Does the Ultimatte 12 Require the smart remote?

My question is a simple one... In all the manuals and all the marketing details, the Ultimatte is shown with a smart remote for setup, but can it be controlled without the smart remote? Is there any software for controlling it?

The Ethernet port seems to be where commands are sent, so I assume it can be controlled by anything that issues the right commands but is there free software already written that can do this from a PC?

Control over telnet or an Ethernet protocol is possible, but I've never heard of any third party software written for it. I have an 11 and older SR, and it's definitely designed to be used with the remote.