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Holy Grail of Remote Controls

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the thats-not-that-impressive dept.

castilejw writes "CNN has an article showing where researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have teamed with researchers from Maya Designs, Inc. to produce the ultimate universal remote, which "would choreograph not just home entertainment systems but also intelligent appliances all around the house: microwave ovens, clothes dryers, air conditioners.". The device they have shown is a modified Compaq iPAQ, which they have so far modified to control two lamps, a fan and a stereo with a five-CD changer." Seems like that much is pretty easy. Now when it can control my answering machine, my MP3 collection, and my garage door, I'll be ready to automate my soul. Update: 09/02 15:34 GMT by CT : Oops, this is a duplicate. Move along :) We suck so much. Blah blah blah.

3 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. What's the battery life? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, that's great - but until they can go several days without a recharge, they're going to be useless.

    Scenario - go out, come home 5 hours later. Bugger, forgot to charge the remote.

  2. Awesome! by Infonaut · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Pretty soon, we won't have to get up at all. With remote controls for everything, nothing will interrupt our media consumption!

    We can get our exercise by playing first-person shooters, and if someone could only invent a really *good* in-sofa bodywashing system, I'm thinking there wouldn't be any real reason for any of us to put feet on the carpet at all.

    Oh, there is the whole "bodily needs" issue, but we've already got good online porn, so who needs the real thing. That leaves us with expulsion of bodily wastes. Anyone know of a high-quality integrated sofa-crapper unit?

    --
    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
  3. Editorial quality by henben · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Update: 09/02 15:34 GMT by CT: Oops, this is a duplicate. Move along :) We suck so much. Blah blah blah.

    Why do you expect people to pay for subscriptions when you constantly repeat stories, post press releases as news, and even post obvious garbled rubbish?

    This kind of thing might be OK in a free, community led service, but the fact that you don't give a shit what you're publishing hardly inspires enough trust to pay you money. I can see that last post now.

    Update: 09/02 15:34 GMT by CT: We're closing down, folks. Move along :) You won't get a rebate on your subscriptions. We suck so much. Blah blah blah.