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New EL Touchscreen Remote Control

Posted by chrisd on from the pretty-and-cheap dept.

raminf writes "Stumbled across the Kameleon -- a new remote control device from Univeral Electronics. The interface is a blank electro-luminescent touch-screen. The 'buttons' are animated graphics drawn to match any device you choose . You can update new device interfaces via a modem (specs aren't clear how exactly). You can also define 'macro' buttons to do multiple tasks with one button. Apparently it also has a built-in motion-sensor and turns itself on when you pick it up. You can't buy it directly in the U.S. yet. Here's a British web-site that carries it and has some specs and a picture. Here's the company press release. RadioShack has announced they'll be carrying it retail pretty soon."

7 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. buttons drawn? by Alrescha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My interpretation of the web page says that the keys are pre-defined, and only the appropriate ones are displayed ('lit', perhaps?). In my mind, this is different from 'drawn' which implies a different level of sophistication.

    It does look cool, and the auto-on motion detection is a nice touch.

    A.

    --
    ...bringing you cynical quips since 1998
  2. Bah by Jonboy+X · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What good is a remote that you have to look at to change the channel? No amount of bells and/or whistles will make up for not being able to feel the buttons...

    --

    "In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user. You've got your own newsgroup, alt.total.loser." -Weird Al
    1. Re:Bah by shellbeach · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I've used omni-remote (which achieves everything this device claims, as far as I can see ... apart from the auto-on when you pick the thing up :) with my Palm IIIx to achieve the same thing, and you're absolutely right - touch screens are not very useful when it comes to remotes because you want to be looking at the TV instead, not looking down at the silly remote to check that you didn't accidentally press "record" instead of "play" ...

      In fact, the only decent way I found to do it was to map various buttons to the hardware keys of the Palm Pilot, but this over-priced gadget doesn't even have buttons you can map functions to! The really crazy thing is this - if you bought a Palm and a licence for omni-remote (or similar software) then you wouldn't be paying much more than the 70 pounds this thing costs, and you'd get all the advantages of a Palm Pilot (and all the advantages of having buttons you can use with a remote control, too :)

      I mean, you kind of wonder who's going to buy something like this ...

  3. Watch out for the upcoming lawsuits... by twoslice · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "The interface is a blank electro-luminescent touch-screen. The 'buttons' are animated graphics drawn to match any device you choose . You can update new device interfaces via a modem (specs aren't clear how exactly). You can also define 'macro' buttons to do multiple tasks with one button. Apparently it also has a built-in motion-sensor and turns itself on when you pick it up."

    I am sure that there is going to be a number of patent infringements in there somewhere. Numerous lawsuits will be underway before the thing hits the shelves.
    - 20 -

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  4. Re:Mo-dem? by JessLeah · · Score: 2, Insightful

    > Dude,

    I'm a girl.

    > How many people have CompactFlash devices on their computers?

    Everyone who owns a laptop. CompactFlash + $10 cheapy adaptor = PCMCIA.

    --
    Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
  5. Re:tactile? by agallagh42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The tactile feedback we want is not to tell us when a button has been pressed, it's to let us FIND the button without looking at the remote.

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    Carpe Cerevisi - Seize the Beer
  6. Re:Mo-dem? by JessLeah · · Score: 2, Insightful

    (plugs a very common brand of USB mouse into her computer. It won't work) "Here's one reason why."

    (plugs a very common brand of USB scanner into her computer. It won't work, and SANE lists its driver as not being available at all, or as being "experimental") "Here's another reason."

    Shall I go on? USB is potentially really bad since, as I've mentioned quite a few times here, USB devices (with a few exceptions) seem to use non-standardized, proprietary, roll-your-own protocols which are difficult (and potentially ILLEGAL, under the DMCA) to reverse-engineer-- so that nice new USB mouse/scanner/can-opener that you bought might not work under anything but Windows.

    Since I don't run Windows, but I still think I have the right to new hardware... well, that's why I dislike USB. Something about it seems to bring out the worst in hardware developers-- at least, in terms of protocols/drivers/support. Most of the nice new whiz-bang USB gizmos in stores do not work under Linux. There's no reason for this to be so, but it is so. You don't have the same problem with serial/SCSI/CompactFlash/PCMCIA devices so much... but support for USB geegaws is VERY iffy and spotty.

    Right now, I'm using a PS/2 (not USB) mouse on my system, PRECISELY because my shiny new USB mice didn't work under 2.4.19...

    --
    Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin