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It's no difficulty to program Omniremote for the Palm Pilot with codes from each remote you run across as you wander up and down in the world. I've found it a really handy tool when there's an annoying TV just out of reach.

Omniremote

Nevermind, I found a source for range data...

There was also a springboard module available for the Handsprings that had long range IR and came with multi-remote software (http://www.pacificneotek.com/) that let you define multiple screens and totally customise controls. Very good product for the price, but not a patch on the Philips Prontos.

It was cool being able to press one button and have the DVD player, Amp and projector turn on, drop the screen and close the curtains. (This was back when I worked in a home cinema dealers).

Stuart

4) and it's like... twice the price of my TV! geez... fuck, i might as well write an app for my palm to control the TV via the infrared port. Heck it might be cheaper too...

OmniRemote!

Look ...cough...here... cough.

Another mistake Microsoft made was abandoning support for anything other than x86 architecture, making Linux the natural choice for ARM. MIPs, power PC... basically for all the processors that aren't as power-hungry as the x86.

This is very much like the post I would have liked to have written. While I was reading it though, I started to think about the future, which is kind of fun because you can make shit up. One thing I didn't make up though is that a friend of mine once told me that people would run Unix on their microwaves (they did not say what kind, I think it was cute that they said Unix) because it's all you'll be able to get. It must have been Charlie. Okay so that sounds like horseshit, but there are devices that were pretty neat but fell off the market due to lack of demand that no one is making any more, I recall some voice synthesis chip that had a phoeneme lookup table and you could record your own samples, stick them in a prom, and you could make a speech synthesizer sound like you, or anyone else for that matter, and it went away. (It might be back by now.)

So think about all the crazy shit we can do now, how fine our processes are in general. Only the best fabs can do the really tiny stuff but everyone's processes are getting smaller, so you can make chips cheaper. The packaging is getting cheaper all the time too, though it's already pretty damn cheap. I mean think about how inexpensive assorted little chips are today. Whip out your good old BG Micro catalog and you can get assorted basic ICs for fifty cents, stuff that I personally have paid five bucks for. An XPORT with a 186 chip in it is $50, and that's a whole frickin computer. I mean if you had that and a terminal, you could get a few simple network apps on it. Actually, that sounds like a really fun project, now if only I could afford an XPORT :P

So how long is it going to be before consumers are paying ten bucks for some little microcomputer that comes with Linux on it and is smaller than the battery you attach it to? It can't be THAT long. And in quantity they'll be maybe five. Really you can do the job of controlling a microwave with a really nice interface with a pic today, but they keep promising us dirt-cheap oled displays so I'd assume people are going to want to have touch-sensitive video interfaces in even low-end appliances within a few years. Okay, maybe more than a few, but you know it's coming...

Anyway, people are making really low power x86 processors now, so the fact that people are still teaching programming them in assembler in schools since x86-based systems are inexpensive and readily available (most everyone has one already, so you kind of have to teach it for now) means that we likely WILL see embedded NT make a comeback. It will become more useful as the hardware becomes cheaper and cheaper. Old designs that people are interested in using don't go away; some magic research and bing! here they come again. You have to wonder what chips you've seen recently that somewhere inside of them contain an Am386 or something similar. Old cores never die, they just get chopped up into bits.

Using OmniRemote together with the TV-Uni Remote and VCR-Uni Remote you can reach the same goal for even more brands - ok initially setup might not be as comfortable...
BTW have you read about this guy, which was haking his furby using OmniRemote ?

I've used two different Palm apps to do this on my old Palm IIIe. One was called OmniRemote and I don't remember the name of the other one...I originally got it at Cnet/Download.com but don't see it anymore.

You could program it just by pointing the original remote at the IR sensor, and pressing 'record' and it would memorize the signal. You could adjust button sizes/placement etc. Very cool. The range was rather limited, but I would guess in the Sony and some later Palms its not as much of an issue.

After using it for a bit I am back to my usual collection of remotes. I find that I need tactile feedback in my controls. I might try it again when I buy a new PDA and can use my old one just as a remote.

The remote-control-via-PDA is a great idea, except that the range on the IR beam from most PDA's is terrible.

Easy to fix. The OmniRemote has a hardware widget that plugs into your PDA to extend the range. You can download a demo version to futz around with your existing hardware, but -- as you pointed out -- the range sucks rocks.

The remote-control-via-PDA is a great idea, except that the range on the IR beam from most PDA's is terrible.

Easy to fix. The OmniRemote has a hardware widget that plugs into your PDA to extend the range. You can download a demo version to futz around with your existing hardware, but -- as you pointed out -- the range sucks rocks.

Now there's alot of people saying "use a palmpilot" but they don't know what they're talking about. The palmpilot and the like's IR transmitter simply isn't powerful enough to work as remote control. Think about it. If it says it can send files from up to a meter away, what makes you think that it's going to be able to control your television at 4 meters?

While this might have been true of some models, many of the Palm OS models are pushing 30 feet or more (see OmniRemote page for details). And, as mentioned earlier, there are hardware plug ins for increasing the range, as well as the usual IR repeaters etc. that can be installed. My Visor Pro (not listed in link) is easily pushing more than 20 feet.

I'm not against the Pronto products, as they obviously have a different form factor and other advantages. But, PDA based solutions can do macros, learn codes, allow custom layouts, and have the range for those that want to use them.

I suggest a refurbished visor prism with the omniremote module from Pacific Neotek which is a learning remote and has complete programmability as far as button position. This is probably the best AND the cheapest way to get what you describe.

• Universal Remote Control - Check.
  
• Logging accelerometer - Gotcha.
  
• Direct blog link... - I'm sure something wouldn't be TOO hard to work out. Worst comes to worst, modify Stepcounter to log to a memo, then use some brain dead scripting via 'memos'(pilot-link) to pick it out at hotsync.
  
  (/giggling)

The omniremote module also can optionally come with a blue LED for use as a flashlight. It's pretty damn cool stuff. I have one, and if my visor screen weren't cracked I'd use it nonstop.

2.) The remote with the best U.I. that I have found is the Harmony Remote. It is very MS-Windows centric, but you can just give it model numbers and it downloads via USB the commands into stand-alone remote with a truly terrific interface. It understands like commands like "Watch DVDs" require commands to multiple devices. It has enough smarts to keep track of the state of all the relevant devices. It has a convenient interface is someone happens to walk in front of a device at the wrong time. If you are buying just one remote, this is the one to buy. Most of the operations are on a clickable thumbwheel with an automaticly backlit display, but it has just enough well chosen, well shaped buttons, that it is a joy to use.

3.) Although not stand-alone, I use a ZephIR on the USB of my Mac. Although it doesn't have the great interface of the harmony remote, and it also has a convenient web based database of equipment models. And like the harmony remote, you can upload the definitions of your own equipment. I uploaded the controls for my Toto Zoe Bidet, to the ZephIR, and I can definately control the the spritz on my lap bottom from my Mac laptop.

None of these remotes will let me bring up a TV schedule on a web page, then click in a show's box to queue it for programming into a VCR. Ideally, it should manage multiple VCRs, each with its own native time recording interface, and look for alternate viewing times to get everything I selected on some tape.

OmniRemote is the first one to come to mind, but it's not the only one out there...

The solutions are their Palm hotsync module for Palm brand devices and their Springboard module for Handspring Visors.

I have the latter and its pretty cool... You can totally customize multiple remote control layouts. I personally like 4 quadrants of the screen: volume up, volume down, channel up, channel down. BIG buttons you can hit with your finger or stylus without really looking :)

Josh

The solutions are their Palm hotsync module for Palm brand devices and their Springboard module for Handspring Visors.

I have the latter and its pretty cool... You can totally customize multiple remote control layouts. I personally like 4 quadrants of the screen: volume up, volume down, channel up, channel down. BIG buttons you can hit with your finger or stylus without really looking :)

Josh

The solutions are their Palm hotsync module for Palm brand devices and their Springboard module for Handspring Visors.

I have the latter and its pretty cool... You can totally customize multiple remote control layouts. I personally like 4 quadrants of the screen: volume up, volume down, channel up, channel down. BIG buttons you can hit with your finger or stylus without really looking :)

Josh

If you have a palm device with IR, you're ready to start playing. I recently played around with a nicely written PalmOS app called (OmniRemote) from www.pacificneotek.com. I'm not affiliated with them in any way, but I was really impressed with the product. Basically, it'll turn your palm device into a sophisticated remote that can do some really neat things. It allows you to customize the interface, program codes, and even sniff codes from other remotes. Very slick.

And if you own a Handspring Visor you can get a springboard module for External IR. The External IR is much stronger than Internal IR, but hardly ever necessary. The only time I would recommend buying the module is for Visor Edge models. I have an Edge and it doesn't work reliably for much further than 5'. You can see Pacific Neotek's tests here.

So I'm kind if in the market for External IR, but I'll wait til the latest version of OmniRemote comes out first (in beta now.. and has been for an eternity).

JOhn

You can always use Omniremote for Palm OS if you have an infrared-enabled Palm. Even if you have one of the older models with relatively weak IR, you can purchase a strong IR module. The software is pretty cheap.
see the website.

For those with a Palm Pilot, OmniRemote is an excellent universal remote application. It makes Palm IIs with the 2MB upgrade card useful again.

The only program I ever found to use your laptop IRDa port as a remote was RemoconCon, which I never got to work on my laptop. Also the other problem I've read is that the IRDa LEDs are tuned to a different IR frequency than remote LEDs so an IRDa port has a very poor working distance of only a couple feet. You'd have to stand in front of the tv holding your laptop to use this. Kinda defeats the point! Another program to check out is OmniRemote for the Palm. While the Palm has the same IRDa/distance issues as a laptop, PacificNeoTek sells an attachment that "boosts" the signal and gives it decent coverage. It turns your Palm into a Pronto!

For Handspring

Other PalmOS Devices

--

In addition to be able to program macros, it can also act as a timer, sending the remote control commands at a preset time (handy for regestering shows off your satellite receiver at preset times, even if your receiver has no builtin timer).

Not that much more expensive, and you can download a universal remote utility for it. At the same time it also doubles as a game boy, a handheld terminal, and *gasp* an electronic agenda...

Though I don't think a Neural net is necessary, or necessarily useful in this case.

There are lots of interim steps that you can take to make your house seem smarter. For example, at one well-publicized geekhouse in Santa Cruz, Darkwater (webpage seems to have gone missing), my friend Charlie (Creator of OmniRemote for Palm Devices (shameless plug) rigged up a system to make heating work for individual rooms. To wit, each room was fitted with its own digital thermostat, and a flap in the vent which was opened and closed via some sort of servo system. If any thermostat in the house wanted heat, then the heater kicked on (think of this as a big set of OR gates) and any room which wanted heat would open its vent.

That's just one example; There are probably lots of things which could benefit from similar improvements, or at least similar applications of geek brainyness.

If you DO decide to go the neural networks route (which is worth doing just for the geek/hack factor, IMO) then you're going to have to decide what criteria you want it to base its decisions on, how you're going to track all of that criteria, and what kind of sensors you're going to use for anything that is sense-based and not knowledge-based.

For example, one poster has already suggested that the system learn from human intervention. They use turning on a light at 5:30 as an example. So you go and replace all your light switches with X10 devices, and you have some device which logs your X10 codes and feeds them into the neural net. But now you have to decide which pieces of information to add; As you've probably already figured out, this is the key to having this work well. You should track the day of week, though also tracking weekday/non-weekday has a great potential to help this feature learn to be useful more quickly.

But that's not nearly enough data; There's also other useful things like "Am I present in the house", which might mean you want other devices turned on; You're going to have to have some default behaviors there. Or perhaps "is it Christmas morning", in which case you might want the lights already blazing before you get downstairs so that you don't go blind trying to adjust to the light levels before your morning coffee or penguin mints or whatever geeks consume for pep these days.

The other things you should make sure of are that you can still live your life without the system, and that it doesn't get too uppity. If you make a change in state, you don't want it changing it back before you're done with that state change.

And do yourself a favor, implement voice recognition, and make it make plain sense. Use an activation word or phrase; I recall some system (in a Niven book, maybe?) using "Prikazvyat" (sp?) which IIRC is Russian for "Command" or something. It's been a while. Giving the system a distinctive name is another fine idea; "Computer" is probably a poor choice. Don't worry about being able to issue commands in English, either. Having the computer recognize what you're saying 99% of the time is more important than flow of speech. Saying "Halloran, lights this room up full" is an acceptable compromise, and should be reasonably easy to recognize.

The OmniRemote Springboard Module seems like the best bet - you get a remote-like IR signal (wide, correct timing, etc), and the ease and programability of a Visor. The more I think about it, this is probably what I really want.

At first, when I saw the module option, I thought "Didn't those go out with the GameBoy?". Well, for one, it appears the GameBoy is still around, and two, this kind of new hardware functionality seems to be a real benefit.

Of course, I'm waiting for the day where everything is seemlessly connected, where I can set up TiVo over a mobile phone to tape a show, then start it up with the Visor when I get home. Oh, and while I'm at it, why not throw away the keys, and unlock the front door with a remote.

Now if only there was a way to excercise by remote...

And for remote purposes, I've been a mostly happy user of Pacific NeoTek's OmniRemote on both a Palm Professional and a Handspring Visor Deluxe (the 2MB Handsprings are now available at Target for $149, btw, not a bad price for a universal remote.)

However, to answer your original question, I've not found ANY IrDA software for the PC that will operate a remote, and I've been looking for a long time... Most everybody needs you to add a chunk of external hardware on a serial (or parallel) port.

John

I am planning on installing X10 in a home renovation. Do you have experience with X10 that would make you feel its users are 'suckers'. So fare Ive heard good 'reviews' about its abilities. Can you share a more 'subjective' opinion?

Actually, I'm a (light) X10 user. A friend of mine makes the Omniremote Module which has a neato little antenna in it which will drive an X10 transceiver module. He has all the lights in his house wired up, and a nice set of vertical blinds which are X10-controlled. Very slick.

X10 is fairly cool. It's also somewhat limited - You will have limited success, for example, if you plug something into an X10 module connected to a power strip with any noise suppression on it, because the signal (which comes down the power line, as I'm sure you know) may get filtered out. If you're just doing outlets though, it's all very straightforward and reliable. For the most part though, X10 is cool.

What I meant by "suckers" is that even if you don't really want X10 all that much, and wouldn't ordinarily pay for it (modules range from $15 to $90, so watch out) once you have the starter kit, the temptation to continue with it is intense. And my transceiver module died, and I had to replace it, so it wasn't all that great a bargain to begin with. I showed them, though, and I buy my modules at radio shack or Fry's now.

There is also the one from InnoGear called the MiniJam that just came out as well. This one uses Multimedia Cards (MMC) that store the MP3s. Looks like they have cards in 32 and 64MB sizes and the player can hold 2 of those cards. While it is a little bigger than the SoundsGood, but it is only $249.00.

If I were going to get an mp3 player for the HandSpring slot (Instead, I personally have the OmniRemote module from Pacific Neotek) I would want one that was flush with the case of the already-sizable Visor. It's worth it to me to only have the reduced storage. Of course, I have a car, and I generally listen to music while I'm in it, or in my office. In neither case do I need a portable mp3 player.

There is also the one from InnoGear called the MiniJam that just came out as well. This one uses Multimedia Cards (MMC) that store the MP3s. Looks like they have cards in 32 and 64MB sizes and the player can hold 2 of those cards. While it is a little bigger than the SoundsGood, but it is only $249.00.

If I were going to get an mp3 player for the HandSpring slot (Instead, I personally have the OmniRemote module from Pacific Neotek) I would want one that was flush with the case of the already-sizable Visor. It's worth it to me to only have the reduced storage. Of course, I have a car, and I generally listen to music while I'm in it, or in my office. In neither case do I need a portable mp3 player.

• state of open connectivity software (to Linux, *nix, `doze)
  There are official versions of palm desktop for windows and macintosh. There is a complete suite called PilotManager which provides connectivity on unix platforms.
• usefulness of applications
  There's all manner of cool stuff on the palm device. The stuff I use the most is:
  1. Calculator: 'nuff said.
  2. To-Do list: This lets you create tasks and then check them off. They can have priorities and due dates and they get ranked appropriately. I use this for all kinds of checklists, including DVDs I want to buy.
  3. Address book: The address book is pretty good, and if you're on windows (maybe also on unix) you can print out the address book in all sorts of formats, use it for mail merge, and so on.
  4. Notepad: Featureless, but fast and efficient. Uses the system font choice so you can make it bigger if you can't see.
  5. AvantGo: IIRC, this only runs on windows. It downloads news via the 'net when you hotsync. I get Wired News, DiscoveryZone, and some other stuff.
  6. Omniremote: A friend of mine wrote this IR Learning Remote software which is now one of the most popular software packages for palm. You can rearrange the buttons and stuff. There's also a Springboard Module for Handspring Visor owners. (The Visor is a palm clone which runs palmos, has 8mb ram, no flash, USB, and it's $250. Sweet deal.)
  7. Tealdoc: This lets you view Tealdoc format documents on PalmOS. You can generate those documents from HTML or Text, or with software from Teal. Handy.
  8. Tealpaint: It's basically macpaint for PalmOS. I use it as a sketchpad and super-quick notepad.
• user interface sux/rox evaluation
  The UI isn't amazing, but it's pretty good. The menus can be tough to navigate but that's just because the pen tends to be in the way. There are pageup and pagedown buttons, which help quite a bit.
• color screen readability
  All the color screens are great in the shadows (Though the Cassiopea is supposedly better than the PalmIIIc) and crap in sunlight. Go for black and white, you just don't need color in a handheld.
• storage limitations
  It takes quite a while to run out of 8mb. Other handhelds like iPaq and Cassiopea have vastly more storage and power, so you can use them as mp3 players and whatnot; They're just a lot more expensive and get much shorter battery life.
• battery life
  Palm Pro w/2mb upgrade gets like 60 hours, Visor Deluxe with the Omniremote module in it seems to get about 40, but the battery drains over time as well for some reason I haven't figured out, which may be because I still have a beta version of the omniremote hardware. Cassiopea gets about six hours, but it has li-ion or nimh or something in it rather than taking alkalines or AAA nimhs.
• upgradability
  Most palms aren't upgradable at all, any more. The Visor has a handspring slot where you can put a bunch of stuff, including GPS, Digital Camera, MP3 player, Modem, etc.
• wireless connectivity
  Palm VII has it, nothing else does. I hear it sucks, though, unless you're in the Big City(tm).

I like my Visor a lot. It hotsyncs amazingly quickly (USB is good) and everything moves quick. It gets great battery life and it looks extra-snazzy. On top of that, there is an absolute ton of software for PalmOS, much of which is freely available. If it's not free, it tends to be cheap.

• state of open connectivity software (to Linux, *nix, `doze)
  There are official versions of palm desktop for windows and macintosh. There is a complete suite called PilotManager which provides connectivity on unix platforms.
• usefulness of applications
  There's all manner of cool stuff on the palm device. The stuff I use the most is:
  1. Calculator: 'nuff said.
  2. To-Do list: This lets you create tasks and then check them off. They can have priorities and due dates and they get ranked appropriately. I use this for all kinds of checklists, including DVDs I want to buy.
  3. Address book: The address book is pretty good, and if you're on windows (maybe also on unix) you can print out the address book in all sorts of formats, use it for mail merge, and so on.
  4. Notepad: Featureless, but fast and efficient. Uses the system font choice so you can make it bigger if you can't see.
  5. AvantGo: IIRC, this only runs on windows. It downloads news via the 'net when you hotsync. I get Wired News, DiscoveryZone, and some other stuff.
  6. Omniremote: A friend of mine wrote this IR Learning Remote software which is now one of the most popular software packages for palm. You can rearrange the buttons and stuff. There's also a Springboard Module for Handspring Visor owners. (The Visor is a palm clone which runs palmos, has 8mb ram, no flash, USB, and it's $250. Sweet deal.)
  7. Tealdoc: This lets you view Tealdoc format documents on PalmOS. You can generate those documents from HTML or Text, or with software from Teal. Handy.
  8. Tealpaint: It's basically macpaint for PalmOS. I use it as a sketchpad and super-quick notepad.
• user interface sux/rox evaluation
  The UI isn't amazing, but it's pretty good. The menus can be tough to navigate but that's just because the pen tends to be in the way. There are pageup and pagedown buttons, which help quite a bit.
• color screen readability
  All the color screens are great in the shadows (Though the Cassiopea is supposedly better than the PalmIIIc) and crap in sunlight. Go for black and white, you just don't need color in a handheld.
• storage limitations
  It takes quite a while to run out of 8mb. Other handhelds like iPaq and Cassiopea have vastly more storage and power, so you can use them as mp3 players and whatnot; They're just a lot more expensive and get much shorter battery life.
• battery life
  Palm Pro w/2mb upgrade gets like 60 hours, Visor Deluxe with the Omniremote module in it seems to get about 40, but the battery drains over time as well for some reason I haven't figured out, which may be because I still have a beta version of the omniremote hardware. Cassiopea gets about six hours, but it has li-ion or nimh or something in it rather than taking alkalines or AAA nimhs.
• upgradability
  Most palms aren't upgradable at all, any more. The Visor has a handspring slot where you can put a bunch of stuff, including GPS, Digital Camera, MP3 player, Modem, etc.
• wireless connectivity
  Palm VII has it, nothing else does. I hear it sucks, though, unless you're in the Big City(tm).

I like my Visor a lot. It hotsyncs amazingly quickly (USB is good) and everything moves quick. It gets great battery life and it looks extra-snazzy. On top of that, there is an absolute ton of software for PalmOS, much of which is freely available. If it's not free, it tends to be cheap.

Is there any sort of development environment for the Palm Pilot to control Mindstorms? I suppose OmniRemote could be used just like the Mindstorms remote, but a complete development environment on the palm would be pretty cool.

If you've got a Palm III (or a palm pilot equipped with a IR port), theres' a program called OmniRemote made by Pacific Neo-Tek (http://www.pacificneotek.com/) that'll turn your palm into a remote. The nice thing is that it's cheap, the neat thing is that it runs off your palm, and the even-neater-than-neat thing is that instead of coming with a long list of manufacturers IR codes, it reads the functions off your remote control. Say, to program it to control your DVD player, you'd create a new category called 'DVD Player', place a power button on screen, click the power button, then point your remote control at the palm's IR port and press the power button on it. Voila! It's an awsome product. Really cool.

I had the same problem, and this thing set me up.

I used to run the OmniRemote software by Pacific NeoTek. This tool allows you to record a signal from a device (or a set of signals) and replay them back. So you would point your TV remote at the IR port, hit record on OmniRemote, press "channel up", stop recording and label the "button" you recorded into "Ch+".

The problem was that the built in IR port was too weak. It couldn't control anything more than 2 feet away. So it was just a cute toy that has no practical value.

There are hardware add ons that give you a longer range (or an IR port if you don't have one), but I haven't tried them. There is the OmniRemote Module also by NeoTek for $20 (a lot less than the $300 above, even if you have to buy a used Palm), and TaleBeam for $30 (sorry, $29.95). Apparently there is no software for the TaleBeam yet.

I used to run the OmniRemote software by Pacific NeoTek. This tool allows you to record a signal from a device (or a set of signals) and replay them back. So you would point your TV remote at the IR port, hit record on OmniRemote, press "channel up", stop recording and label the "button" you recorded into "Ch+".

The problem was that the built in IR port was too weak. It couldn't control anything more than 2 feet away. So it was just a cute toy that has no practical value.

There are hardware add ons that give you a longer range (or an IR port if you don't have one), but I haven't tried them. There is the OmniRemote Module also by NeoTek for $20 (a lot less than the $300 above, even if you have to buy a used Palm), and TaleBeam for $30 (sorry, $29.95). Apparently there is no software for the TaleBeam yet.

My suggestion is that you get a Palm III (which can be obtained VERY cheaply--CNet Shopper reports that you can get one for as little as $175 new), and download and register a nifty little program called OmniRemote, which can be located at http://www.pacificneotek.com/omnisw.htm .

My experience with OmniRemote is wonderful. It really does work well, and it costs a fraction of that of a Take Control remote (buying which, I might add, generously contributes to Microsoft's coffers).

Dev

It's called OmniRemote.

http://www.pacificneotek.com