Echostar's new DVR UI kills the number pad, long live the touch pad
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Jan 8th 2009 1:19PM
posted Jan 8th 2009 1:19PM
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Good idea, but I'd have to test it out first to see if it worked well.
The rest of the remote is unnaturally ugly, though. Wow.
Yeah, the main buttons look like... a padded vinyl of some sort, like they wouldn't even have a nice tactile 'click' to them.
needs more click wheel.
+ for you, great reference.
I'll buy almost anything if it's shiny and made by Apple
I don't like this!
I need my numbers.
Seems to be reinventing the wheel for no reason.
Exactly.. Why not touchsceen like the Logi Harmony One.. Im gunna guess thou that they will be including the Web on TV too.. Only reason to have a pointer touch pad..
Otherwise its just so they can say THEY have it...
@ Phour ZwanZig
Hahaha... adding a touch pad to a remote control seems to be reinventing the wheel... So why not add a touchscreen instead?! Can you not see the irony there?
Glad to see them innovating and all, but I think I'd prefer the number keys until they come up with the device that knows which numbers I'm thinking for input - now that would be cool and scary at the same time.
So rather than pressing a large tactile button with a 5 on it, I have to find it on a tiny touchscreen and aim my finger just right to get it to register correctly? Seems the cool factor is ruining the function factor.
No I think the channels appear on your TV set and you use the touch pad as a mouse to select one.
I couldn't agree more. Usability will be far inferior to number buttons.
i feel the same way about my cell phone & touchscreens
the click wheel IS the future ("less than a 100 clicks")
i like the idea of the track pad but how about just add gesture support? gesture the number u want... etc.
I would gesture "1" a lot... If you know what I mean
Why not make this so that you have to press the pad the number of times for the channel you want to go to! 196 channels, start tapping.
All I know is that when I need to use the calculator on windows, and I'm working on a keyboard with a number pad, I usually try my best to avoid using the mouse to input numbers. This is entirely pointless.
DirecTV's Quick Tune implementation might be better. Press the up arrow on the remote, and you have one-click access to nine channels in a 3x3 grid.
yea i dont like this, they just need to keep actual buttons for certain things like remotes, cause theres no way you'll be able to change a channel fast enough
Looks like a long Openmoko, Maybe one day I would be able to use my Openmoko as a remote for this 922. Regardless Im in! I can't wait to get this thing. I wish I could record Voom networks with this.
I never knew how much I hated buttons untill I saw this remote! (swaying dangerously close to the punchline)
No, thank you.
Noo! They be stealn' mah numbers!
Universal remote, FTW!
Wow, that's a terrible idea. Just awful.
Way to go. Invent a device that cannot be used with any universal remote on the market today. Next...
And they couldn't have fit number buttons in that giant space with the logo on it? Sad.
As long as my Harmony 880 can still control 922, I'll be happy. If not, I'll be ticked. The remote looks gimicky to me.
Unlikely the Harmony will work, as this new remote is RF (you don't want to try and do trackpad-like control over IR...)
I'm down with this. Entering numbers to go to a channel is frankly pretty stupid in the age of 300-channel satellite TV.
You have to think in terms of "use cases". Let's look at the most common use cases:
1. Watching a favorite channel. Most people have 10 or so of these (CNN/MSNBC/Fox for news junkies, ESPN/ESPN2/FSN for sports junkies, etc.). These are channels that we flip to regularly just to see what's on. Most people remember these channel numbers, but with the new Dish UI, you don't have to (you can just add them as favorites).
2. Watching a specific program. With a DVR, the number pad doesn't really help a lot here because you set timers for your 'regular' programs (e.g. House, American Idol, Heroes, etc.) and watch them from the program list. I think the new Dish UI will work well here, too.
3. Channel surfing. This is an exercise in futility with 300 channels, so "channel surfing" really means "looking at the guide". Again, the new Dish UI should work well here.
The other use case with 1M extensions is controlling all the other devices normally associated with watching video such as a receiver/amp, DVD/VCR, TV/Monitor. These interfaces generally depend on numeric input resulting in vendor-specific IR codes. The other option (the old faithful standby) is to have a myriad of remotes or a third party programmable model that supports everything such as then Harmony One.
*cough* Wiimote Pointer style would've been better..