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Using Your Cellphone To Control RC Cars
rocannon writes "Cellular-news reports that NEC has announced a technical cooperation with the Japanese toy manufacturer, Konami to enable its range of MICROiR toys cars to be controlled from the DoCoMo N504iS handset or the J-N51 handset sold by J-Phone. More details on Cellular News."
Hot damn you can! (in the rush to a meaningful first post attempt, I didn't look)
Tiny Tanks!
Wouldn't Bluetooth be a better way of achieving this? If they were to make the cars recieve they're control via Bluetooth, any Bluetooth device (including phones) with the appropriate software could control them. This would mean your not tied into buying a particular phone for what is nothing more than a gimmick (albeit an incredibly cool gimmick). Of course I make this with no real understanding of the latency involved in Bluetooth or the cost of a reciever (although I do remember it was originally supposed to be cheap enough to embed in everything).
I'm still waiting for a phone that:
- Uses a properly designed antenna.
- Still works after it's dropped.
- Has covered buttons so that I don't accidentally dial when I sit down.
- Has decent battery life.
What I don't need/want:- Games. I've got a pack of cards that works without batteries.
- A camera. I've got a camera with a real lens.
- A PDA. Once again, more wasted battery power.
I just want a friggin' phone that works.NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
I have ended up using Salling Clicker (linked above) for more things than I thought. (keynote, turn on password protection, etc)
While controlling remote control cars may not be all that cool. (Range is horrible for those little cockroach cars) I do think it would be nice to have something like the feature integrated into Sony Clies where you can control ANY TV STEREO or CABLE BOX with just the selection of a brand name and type of device. I would love to be able to do this with my phone.
After talking to the programmer of Romeo, a similar program - I have been keeping up with developments that t68i phones will soon be able to control TV's and VCRs, and etc - through an actual "on phone program" - right now Romeo and Salling Clicker are Push based.
Does anyone know if there is an infrared to bluetooth or vice versa converter coming out?
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
I was thinking about getting the N504iS (links are in English) but decided against it for a couple reasons. First of all, this phone is really nice. It's a clamshell style phone, like pretty much all the phones have become in Japan. It can already control most of the major brands of televisions here too. It also has a camera capable of taking 640x480 res pix. I believe the screen is also capable of display 256K colors, but I don't remember for sure. There's also a color screen on the outside of the clamshell so when you get a mail or phone call, you can have it display a picture so you know who's calling.
:p Finally, when I went to get a phone, the N504iS was recalled for some reason and I would have had to go on a waiting list for it. It's out now, but it was only re-released a month after I got my current phone... which is the F504iS.
However, even with all it's goodness, I was annoyed that the "OK/Confirm" button was above the circular "cursor" keys. I like that button being in the middle. In addition, the N504iS has Disney characters advertising it, so I didn't even want to go there.
The F504iS has 2 cameras (which I don't need) and is able to record video at 15fps max. But the real reason I got it was because of the "OK" button and cursor layout and the nice outside display. It's really easy to read and only displays what I want it to which is the time, battery life, signal strength, and if I have any mails.
- David