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.

Comments

Coolest ... thing ... ever!

[SeanTobin]

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!

I wish companies would figure out what I want in a tablet pc. All I want to do is to be able to read /. in the bathroom on a decent sized ultra lightweight screen. They can even call it a PADD if they want.

Battery Eaters?

[clbyjack81]

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!

Startup time?!

[jraf]

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..

This has gotta be...

[JohnnyBigodes]

... 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!)

REAL Critieria for a Handheld Remote

[cmehta1]

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

Re:REAL Critieria for a Handheld Remote

[Cthefuture]

I would not want to have to manually back up the coinfiguration. That's one thing I absolutely hate about my Palm. It should just use flash memory and keep the settings even when there is no power.

Otherwise you're constantly having to backup the device any time you make any change to the settings. This is one of those things where updates are somewhat rare, but not so rare that you could just do a backup and forget about it.

I hate my TV remote that loses all it's settings when the batteries die (or more often come out when the remote is dropped). Even if I have a backup of the settings it would still be a pain in the ass.

Interesting development for Philips

[jackalope]

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.

So how do I fumble for it?

[thatguywhoiam]

I don't know. This iPronto thing, it seems to have a kind of major design issue.

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...

... and whip out this iPronto thing, light it up, start dragging my greasy fingers across the touchscreen through frickin pull-down menus, eyes blinded by the sudden shift in light and focus, the Balrog's going mental on Gandalf's ass, I spill my drink...

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.

A great compromise

[ubergoober]

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.

Saw one months ago at philips

[UnConeD]

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.

i need something simpler

[u19925]

I have always wanted a simple remote control which can just download a code-file for a given model. Here is how it should work

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.