'description' attributed to Philips, it obviously didn't come from anyone in engineering :-)