Hi Spudz, thanks for your message, I think your questions are very valid as we have all experienced some confusion around these issues. Up until now it has really been quite complicated to get things working the way you want, if you want to go further than our simple remote controls.
I say "up until now" because our new controller hub from BroadLink goes a very long way to making things easy, and quite affordable too.
The older R series motors use a different radio protocol because we have introduced the ability to "clone" remotes with the new G series. This means the new remotes don't work with the old series, and the old remotes don't work with the new series.
This can be problematic, especially if both types will be in the same room, when you have the older series and want to add some of the newer G series motors.
But the BroadLink hub solves this problem because it can "learn" the remote control signals from either type.Thus you can turn any phone or tablet (even older phones without sim cards) into a very sophisticated remote control, and our wall or hand held remotes still work too (with their respective motor types).
I hope that clarifies things for you, but feel free to send me an email message if you need more info; here's that link that explains more, as well as the IFTTT capability (if-this-then-that):
http://rollertrol.com/blind-motor-phone-app-introductionRegards, Adrian