Remote Controls On The March

faxafloi writes "SFGate has an article about how remote controls have proliferated in our world like rabbits. Even their inventor, Robert Adler, is befuddled by them. 'Universal' remotes help some, but are not interoperable with enough devices to drive everything, so we're stuck with multiple remotes. The article then describes the new top of the line models, ranging to (ahem) $1699.00." (Of course, there were remote controls of a sort long before Adler.) For another approach to universal remote control -- using a cell phone as display and controller -- read on below.

An anonymous reader writes "This whitepaper describes Intel's research into innovative and futuristic uses of camera phones. Cell phones are already much more than a communication device. In cities around the world, purchasing a soda out of a vending machine can be as easy as dialing your cell phone. Even parking and toll fees are easily paid through a cell phone, and they are used as debit/credit cards to purchase food, services, and gas. Now, the global proliferation of cell phones with cameras brings more opportunities to use mobile phone devices in different capacities -- and the best part is that these applications require no additional hardware. In Intel's research, camera phones are being used as pointing devices, authentication devices, storage devices, and even as user interfaces for systems that, because of cost and/or form factor, aren't able to accommodate a display of their own."

Comments

Re:Surely 'Remote Controls Out Of Control!' ...

[KReilly]

That is a little out of hand, but that is the very top of the line. I was using a 300 dollar remote at my girlfriends, and it definetly adds to the experience.

I had seen the remote before and thought it was rediculous to spend that much on a universal remote, but when you already have 2500 bucks in equipment you might as well splurge.

But, it has a touch screen interface, auto programming through ir, back lighting, etc. etc. All in all, if I was gonna invest in a good home theater I would say not to skip over buying a quality remote

its true

[ErichTheWebGuy]

I have remotes for my: cable box, dvd player, tivo, vcr, tv, cd player, amp, tape deck, and eq.

If that weren't enough, my fan (yea, fan) has a remote. And, I almost bought a car stereo the other day that has a, you guess it, remote control.

Old School Remotes

[MyNameIsFred]

When I was a child, TV remotes were uncommon and worked very differently -- they used sound. I vividly remember our remote. It had four metal bars visible thru the grating. Pushing the on/off button caused a hammer to hit one of the bars. The TV reacted to the sound. Very basic functionality: On/Off, volume in steps, and up/down channel changing.

Oh the hours of fun. Learning how to change channels by jiggling my Mom's car keys. Or the dog perking up when we hit certain buttons.

Although it beat by Dad's previous remote. Hey son, go change the channels. Kids today don't know what they're missing.

Re:Old School Remotes

[WindBourne]

I remember those. They were fun to find things that would change the channel. And yeah, we had a tv that the keys could change if shaken correctly.

RadioShack 15-1994

[mdwebster]

The Radio Shack 15-1994 remote can be had, on sale, for $30.00. If it doesn't have the code for a device, you can have it 'read' the signal from the remote for that device. It will hold up to 20 of those, I believe.

If you want more, you can build a serial-interface cable and upload new signatures into the main memory to leave more room for dynamic buttons and macros.

Get a JP1 remote, much cheaper

[spideyct]

Find a JP1 capable remote. You can get many great universal remotes for MUCH cheaper ($15), that have better features/compatibility than the expensive (>$100) remotes out there. JP1 capable remotes have a pin connection that lets you program them from your computer using free software developed by an avid community.

Since I bought my JP1-enabled One For All Cinema 7 two years ago, it is the only remote I've needed in my living room (with TV, DVD, VCR, Stereo, CD Player, Satellite). I'm serious, all of the other remotes are sitting in a drawer somewhere collecting dust. I think it cost me less than $20.

I've had some luck...

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

Details: Tivo, Sony Universal remote that doesn't do Tivo.

I have the packard bell IR remote reciever connected to my linux server with about 25' of cat5. Custom shell script recieves the input (Sony thinks it is talking to a VCR) and pumps it back out to the Tivo via another serial. Also works for a RCA directv reciever, which the sony remote only partially implements (some menu buttons are gone, etc). Dishnet is a problem, they don't have external serial ports, and even hacking inside doesn't work, seems to be nothing for it in firmware.

Now I just need a 4way (or better) svideo switch, that speaks serial (since we damn well know that even if I got that $70 remote controlled one, my universal remote can't speak that). Think if I got one of those manual button ones, that I could use a PIC or atmel and a few transistors?

PS. The trouble with even the learning remotes, is that they don't have enough generic buttons. Waiting for one that has a "tivo" button isn't the solution, put a few "A", "B", "C" buttons on it, for godsake.

Remotely Controlled Apparatus

[dignome]

The Teleautomaton - Another first for Tesla.

Who else likes alternating current?

Why not a wand remote instead?

[AltaMannen]

I'm getting enough of button pressing when I'm at work so why not change the user interface of the remote to a gesture with a wand?

It couldn't be that hard to make something like a ps2 eye-toy that interprets motions made using a black stick with a white tip, and voice recognition for the device choice. Just say 'TV' and draw the channel number in the air. Move the stick sideways to increase/decrease volume and juggle the stick for hilarious results!

Slap a Harry Potter logo on the box and it's bound to sell millions as well!

JINI + bluetooth + phone/pda ideal solution

[MCRocker]

Surely his is the perfect place for JINI technology to really shine.

All you need is a bluetooth or WiFi enabled Java/JINI phone/pda or some such gadget. As you walk into the room, your device gets updated with the appropriate GUI control software for all of your entertainment boxes and you just select the ones you want to use and interact with them via the user interface provided via JINI.

No more searching for the correct controller. The too many buttons syndrome could also be overcome because these apps will be able to use rich client interfaces to simplify the huge number of options and even provide help documentation!

I doubt it'll happen any time soon though.

Sony AV2100

[sbaker]

We have the Sony AV2100 - it was once considered up-market for a 'learning remote' but not in the thousands of dollars range. I paid a little over $100 - but nowadays you can pick one up on eBay for around $30.

Ours has replaced every single remote we have in our family room (EIGHT of them!!). It even successfully learned Lego Mindstorms commands.

It's better than just a regular record/replay learning remote because it can chain together bunches of commands from different remotes and knows things like "when you are controlling the TV, you should still send volume control messages to the home-theatre amplifier". With the chained commands, I can press a single touch-screen button to tell my TV to listen to the DVD player, the DVD player to eject so I can put a disk in, the Amplifier to go to 'Action Movie' mode, the TV to accept wide-format video and the dimmer on the room lighting to go to 10% brightness. Now if I can just get the Lego robot to fetch me a beer, I'll be in business!

The AV2100 has regular mechanical buttons for common things like channel changing, volume control and switching major modes - but it also has a large LCD panel with a touch screen for everything else. The blue back-light on the LCD is worth having so you can see what you are doing in a darkened room.

The best thing of all - it's too big to lose between two sofa cushions. Trust me - that's far-and-away it's best feature!