OK, well i have searched for about a week now and feel either it doesnt exist or im just not looking in the right place. I'm interested in programming a universal remote for my EVO but the problem i am having is finding the hardware to make it work.
What is needed:
Wifi to RF converter OR
Bluetooth to RF converter
Does anyone have any clue where to find one? You would think that with Iphones popularity with their phone attached junk someone would have gotten smart and made one that you could just sit next to your entertainment system so that you dont have to plug in a device to your phone....
Anyways, i didnt find anything on here, not online, nor in the underground layer of electronic geeks... jk. I dont have the skills to build my own device or i would. I'm taking computer engineering so maybe someday i will.
Any help from you gods at Xda would be appreciated.
You can buy a Bluetooth to Serial port converter, like this one:
http://www.totalpda.co.uk/+/Bluetooth-Serial-RS232-Adapter.7562.html
Maybe you could then find a serial or legacy IR transmitter device to send the IR signals to your devices. I'm assuming they are IR and not RF.
You could use something like this for the IR unit:
http://www.expansys.com/actisys-ird...=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=base
So you connect both units near your equipment, Power them somehow, point the IR device towards the Equipment, Connect via Bluetooth to the Serial Port Profile and assuming you are sending the right signal for the device you should have control.
Of course because it works both ways, you could 'Read back' the signal from your remote control into your android application and store it against the event you want to fire via your GUI controls. Simples.
hmmmm yes...I think that'll work
Logicalstep
I think the easiest solution would be to write an android app to use the ir dongles that plug into the headphone Jack. There are a couple out there... most of the iPhone adapters plug into the headphone jacks, I believe. Also there was one out for winmo years ago.
Anyways, I think they just convert audio signals into ir remote signals, so the app would just need the collection of audio signals for the various ir signals needed. I bet you could get one of the iPhone ir dongle companies to help out in writing an app, cause that would mean another market to buy their hardware.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
I'm liking the first one. But not the single idea. Not. Many people I know would want to buy a single and risk losing it when you could have a stationary device sitting right there. Plus if it could be wifi connected then you could control it from anywhere.
Maybe I did not look hard enough, but I could not find a "similar" Android Universal Remote systems like the ones below for the iPhone. I'm looking for an Android UR application that allows an Android Smartphone, that has no IR, to interface to an existing IR blaster via WiFi or Blutooth to control AV components. It is possible that I miss it, so if someone can point me to one I'd appreciate it. If none is available, maybe someone can write an Android UR app that can interface with one the "existing" IR blasters that work with the iPhone. These IR blasters, as you can see below, are not that expensive.
I was impressed by how the UI is easily customizable in the iPhone app in the video for the UnityRemote... Who knows... maybe gear4 is already writing an Android app for it.
http://us.gear4.com/product/_/93/unityremote/?cid=31
http://www.slashgear.com/griffin-beacon-makes-your-iphone-4-a-universal-remote-07124546/
http://www.slashgear.com/peel-fruit-turns-iphone-into-show-suggesting-universal-remote-08118392/
Related
I've installed TV remote controller 5.5 from www.pdawin.com but cannot get any of the built in settings ie. SONY TV to controll my equipment. I cannot get the XDA2 to respond to the softwares learn function either. Can anyone please help?
I had this exact same issue. I gave up after 20 minutes. If anyone has any tips on using as a remote, I would also be very interested to know.
well i cant say for xda2 but i had it running on xda1 and the Infrared transmitter is WEAK! the tv would only react if the xda1 were as close as 30cm from the reciever of the tv
so unless the Infrared t ransceiver is much more powerfull then the one in xda1 then even if you find a remote program it's next to useless with such a short range
unless you build something like this
http://www.pdawin.com/irtranceiver.html
I had TV remote working on my previous Dell Axim X5. The IR transmitter was weak too, think it had to be within a metre or so from memory.
I've tried the XDA2 only inches away from the IR sensor on the TV and it still doesn't work, either it is really low powered? or there is a fault somewhere?
This is probably a hardware limitation.
It's possible that the used infrared led's aren't emitting in the standard consumer electronics spectrum.
If this is the case, the XDA II can't be used for remote control applications, unless you replace the IR transmitter (which means opening the case and voiding warranty).
It wont work due to the fact that the Xda II does not have a consumer standard IrDA module on it. A severe limitation of the Xda II as well I feel. A bit of a step backward from the Xda I too.
Grrr. I didnt want it anyway.
its not a hardware problem.... its a software problem...
RichMercer said:
It wont work due to the fact that the Xda II does not have a consumer standard IrDA module on it. A severe limitation of the Xda II as well I feel. A bit of a step backward from the Xda I too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, XDA2 can not be used for remote control applications!
I wonder why anybody would want to turn this beautiful cutting edge piece of technology into a remote control when a very comprehensive learning remote can be had for about £5.
cruisin-thru said:
I wonder why anybody would want to turn this beautiful cutting edge piece of technology into a remote control when a very comprehensive learning remote can be had for about £5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've often asked myself the same question I do see people with PDA's creating the odd havoc in TV shops n department stores switching the channels etc.
Really have not wanted to control my TV, aircon or anything else with my XDA II .
I wonder why anybody would want to turn this beautiful cutting edge piece of technology into a remote control when a very comprehensive learning remote can be had for about £5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i suppose many people say the same thing with a search replace of remote to phone when they see how much more we pay to get a pda and cellphone in one
Even fully compliant IrDA components are only rated for a transmit distance of 1 meter. Consumer remote controls are much brighter.
Yes and since the cheapest usable tv remote controller with a more powerfull beam can be bought for around 5 dollar... why didn´t they put these ir leds in the mda xda ii?? max difference 1 dollar in large quantities?
With all these remotes laying around on the table (about 8 of them) tv remote on the pocketpc would be very usefull. Learning mode, program what you need or get them from the database on internet. Also the possibility to program macro´s so you press one button to play and watch dvd and power on 5.1 surround system.....
How can the ir leds be tweaked?
michiel
Yes and since the cheapest usable tv remote controller with a more powerfull beam can be bought for around 5 dollar... why didn´t they put these ir leds in the mda xda ii?? max difference 1 dollar in large quantities?
With all these remotes laying around on the table (about 8 of them) tv remote on the pocketpc would be very usefull. Learning mode, program what you need or get them from the database on internet. Also the possibility to program macro´s so you press one button to play and watch dvd and power on 5.1 surround system.....
How can the ir leds be tweaked?
michiel
Yes and since the cheapest usable tv remote controller with a more powerfull beam can be bought for around 5 dollar... why didn´t they put these ir leds in the mda xda ii?? max difference 1 dollar in large quantities?
With all these remotes laying around on the table (about 8 of them) tv remote on the pocketpc would be very usefull. Learning mode, program what you need or get them from the database on internet. Also the possibility to program macro´s so you press one button to play and watch dvd and power on 5.1 surround system.....
How can the ir leds be tweaked?
michiel
the only useful app that ive ever found for any pda to control a pice of equpiment was one for a palm that i had,
the software was called mini-disk titler ,
you just filled in the track names on the screen then tapped on title. the pda then sent the sequence of button presses to title the disk in about 20 seconds , much quicker than faffing with all the menus on the player
ian
well the very brigth remote leds may not be able to transmit data as far as the ir in the xda
about extenders for the ir
http://www.pdawin.com/irtranceiver.html
http://www.homeautomationnet.com/Shopping/remote-control-accessories.asp
http://www.smarthome.com/8220A.html
I have a XDA II and I would like to use it very much as a remote controler but unfortunately its port appear to be not compatible with the IR signals needed to work with common remote controlers, so I came up with a crazy idea and would like to know what you have to say.
I also have an RC500i from Marantz that has just stop working and I am about to retire it.
I also have Total Remote from Griffin that I already discused here, it can´t be used for learn because the module only transmit. This way it is almos useless, but I like the software and the module design.
I was thinking...
I could take the IR led (the one used to learn) from the Marantz and substitute from the one inside the XDA II, this way I have the possibility to learn but not transmit, but since I can use Total Remote to transmit this will not be a problem. The fact that I will not have anymore the capability to comunicate with other PDAs is also not a problem because I rarely use it.
With all this in mind I would like to know if it work that simply or if it is much more complicated because of technical insues.
What you think about this?
Thanks a lot
Felipe
Its not the LED that does the learning its the hardware/firmware attached to the led as far as I know, so changing them over will do nothing.
You won't get IR working on an XDA I/I/IIs or clones without additional hardware support.
The Griffin Total Remote is one such device, but the location of the XDA II headphone socket, and the need for a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter make it a pain in the *ss to use.
Griffin TR can learn from other remotes, but the learning function uses the standard IR port, not the dongle. I have one which I use occasionally, but mainly now on an old Ipaq due to the socket arrangement. It learns basic functions well, but advanced functions seem not to transfer.
I'd wait for the NoviRemote Blaster to appear for the PPC next year- it uses an SDIO based transmitter.
Neil,
It appears that you are in the same situation as I am, because I also have the TR installed on my XDA II but it can´t learn at all so it is useless! To make things even more unsatisfield I got a pretty bad technical support from Griffin. So I am still looking for a way around.
NeilM said:
You won't get IR working on an XDA I/I/IIs or clones without additional hardware support.
The Griffin Total Remote is one such device, but the location of the XDA II headphone socket, and the need for a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter make it a pain in the *ss to use.
Griffin TR can learn from other remotes, but the learning function uses the standard IR port, not the dongle. I have one which I use occasionally, but mainly now on an old Ipaq due to the socket arrangement. It learns basic functions well, but advanced functions seem not to transfer.
I'd wait for the NoviRemote Blaster to appear for the PPC next year- it uses an SDIO based transmitter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had wintv working without any problems with my xda1
and i had noviiRemote working without any problems on my xda2
with no extre hardware
range is not very good and you really need to hit correct to make it work but it does work
Felcas- Yes I rmember now, I could not get the XDA IR to learn- I did the learning on my old Ipaq, then copied the files across! The ergonimics still make it unusable though!
Rudegar- point taken about Noviremote, but with such short distances its easier to lean over and push the hardware button on the TV!
NeilM said:
Felcas- Yes I rmember now, I could not get the XDA IR to learn- I did the learning on my old Ipaq, then copied the files across! The ergonimics still make it unusable though!
Rudegar- point taken about Noviremote, but with such short distances its easier to lean over and push the hardware button on the TV!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!!! You gave me a good solution. My girlfriend have an Ipaq 5550, I will install the TR on her PPC do everything I want and then copy to the XDA II
Felipe
about giving it a longer range
http://www.pdawin.com/irtranceiver.html
http://www.smarthome.com/8220A.html
would not advice people adding things internaly to the xda's it would likely be a bad idea
Hi,
As most of you have, I am getting a growing collection of old mobiles now, and I want to do something cool.
I have just bought a robosapien V2 and AXON robot serial controller. What I want to do is use my old XDA exec to replace the 'brain' of the robot, so to this end, I need to be able to squirt serial data out of the phone on a wire, of which the easiest would be the usb snyc/charge port.
I am using NET 3.5 as my dev language, and the idea being is to take advantage of the wifi chip to be able to, firstly send commands to the robot from anywear (cool huh?) and to be able to stream video & audio (using the skype SDK) from the robot back to the network.
Anyone have any ideas on how to go about doing this?
And if any of you are interested enough I can post my progress here, go on, you know you would all love a robot you could send down the road on its own
sounds nice, i have no guess what it needs to control the robot nor i know anything about serial ports but i really would LOVE a small gizmo that i can control this way to do important things like rolling here, rolling there and then rolling back here, following the cat and piling it on the floor, talking through the speaker to the neighbours or affront those selfinviters ).
i'm waiting for your progress
best regards, pucki
Bluetooth
bhermer said:
Hi,
As most of you have, I am getting a growing collection of old mobiles now, and I want to do something cool.
I have just bought a robosapien V2 and AXON robot serial controller. What I want to do is use my old XDA exec to replace the 'brain' of the robot, so to this end, I need to be able to squirt serial data out of the phone on a wire, of which the easiest would be the usb snyc/charge port.
I am using NET 3.5 as my dev language, and the idea being is to take advantage of the wifi chip to be able to, firstly send commands to the robot from anywear (cool huh?) and to be able to stream video & audio (using the skype SDK) from the robot back to the network.
Anyone have any ideas on how to go about doing this?
And if any of you are interested enough I can post my progress here, go on, you know you would all love a robot you could send down the road on its own
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest you take a look on BT to RS232/485 adaptors. There are some small nice ones out there. I think it'll be even cooler being all wireless, isn't it?
For example this ones here (from google, don't know the brand. Only used industrial ones until now on my projects):
http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/100402141/Bluetooth_To_Rs232_Adaptor_10m_Converter.html
This one can't be used because the phones are not class 1 devices (~100 mW , ~100m range) but just for the information:
http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/100402139/Bluetooth_Rs232_Adaptor_100m_603004.html
Good luck with your project!!
shmilson
shmilson said:
I suggest you take a look on BT to RS232/485 adaptors. There are some small nice ones out there. I think it'll be even cooler being all wireless, isn't it?
For example this ones here (from google, don't know the brand. Only used industrial ones until now on my projects):
http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/100402141/Bluetooth_To_Rs232_Adaptor_10m_Converter.html
This one can't be used because the phones are not class 1 devices (~100 mW , ~100m range) but just for the information:
http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/100402139/Bluetooth_Rs232_Adaptor_100m_603004.html
Good luck with your project!!
shmilson
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is the better way. Unless the phone has a USB host controller (I don't think a lot of them has, most the USB port as client. We can sync because it was the active sync from the PC that initiate and control the session, not from the phone), this bluetooth to RS232 converter seem to be the best solution. I've been looking for something like this for a while.
Thanks for the comments guys, for some reason XDA dev isnt emailing me when comments were placed!
Blue tooth seems like a cool idea, would be better able to hide the bt dongle in the robot! will get hold of one and have a play when I get more than a bunch of wires will post some pics
anybody here know to to enable HD2's infrared port for us to use it on Novii IR Remote?
Thanks.
the HD2 has no IR port.
I would love to get an ir remote program working on the hd2. there are portable ir transmitters that plug into the 3.5" audio port that with the right program can be used as remote controls for tvs/dvd players/etc. The redeye mini is a recent on i saw released for the iphone... if someone developed a program for wm that used those transmitters, I would definitely buy it.
zarathustrax said:
I would love to get an ir remote program working on the hd2. there are portable ir transmitters that plug into the 3.5" audio port that with the right program can be used as remote controls for tvs/dvd players/etc. The redeye mini is a recent on i saw released for the iphone... if someone developed a program for wm that used those transmitters, I would definitely buy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get a good All-in-one-IR-Remote Control (p.ex. from Logitech) for almost the same price as a transmitter so why you want to use that? Its uncomfortable, slower in use and the haptic feedback on the flat screen of the HD2 is worse than on a real hardware remote control... Just help me understand
elburna said:
You can get a good All-in-one-IR-Remote Control (p.ex. from Logitech) for almost the same price as a transmitter so why you want to use that? Its uncomfortable, slower in use and the haptic feedback on the flat screen of the HD2 is worse than on a real hardware remote control... Just help me understand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because I have different devices throughout my home that I could use that for, not to mention at my moms and brothers homes, and I always have my phone with me. I don't want to have to carry a remote, also. Plus remotes have a habit of getting lost in my house. It would be convenient to be able to pull my phone out where ever Im at and control everything in my house. $50 for the redeye mini is kinda expensive, but I think I've seen cheaper ones.
zarathustrax said:
Because I have different devices throughout my home that I could use that for, not to mention at my moms and brothers homes, and I always have my phone with me. I don't want to have to carry a remote, also. Plus remotes have a habit of getting lost in my house. It would be convenient to be able to pull my phone out where ever Im at and control everything in my house. $50 for the redeye mini is kinda expensive, but I think I've seen cheaper ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the infared feature is damn great to works with...esp last time when i was using xda flame....super infared device....basically control any ir stb or devices except my air-con.....how i wish thinkflood will release redeye also for windows mobile..
Hey all,
I am interested in the idea of using my phone to control my home theatre equipment. The ability to control any IR equipment with your phone would be a very neat feature and a nice selling point, especially as Google has made clear their intentions to enter the home automation field. However at present it seems very hard to do this with Android.
I know that a solution is to use an IR transmitter connected to the 3.5mm headphone jack. The leader in this market seems to be a company called ThinkFlood who have a product called RedEye Mini. Here's an explanation of how it works...
http://thinkflood.com/products/redeye-mini/#how-does-it-work
Unfortunately for us Android users the software is in beta testing and the RedEye Mini hardware is not compatible yet.
I am wondering if anyone can shed some light on this project and whether it can be achieved yet by any other means?
Also does anyone know whether native support of IR hardware has been considered for Android. Seeing as this technology could very easily be built into phones it seems like a smart move for Google with their home automation drive and all.
I am interested to hear your thoughts and solutions.
Thanks
The concept of home automation would be improved if IR were not used at all. Line of sight comms is very limiting. On the plus side of course it means there are fewer radio waves flying round my house and frying my brain!
I agree 100%. I need to keep all the brain cells I can
Unfortunately though most home theatre equipment still relies of IR and I believe it will for a few more years. Google should jump on IR if they are serious about home automation.
if you use XBMC than there is an nice app to control it and many more.
Controlling the PC is easy as apps can communicate with it via my home network. The problem I have is using my phone to communicate with other equipment such as my TV and AV receiver. For these the only way I can think of controlling them is via IR.
edcoppen, as far as I know you have 2 options for IR on Android:
1/ - Already available DIY solutions -
You can check the Androlirc application (that would be me!)
And a friend of the project has developed a enhanced Audio2IR module that is called Irdroid (mine was just a proof of concept)
You'll have to be (or get) familiar with LIRC to go down that path.
2/ - Anounced and "soon to be available" IR equipped Android devices -
Touchsquid
Conspin Andi One
That a lot of link dropping for a first post, I hope xdadevelopers will let me submit that... (Submit...) Yeah, that's what I thought, you'll just have to look for web sites by yourself then.
Anyway I think we're gonna get some action in the IR/Tablet world soon... Until we get rid of that 30 years old, one way tech (on the plus side, it "owns" 100% of the market and the battery autonomy for a traditional remote control has to be measured in years... that's close to an infinity in the Android world)!
Quite interesting that there will be IR equipped mobile devices any more. I thought the technology would die out. I actually still carry my Nokia N73 with me and from time to time change the channel on the TV in the pub. Great fun!!!
Yeah, I had a nokia 7650 ten years ago with an IR transmitter/receiver and used to have so much fun changing channels in my sports bar. I reckon the technology has less interest nowadays as we move further into the digital age. The best and easiest way to automate your home theatre and stereo systems is to connect them to a pc and control everything from your phone. there are tons of apps in the market that allow you to do this. I have tried a few and am currently using three I find the best: Unified remote (specifically for their spotify remote, which now a days is my stereo system, but they have tons of other remotes and works great over LAN), phonemypc (for me one of the best vnc apps in the market) and remote desktop client, a great RDP app. Whatever you can connect to your pc (with the right hardware/firmware you can even connect all the appliances in your home, even your lights and air-conditioned, to a main server) you can control from your phone, either through LAN - using your home network - or even away from home using the internet (WAN). IR is an obsolete technology in the digital age.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
StreetGuru said:
Whatever you can connect to your pc (with the right hardware/firmware you can even connect all the appliances in your home, even your lights and air-conditioned, to a main server) you can control from your phone, either through LAN - using your home network - or even away from home using the internet (WAN). IR is an obsolete technology in the digital age.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont agree that it is a dead technology... yet! Most AV devices in the home still rely on it and unless i'm mistaken cannot be connected via the PC. Take for example my Samsung TV or my Harman Kardon AVR. I really want to be able to control these from my phone and cant find a viable solution. I have all the apps you mentioned and none of them help me here. You say via the right hardware/firmware can help... but what hardware would you use to connect the two devices I named to a PC, and how mush does it cost?
If an IR transmitter could be built into a watch 10 years ago I see no reason why it coultn't easily be added to a mobile phone. I know its personal preference but I would see it as a strong selling point.
IR hardware range too weak
My older HTC Windows phone had IR support, I had hoped to install AV remote sw on it. Found out the hard way that the IR range on many phones that had the hardware was only a few feet. It was intended as a bidirectional business card sharing type of thing before bluetooth took over. I'm thinking bluetooth is why most phones don't even have the IR hardware built in anymore.
I'm currently looking for a T-Mobile Froyo phone that has IR with sufficient range for AV remote use, any experts out there?
I don't want to depend on any dongles plugged in to the phone, but I would consider an external wireless box that had the IR command set and transmitter and a wireless way to communicate with the phone, preferably bluetooth so I don't have to turn on the wifi radio every time I use it.
i have a new enough Sammy tv to use DLNA etc, but that means turning on the wifi.