L5 iPhone IR dongle / remote software hands-on
By Jacob Schulman 
posted January 7th 2010 10:49PM
posted January 7th 2010 10:49PM
posted January 7th 2010 10:49PM
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@Slutty McNugget You're a piece of shit jackass
I Love Engadget and how fast they post stuff! Awesome job you guys! I've always wanted to do this. "First"
Too bad that dongle is HUGE. If they could make it about 1/4 the size and it was contoured the the edge of the phone then maybe it would be something people could leave on their phone for the day. Good idea, bad design.
@pir800
i agree. i would be afraid of breaking the phones connector inside.
@Cg006
This is sad Like always Apple is always catching up with windows moble phones, I had the HTC Hermes 100 (AT&T 8525) with built in IR and over 3 years ago I used to do this all the time I even set up my lights to do this in my master bedroom. Why is this so impressive you are going to get tiered of this some one calls you then you grab your regular remote to turn the volume down. Ya I agree this thing sticking out is a bad Idea, a built in one would be better.
What about macros and an online IR database?
@az1324 Yep, that is what is definitely needed to make this most useful. Anything less is a real pain if you've got a lot of remotes.
@az1324 Or the ability to enter IR hex codes. Alot of remotes don't have discreet input buttons or discreet on/off codes built in.
What great fun! Until you get a call and want to pause the DVR... Awwwkwaaaard......
@Dave the Rave
Shhhhh! Those iPeople may hear you.
Why dont they just go back to building ir into these devices? Who told them that ir was dead? It costs them less to include the thing than for me to purchase it separately, and I'd gladly pay the extra few bucks thats passed on through the device. Its funny how things are dropped in the name of progress, causing lots of frustrations (novii anyone?), only to come back to square one.
Damn that looks bulky. Waiting for V2.0
The iPhone was very popular on upside town on talk shows and tv series, you'll live engadget
Why wouldn't they put an indirect IR blaster on it so it wouldn't have to be upside down. I can point my IR computer remote in any direction and the signal just bounces off the wall to the receiver.
You'll never have to worry about losing your remote, but you will have to worry about losing your iPhone IR dongle.
So instead of a big remote to lose, I have a tiny little IR receiver to lose.
It would be much cooler if the IR transmitter was a little static box that say, sat on your coffee table and communicated with your iPhone via bluetooth. That way you wouldn't have to plug some silly looking attachment into your phone and use it upside down.
I would imagine such a device could also be used with Pre's, Droids, and Nexus Ones which would increase the target audience for this thing.
@ebgolfin Now that's a good idea.
@Hotrod
What's the point of carrying the IR transmitter around the room with you, so long as it's pointed at your stuff and the device of your choice can control it remotely? If you never move it or even touch it, you can't lose it.
Write an app for iPhone OS, WebOS, Android, and Windows, then sell it to anyone that wants to use their smartphone/netbook/slatethingy/whatever to control their home theater.
@ebgolfin i have a first gen ipod touch which is what i would use this for and i don't think this is a bad idea. I only wish that they had a data base for devices instead of me having to go dig up old remotes to have this thing learn the functions (tideous) and they should have an "activities" function on it as well. I have a logitech harmony 550 which i love but i could see this doing more like adding say a micro usb port for charging you ipod when its low on juice without having to lose totally functionality.
@ebgolfin
Take a look at the ThinkFlood RedEye system (http://thinkflood.com/). Does pretty much what you're asking for, but uses Wifi instead of Bluetooth. My problem with any iPhone universal remote system remains response time (you have to wait until software connects to Wifi) and call interruption -- because that's exactly when I want to be able to turn the TV etc. to mute.
@duncan
And with that introduction video I pressed close the tab and never saw the thing again.. My old remote will do just fine. And if it didn't I always have IR in my N900 and irreco.garage.maemo.org/
The sad thing about this is that people jump all over it like it's brand new and the coolest thing ever.
Sorry, but I've been controlling *ALL* of my audio and video equipment for nearly 15 years now with a PocketPC. Yes, those things that inspired the iPhone/iPod touch and pretty much every other handheld portable device in existence today.
This isn't really a big thing, but a lot of folks will treat it as such just because it's yet another thing for an iPhone/iPod touch. They just ain't all that, folks. Nice, yes, but all that? Not even...
@bbzGhost
Yeah, I find this to be quite hilarious. Nothing we can do but laugh while iphone/ipod users drool over old technology wrapped in shiny new packaging.
@bbzGhost I have a tapwave zodiac that does this too.
But we can at least admit ipod touch/iphone is a million times more useful and user friendly
@bbzGhost "... PocketPC. Yes, those things that inspired the iPhone/iPod touch and pretty much every other handheld portable device in existence today."
You mean the things that were inspired by the Palm, which was inspired by Apple's Newton, the early predecessor of the iPhone?
this reminds me of my old nokia 7650. phone with built in IR and a symbian remote app
Ahhh but what if you loose your dongle?
*output* not outputted!
(in/out)put is the correct form for past, present and future tense of the verb. The only time "outputted" is correct is if one golfer has played on the green better than another.
Bah! I'll just resort to my trusty NoviiRemote on my Palm :)
www.totalcontrolapp.com
Iphone/Itouch IR remote. no dongle needed. full IR dbase, built in learner, blaster and emitters, etc.
it would be good for making dvd and bluray players multiregion if the price is good as all in 1 remotes start at £11 ish.
Does it automatically pause my DVR and mute my TV when I get a phone call?
If it can't do everything my Harmony can, it's useless. Button by button learning programming is so 2000-late. Typical for iPhone, jack of all trades, master of none.
@wraith404
If my 1998 Philips Pronto wasn't superior to Harmony in a few key areas, I wouldn't be reading articles about cockamamee devices like this in the first place. Knowing what was possible then and what is possible now, I'm still hoping for something better.
The RedEye shows some promise, but I don't really want to sink money into such an early rev.