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Turn your iPod into a Universal Remote

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the because-you-can dept.

no_demons writes "Some clever souls over at engadget.com have posted an excellent tutorial in turning your iPod into a IR remote control. You also need a Pocket PC, an IR gadget from Griffin and a bit of patience, but hey, it's still a cool hack."

4 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. Griffin actually produced this for this purpose by adzoox · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Griffin demoed the PodMate at the 2002 MacWorld Expo. They were controlling a Sony TV and Stereo at their booth with one of these devices. Apple asked them not to develop it further for some reason.

    They scrapped the plans and then made it part of their Griffin Mobile division - selling it for the iPaq originally.

    --
    Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
  2. iPod as the "Java Ring" ? by Ars-Fartsica · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Lots of interesting angles coming out for exploiting a wearable, portable data store. Seems like this was the proposition of the Java Ring, but that assumed too much bandwidth. People still need to carry their data with them until bigger pipes are easily available.

    Would be interested to see someone float a thin client based on using the iPod as the user identification/storage component. Lots of ideas come to mind once you assume the iPod is ubiquotous.

  3. IR - Audio by Jadsky · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This project describes the most interesting part of this hack... converting the IR into a waveform in the first place. That Griffin gadget is fascinating.

    The article talks about how you read off the IR codes in the first place, and convert them into usable waveforms. It uses C# targetted for PocketPC. I found the underpinnings of this hack far more interesting than the hack itself.

  4. Hmm by autopr0n · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, it seems like it works by recording IR signals as audio, and then re-broadcasting by playing the sounds. Actually that's kind of interesting.

    But, it would work with any Mp3 player, so it's a little annoying that they focused on the iPod exclusively, when any digital audio player would work.

    It would also be a HUGE pain in the ass to actualy use, especialy if you've already got a pocket PC that could do all that already without all the work...

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.