I spoke directly with Dave Olsen about this. There are no plans to make a new hardware remote to replace the Cab 2. Its a matter of economics. He explained that to design and build a new remote with screen displays, in today's economy, would cost $1000 or more. They decided to go with an app based on this cost. Dave also said that if the economics changed in the future they would consider building a new remote. While I don't like an app for controlling trains I can understand their decision. Whats the point of building a remote if no one is willing to shell out that kind of money?
Thankfully I have a cab2, and I recently acquired a Cab 1L. Lionel is still making the Cab 1L so at least they are still making a basic remote. Lionel must still see the value in a hardware remote since they continue to make the 1L. So the best suggestion would be to use the app when doing advanced programming when you need the app but when just running trains, use the cab1L. Its a compromise I can accept to help keep costs down.
