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Philips iPronto Does It with Linux
An anonymous reader writes "The Philips iPronto may well be a gadget-lover's dream come true. Ever glance around the family room in bewilderment at the number and diversity of remote controls required to make your entertainment systems go? If so, you might think you know why Philips created this brainy new remote. But getting rid of all those little button-studded black plastic battery-eaters isn't all this Linux-powered marvel aims to do." And all for the low low price of $1700.
OMG! This looks like the coolest thing ever. Pop a web browser in there and I've got a new item on my Christmas list! It already has some kind of wireless Ethernet connection, what looks like to be a nice color backlit display (even if its less than 16bit color), touch screen capability, rechargeable batteries... wow!
/. in the bathroom on a decent sized ultra lightweight screen. They can even call it a PADD if they want.
I wish companies would figure out what I want in a tablet pc. All I want to do is to be able to read
Karma: SELECT `karma` FROM `users` WHERE `userid`=138474;
I'd rather expect to get a Windows version.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
When are we gonna have the chips implanted in our brains so that we cna just think the tv on and so for or just have the signal beamed right into our head. The physical remotes are just too clunky. Just look at this thing sure it runs linux but its huge and expensive. I am gonna stuck with kick the tv to change channels for now.
Checking out my form of escapism.
after a quick glance of the title, i suddenly became very scared that Linus T. was starring in mexican porn...wow, that was an uncomfortable 6 seconds....
xao
xao
http://TheHillforum.hopto.org
I went shopping for remote controls and checked all the models out at the local Home Theater store. Let me tell you, a remote should be easy to use and functional. This is not it. Anything more than a Hometheatre Master MX-500 is a waste.
How practical will it be...
Philips has a long history of making stuff that's cool but just won't well because it's not what people want.
Could Ozzy figure out how to use this one?
---
eeww, I'll have a crab juice.
(Mandatory mention for every article about remote control)
The world's greatest remote.
Why do I h8 apple?
In case $1800USD is too rich for your blood they do offer a greatly stripped down version for $20 and there's a free demo (registration required).
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
Wait till one of those feral dogs get a hold of this... Anyone remember Electric Dreams?
- m4. f0x
"Don't let your schooling interfere with your education." -Mark Twain
until it comes with a girlfriend 'mute' button.
Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
So now, with one small device, I can control the porn on TV, the porn on the web, AND the porn streaming from my computer? No wonder it costs $1,700.
/syle
The article states that this new device will replace all of those little battery eater remotes.
Excuse me, but doesn't a 6.4" Color Touchscreen and an Intel XScale processor use more juice than a simple IC with an IR LED attached? I know it will have a LiIon battery, but still, they don't quote any runtimes between charges here.
Sorry, but $1700 is a bit much for a remote. Especially one that probably will only get an hour or two of runtime between charges!
Cole's Axiom: The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant. The population is growing.
Sorry, forgot to mention that.
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
But the interface looks too complicated and the design is just not straightforward enough for this device to come from Apple.
---
I read your email...
Who is John Galt?
This thing looks like a mini-podium. Would anyone really use it to channel surf? It's kind of bulky for something who's function is more or less fulfilled by a universal remote. Oh wait, you can't read email on those... So maybe you'll have to get off your ass and walk 10 feet to the computer.
From the article "Just try losing this remote control!" I home it has a homing device on it cause my sofa would still eat it for breakfast.
Huzzah, I have now lost all reason to move from my computer. Now, if this thing would fix me a sandwich...
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
At 1700 this device would actually cost more than all the things I would use it to control! :)
(Hey I'm a geek on a budget)
That being said - it does look like the ultimate in remote control bragging rights in one rather large (for a remote) package.
Gee, couldn't you mod out a decent PDA to do everything it does, plus some? That's just about all it amounts to anyway.
A Universal Remote (Radio Shack, $13) for almost $200... but it runs LINUX!
well i guess this would be must-have item in the wired home, but for me the biggest problem is that it is too big. for what it offers, yes it is a good unit.. but what if DON'T want to browse the web on my remote? i think that the PRONTO TSU3000 would be a better choice, simply because it's smaller, does only the remote functions and can be carried in a pocket (MUCH easier to lose under the sofa cushions)
Suchetha
(of course i won't be buying one until there is a MASSIVE price drop)
learn from yesterday, plan for tomorrow, party tonight
or one out of three ain't bad
The screen is blue....
The ______ Agenda
One would say linuxdevices.com is running off an iPaq
of using imbedded linux if it doesn't reduce the cost of the final product in some way? seems like philips is using linux to maximize their own profit margins, instead of passing on the savings from not licensing a proprietary OS onto their customers...
I was looking around for the battery life specs (I couldn't get to the specs page on the Philips website) .. and came across this page http://www.remotecentral.com/wn030403.htm
Found out that its got 5 days of standby lifetime.. not too fantastic, but with a convenient dock its acceptable I guess. But the second new feature of the firmeware upgrade said Reduced start-up time...
Hell..ANY startup time for a remote control isn't going to be good..
Only $1700. You know, I think that the only way you guys would bash a Linux based product is if the developer molested your mother and poured sugar in your gas-tank....jesus.
"The saddest words of mice and men, are not those which were, but should have been."
I went shopping for remote controls and checked all the models out at the local Home Theater store. Let me tell you, a remote should be easy to use and functional. This is not it. Anything more than a Hometheatre Master MX-500 is a waste.
Ironically, Philips makes a $149 programmable touchscreen remote (with a decent number of programmable hard buttons like the HomeTheatreMasters)--the Pronto Neo.
Some links:
Photo
Customized screen examples
Amazon $169/free shipping
BlueDo.com $149 (where I bought mine)
I really like it.
bp
They are going to throw in a widescreen TV and hi-fi for that. Aren't they?
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
... the stupidest product name I see in months. "iPronto", in Portuguese, translates directly to "iReady" or "iDone".
Could be anything from a baking oven to a toaster... sheesh (and a fscking EXPENSIVE toaster!)
Thats a lot of money for something thats not particularly useful to the majority of people and likely to be dropped on the couch and then crushed under the weight of someones ass within a very short space of time
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
Remind me not to stand behind you going through a metal detector.
I'll know you by the muffled jingle-jangle in your step.
This space for rent.
For that kinda money, I would just but a bunch of nice TV's and scatter them around my living room at random distances.
My other sig is also a
Great, instead telling my PC (via the remote) to stream my mp3's directly to my $5,000 stereo I can listen to them on the remote through crappy little $10 speakers. Makes the listening experience so much better. ;-)
[Please type your sig here.]
Remote controls should be operable with ONE hand.
nuff said
(Try skipping a boring scene and try staying in the mood at the same time with this thing)
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
I sometimes wonder if humanity is pushing itself to a Matrix-esque existence all by ourselves. With more and more devices like this, we're becoming (or expected to become) lazier by the minute. Does anyone really need to get email and see websites from their remote control? I fully understand that that the answer to this question is "no", and that if this product generates a profit, it will only be due to the cool-gadget factor.
That being said, I can picture a day, maybe sooner than 100 years fro now when humans just float around in our stasis fluid, physically connected to some computer (and network). The machine would provide everything from nourishment to sensory input, and we just float there in our own excrement, like drowned, soggy raisins, without a care in the world.
Ahhhh...the good life...
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
(In unison) "He requires channel CXXVII. He changes the channel."
Yes...for 1700 dollars, I could hire a kid to act as my remote, *and* get me a beer.
Beat that Philips!
The remote-control-via-PDA is a great idea, except that the range on the IR beam from most PDA's is terrible. I tried a similar piece of software on my Palm IIIxe -- the range was only about a meter and a half. Kinda makes it pointless if you have to walk half way across the room to use it.
I did train it to open my wife's Jeep Cherokee, though (that's an IR model remote as well). Newer cars are going RF, so YMMV.
Life is short: void the warranty.
but that thing is just silly. Who the hell wants something that large on the coffee table?
Given the price and size of this thing, I would rather invest in a tablet PC and utilize the IR port on it (if it has one). Plus, if you have kids, this is a disaster waiting to happen.
As a side, I have played with my iPaq as a uber-remote. I ditched it in favor of using my Sony universal remote.
(Psst: there are even hints of future automotive applications.)
That was an interesting one liner in the text of the article. What are they hinting at? Car Diagnostic apps? GPS maps? Life sized RC cars? Driving, reading email, and shaving, while on my cell phone in rush hour?
Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
Yamaha 400 Watt Dolby/DTS Receiver ($299.99)
Yahama "natural sound" 5 disc CD Changer/ MP3 Player ($150.00)
Sony Progressive Scan DVD Player ($250.00)
GRaphic Equalizer ($99.00)
Sony Surround Speaker Set ($499.00)
Oh yeah... Home Theater Universal Remove with LCD Display etc. etc. ($229.00)
With the change left, hmmm.. 10 DVD's? Monster cable? Taxes for the equipment?
Sure the remote is for the high end (like my boss's viewing room), but my Den could sure use the extra system above.
Newsfollow.com
The iPronto isn't a remote control. The iPronto is a network terminal that happens to have consumer IR stuff built into it, allowing it to have remote control capability.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
I have a Marantz RC-5000i, which is the Pronto TSU-2000 in the Marantz form. The MX-500 would not run my system...nor several of my friend's systems.
We make heavy use of macros. I have high-def cable and a non-HD TiVo so I do a lot of input switching on the TV and the receiver. You also end up usually switching TV stretch modes.
Then...there is the TiVo. None of these semi-programmable remotes do well with a TiVo. They dont' have the right buttons and I don't really care to make "Function 4" my main TiVo button. With something like the Pronto you can lay out your system however you want. My TiVo screens look like a customized TiVo remote. When I tell it to go to a certain channel it sends the channel to the TiVo, changes all inputs, and then flips to the TiVo panels. It's hard to do that on a lesser remote.
For less than $1700 I could buy another laptop, and set it up to do most of what that can do. Also, I dont have a a home security system, or climate control system to integrate it into, but I imagine a laptop could interface with those as well. For my entertainment center I could spend what I saved on a good universal remote and probably still have money left over.
-the Hun
I'm a Tasty-vore. If it's Tasty, I'll eat it.
Wow, this can be made as an example for a business case study. It can be classified as one of the most stupid business ideas ever.
Man, I coulda *sworn* that thing said iPinto. And it has all the features I've been waiting for them to add before I upgrade from my old one...
No trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.
I had one. For a little bit more you can get a Pronto TSU-2000 and a charger. That has a lot more features, a much nicer screen, and a bigger screen for more buttons. You also get to enter discrete codes and download FAR more pre-done configs off the web.
I really don't recommend the Neo.
but I have two requirements for them and this doesn't seem to pass either of them:
1) it has to be shiny
2) it has to be smaller than my penis
So, basically what you are saying is that you have no gadgets.
... if you had $3,400.00, then you can get everything there AND an iPronto.
Yeah, I'd rather buy an big-ass projection TV, and get some exercise trying to find the remote than buy something like this.
Hell, I bet you I could build a machine, get some IR unit attached to it, and have it do more for under $1k.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Maybe if we told people what we want, they might give it to us.
1. Fits in one hand
2. Real Physical Buttons (no touch screen)
3. Filled with codes for lots of units
4. USB connection to download new codes using USB Hard Drive spec (like Archos MP3 player) for Windows/Linux Compatibility
5. Learning/recording features from your collection of old/new remotes
6. Tivo/DVD friendly jog/shuttle buttons
7. Intuitive Layout (Yes..Holy Grail kinda request)
8. Macro Recording/Programming of button presses
9. Handles multiple sources (TV, Cable/Satellite, DVD/VCR, Tivo, Stereo/CD)
10. Config files to backup remote setup (thru USB interface)
11. Override/Reprogrammable Buttons
12. Battery door that DOESNT BREAK!
13. Sony-style of multi-function buttons (Sony used to have a grid of 12 buttons that could be changed by using a slider on the side that showed which device/function you were using for the twelve buttons. The slider would pull up/down a cheatsheet underneath the buttons that would would display the commands available in a viewable plastic window)
Optional:
* Embedded Linux
Newton users have been doing the same thing for years. (In HS, my friend liked to use his to turn the classroom TVs on. It made the teacher freak. heheh.)
I understand that some people have a lot of money to burn, but do they not also have some common sense? This is absolutely indecent. If you have 1700 laying around, do something productive with it please. Don't wallow in your excess.
I worked at Philips Semiconductors up until about 9 months ago and they had a very strick policy: No GPL development, none, nada, nothing. The semi division was very afraid of having their intellectual property given away.
Seems interesting that the CE group would turn around and product a Linux based device, especially since Philips has been so cozy with MS in the past. I wonder if they are going to release their optimizations back to the world like they are supposed to, or if they are going to hord them.
What can't this device do? Not much, we suspect, given its embedded Linux operating system, graphical touchscreen interface, and sophisticated communications capabilities.
Come on, that's marketing, not reporting.
buy $200 sony clie's for everyone in the house, plus one or two to leave in the living room, and buy registered OmniRemote for them all.
:P]
It's still cheaper. That's wrong.
[unless you have >6 ppl in your house
cyn, free software and *nix operating systems enthusiast.
While the remote is Linux-based, if you want to "fully customize the interface" you'll need to use their iProntoEdit software, which requires "Windows 98/ME/XP or NT 4.0/2000"
Put it this way:
I'm about 80 minutes into Fellowship of the Ring. The room is completely dark (except for the tv of course). I have, balanced precariously on one leg a vat of popcorn, girlfriend likely leaning on other shoulder. There may or may not be a few drinks on the table in front of me. I may or may not be really stoned.
Then that Balrog scene comes up and I just have to slow-mo it this time, it just looks so amazing, so in my dark, cluttered, reclined, drunk/stoned state, I fumble for the remote to hit the slo-mo...
Nah. Don't see it. For $1700, I want to just yell what I want, or twiddle my fingers in the air, and have it do something.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
My Palm has a nice touch-sensitive display, quite enough memory and cpu power to handle such a trivial task, and lookadat, it even has an IR emitter!
There are a few companies out there that make universal remotes for PalmOS, one of which is Novii (found them with google). I'm surprised I can't find anything on SourceForge, this seems so much like the perfect geek project and surely isn't all that hard to do. You might be interested to know that you
I'm more likely to be sitting on the couch with my laptop than my Palm. Would a laptop have better range?
I understand that LIRC can do it but it's a royal PITA to get working. I spent a couple hours messing with it and then stopped because it was taking too much time.
Anyone know of any laptop IR projects that make things easy? (commercial or free, Linux based)
The ratio of people to cake is too big
Personally, I like having some hard buttons. For example, the directional control is a pain on a touchscreen--you have to keep looking down, whereas the hard buttons can be operated in the dark by feel.
The new TSU-3000 is a good compromise though.
bp
I think this is an incredible step in the right direction for getting this stuff into the residential market. I can't imagine your basic end-user running out and purchasing an AMX or Crestron (http://www.amx.com and http://www.crestron.com)system, because its not designed for out-of-the-box use.
That these systems are moving away from needing a $50/hour installation tech to incorporate sounds great to me. I WANT that corporate board-room feel in my living room, and the power that comes with being able to remotely control your environment.
Although with AMX/Crestron, you have access to the physical code so you can make it do EXACTLY what you want it to do. Having an open source system is going to be a major factor in my having an open wallet.
* Making waffles just so I have something to Twitter *
Thank you.
[Please type your sig here.]
How about an iPAQ. Cheaper and with linux can have all the same functionality.
If you want to spend that money buy 2 or 3.
I could probably outfit my whole house with X10 for that kind of money. I have a Home Theater Master remote (not the MX-700) that cost me $120 3 years ago, and it rocks.
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
the i(n)topr0n, in this case?
Curb CO2 emissions: Kill yourself today!
- It should be comfortable to hold in one hand
- It should have buttons you can feel
Do you really want to sit there with a laptop screen in your lap, and look down every minute or so to see where that channel up "button" is again?All the hardware vendors that create TVs, VCRs, DVD players, receivers, CD players, etc... should get together and decide on some common protocols for their remote controls so that any one device can at least perform the most basic functions on any device. I suppose that would make too much sense, though.
To be useful it needs to have the following, which it lacks, or at least doesn't claim to have. (I don't need any compensation for these ideas, being able to get them is enough)
It needs to figgure out what machines I have in my enertainment system and interface to them automaticly. I don't want to have to point a remote at it and program each button as that takes too long. I don't even want to have to figgure out if I have a RCA model 364526z or 36532f. It needs to figgure that out. (I'll accept some trail, that is "we have have narrowed your TV down to one of 3 choices, please indicate when the TV goes on)
It needs act as a game controller expander. I have a PS/2, a NES64, and a Atari 2600 connected to my tv (not really, but I wish). It needs to have something that will plug into each machine's controler interface, and then use the USB controlers pluged into this thing to control whichever system I happen to play. Optional modules for each are fine so long as they are not too expensive.
It needs to display on the TV. Sure it has a built in screen, but when I connect my USB keychain with my photo album to the machine, I really want to show the picuters to my family on the big TV, not the little remote screen. (Even though the remote in theory might have better resolution it is smaller)
Since it already runs linux, include xlincity, freeciv, and any other good linux games. (see above about displaying on the TV...)
And finially it must be easy to use. At $1700 I can buy a lot of compuer. I've considered it in fact, and other than not having a good remote ability I think I can do most of what I want with a custom linux box a lot cheaper.
And the sarcasm whizzes by like a Concorde.
http://www.java-browser.com
If somebody came up with an IR attachment for the the useless PDAs now laying about, we could program them into the useful and ergonomic remotes that commercial vendors seem congenitially incapable of making. I have yet to see a remote that has a non confusing arrangment of buttons.
I, also, only buy gadgets smaller than my penis. Well, I'm off to go watch my 60" TV.
Imagine how expensive it would be if they used Windows!?
:-)
Sure glad they're "saving us money" by using Linux...
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
Touchscreens and remote controls do not mix. A remote that requires you to look at it to use it, as a touchscreen does, is annoying/inconvenient. It's bad enough to spend $20 on a product that proves annoying... I can't even imagine spending $1700 only to be annoyed. I have tried a couple remote control programs for PalmOS and while I find it useful for controlling my TV for which the remote has gone kabloey, I would much rather have a decent learning remote with real buttons. Indeed I'd rather just have my old TV remote working again and deal with 4-5 separate remotes.
--- What?
Let's be serious ... What kind of person in the right frame of mind (except some rich geeks who want to exhibit their k3wlness) will need such a device? 1700$ for a remote?
It was about time that big consumer product companies understood that linux powered devices are the trent of the days, but instead of using their resources and creativity in right way and producing something really usefull based on embedded linux, they just try to find in which types of everyday devices nobody else has put linux or internet in (eg.. microwave ovens, fridges, remotes) just in order to get some publicity in some certain circles.
Ha! Zaurus runs on linux, has the ability to do the same (WiFi/MMC/SD/Internet/remote controler --yes, i know, its IR is not that strong--) and even more (digital camera/gps/with openzaurus, compact flas, and some programming the sky is the limit), and you could buy it for just 169.08
For those, who loses remotes, take those "find me" beeping keychains and glue it onto each remote. ;) ). And there are PDAs that can control anything with IR control, show somewhat castrated web pages, play your music, browse your wireless network, yet still cheaper than a thousand bucks.
Idea of a fancy "terminal" seems to be kinda stupid right now. Just like having TV/Internet access built into the fridge (it might be ok if you have REALLY small apartment and have only space for the fridge in it but, unless you live in Tokyo, that's not gonna happen). For those wanting terminal, there already are tablet PCs. There are learning remotes that can control everything (heck, there's even sony learning remote with LCD screen for changing layout for less than $400
In one word: Yuk!
Hyperom.com
... probably requires one to use a remote control to use it comfortably ;).
Forget it, buy an HP IPAQ 5450, 802.11+Bluetooth, and all the goodies. Plus mine came with NEVO. http://www.mynevo.com/ a nifty multi-device remote system for Windows CE. I have mine setup to control, three TVs, two VCRs, two DVDs, two Sat systems and a projector. Plus the CD and AV receiver too. Very easy to set-up and it can learn codes and has an editor to arrange the controls to suit your needs. At $1700 the Philips offering is way to much. The 5450 cost $950CND or a buck 20 US, $600US.
I visited Philips Remote Control dev center a couple of months ago here in Leuven, Belgium and saw an early version of one of these. It's a luxury product of course, intended for people who just have too much money on their hands and are spending $10000 on a home cinema system anyway (that's what the devs told us). We also saw the lesser pronto's, which are basically tough, pda-sized (though thicker) smart remote controls with a color touchscreen. They are just remote controls (unlike this mini-computer), but they do come with software for designing your own button layouts and such. Apparently it's still a worthwhile market in the US. Lots of rich people DO buy this sort of stuff. The iPronto is basically a tablet-computer for your living room, which just happens to also be a remote control. My main gripe when trying out the various pronto's was the touch pad which was inaccurate and seemed to respond badly... and that was without greasy fingers from crisps or popcorn.
For example, if your DVD player isn't programmed into the remote (you know, look in the manual, find your manufacturer, enter a code) you can make your own, assign your own number, and upload it to the remote. Or do nearly anything else you want. Macros, keymoves, etc. It's complicated, but if you're reading /., you should love it.
Get started here.
sheephead
7d9e63e9501751ff4bf9307989d5623d *SheepHead
What kind of crazy setup you'd need to justify such an expensive remote. I went to the Sony store and grabbed a learning remote for 60$ CAD. If I wanted macros (one touch on button would be the only benefit over my non-macro one, which does have a macro for turning everything off), that would only be another 20-30$ CAD.
For very nearly 2800 CAD, I think you'd be better off buying a laptop.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
So I wonder how long till someone puts Lin- er Windows on it...
I've been testing it on my PEG T615C Clie and it works great, SONY have this enhanced IR port built into the little devil.
geek page at KY speaks
To program your remote to Yamaha-5550, you will download a file for this on your computer. Then use whatever port you like and connect your remote to computer and download the file to your remote. Viola! you got Yamaha-5550 in your remote. To do this, some industry consortium needs to come up with standards and then all new devices will come up with such a downloadable file.
I know programmable LCD remote controls exist, which can do just like this. But here are the shortcomings:
1) LCD Based: Needs too much battery power.
2) LCD Based: Hard to operate without backlight. Even then, you must look at it. I operate almost all my remote by touch feeling without lookint at them. No good non-LCD remote available which can download files from internet.
3) No industry standard. Not many manufacturers make such directly downloadable files. So no guarantee that your equipment is listed.
4) No industry standard. Each remote has its own version of code-file.
5) LCD Based: Too expensive.
+1 Informative
.dotgoeshere
.
== WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
Here is a picture of the model 6012 that I've got: http://www.oneforall-int.com/ussite/urc6012.html
And here is a picture of the model 8910 (more advanced, with learning capabilities, etc): http://www.oneforall-int.com/ussite/urc8910.html
A clickable link to the One For All info site: http://www.hifi-remote.com/ofa/
A good universal remote site, with reviews, forums, etc: http://www.remotecentral.com
Why, you could change the channel on all the TV's in the house at the same time while browsing the internet and checking your mail!
This sig no verb.
I've had my Pronto TSU1000 for about 2 1/2 years now, and I LOVE IT! Sure, there are newer ones with more RAM and Color bitmap screens, but for a few hundred bucks per each device, I wont' be upgrading soon. It works fine. I can connect it to my PC to updates it (which, btw, I really need to do), and I even have a recharge docking station, so I never need to put batteries in.
As much respect I have for LinuxDevices, they didn't actually review the iPronto. They're just reiterating Philips's propaganda.
Consider: "What's an iPronto do? As described by Philips...". Or "While we haven't opened one up to look inside...". More like you haven't even touched one. Heck, even the article's title gives it away: "Device profile:...". Not device review.
I'd love to see this thing really reviewed. But this isn't it. It's a poorly worded press release at best.
Push the remote's "on/off" button, they both go on or off, together. Volume controls, channel, etc. are all shared between the two. Both remotes control both devices.
Until AV equipment joins the 1980's and starts making devices uniquely addressable (ala IP addresses), I will not be able to happily play on my PS2 with the small screen while watching the news on the big one.
This 1970's IR technology is really annoying.
Lies! This is not a remote control, but an obomination against Allah! Praise Saddam, because he knows a true remote control is a TSU 1000, 2000, 3000, or 6000. We will roast this dumb terminal in hell! Do not believe thier LIES!