Hi Acton, David, Craig and others First of all thanks for the valuable feed back and insight.
The main application I was aiming at, using the infrared communication was, a remote control . When I mean remote control I mean the remote to my TV, DVD player, audio system (lets say a universal remote app) My Wii box (if I use the accelerometer from android installed instrument), my garage opener, to automate lighting in my house etc. I dont think Blue tooth can be used in these cases. All these applications mentioned above need IR communication of some form. I am not very familiar with the protocols for IR here but if you look at it the applications for IR communication from a phone is numerous.So I was trying to look for a way to communicate through the IR port in a phone using the android platform. If I understand it correctly, the platform still needs a Device driver that will talk to the IR hardware AND a system library that will talk with the application API and the device driver. Acton, I am assuming IRSimple stack is a device driver that will communicate to the IR hardware. Are you guys planning to provide a system library to use your stack ? I am planning to do some serious development into the applications mentioned above. But before gettting into it I wanted to know if there is any hope for IR. And looks like there is. Are you planning to keep the IRSimple stack open source ? or are you going to license it for a fee ? Thanks Again ! Sai On Oct 3, 3:25 pm, "David Farler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Acton, > There are *two* components necessary here: 1.) your mentioned IRSimple > system library or kernel module and 2.) an Android core runtime library to > connect to it in a convenient way so application developers can grab data > from the IR port. Nobody wants to bang away at registers here. I certainly > don't. You can see how much trouble OpenMoko is having because its > developers don't have time to make applications because they are too busy > doing system development. As I understand it, while Android in general is > open source for personal customization needs, Google is expecting user space > applications from contributing developers, not system libraries or low-level > software stacks. I see two routes: > > 1. You or the IrDAMC can make a serious proposal to Google and the various > handset manufacturers about your IR plans. Your first step would probably be > to contact a project manager for Android. If you want to go this official > route, then you need to halt all serious work until you get together so you > don't waste your time. Or, > > 2. You can get the source when available and make your own custom android > library for use with phones that can use whatever IRSimple system library > you are talking about. I hope you understand the complexity of doing this > and installing it. If you do, then I wish you good luck on making IR the > latest craze! > > As for my opinion, I believe the IrDA Marketing and Technical Committees > should be doing this lobbying work on behalf of its members, creating a > cohesive hardware plan, so as not to fragment the Android user base before > it even starts. I, for one, do not want the Windows Vista of mobile > platforms. There is a reason why Windows has been relatively unstable in the > past -- it's called driver support. > > David > > > > On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 12:23 PM, acton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Actually I know a group or two from IrDA community who already have > > their IrSimple stack and can easily port to the Android platform. > > They are already supplying for Samsung SGH-E700, Nokia N95, 6600, Sony > > Ericsson W300 series, and all the new stuff from Japan from Casio, > > Sharp, Softbank, NTT DoCoMo. > > > Can you advise how to submit their stack into Android? > > > Then let the market decide. > > > - Acton > > > On Oct 2, 9:19 am, Al Sutton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > The problem would be support. If it's a feature that's only in a few > > > manufacturers 'phones it's unlikely to appeal to developers because of > > > its limited availability and duplication of features when compared to > > > BlueTooth and/or 802.11. > > > > Whilst I respect your viewpoint, the Japanese market is a minority > > > player and tends to have solutions which don't gain traction elsewhere > > > (e.g. iMode, Cellular TV), and it typically accounts for around 10% of > > > the global phone market. If you look at sales by volume > > > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_mobile_phones), none > > > of the top 3 'phones have IR (and that's 426 million phones), and if you > > > look at smark 'phones none of the recent releases from the major > > > manufacturers have IR > > > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_smartphones). > > > > IR is also absent from a vast majority of the new generation of NetBooks > > > including the more popular Asus EEE range, Aspire One, MSI Wind, and > > > Dell Inspiron Mini 9. > > > > In light of this I think it unlikely that we'll see IR support in the > > > future. > > > > Al. > > > > acton wrote: > > > > I respect your opinion. However, as I am aware, it is the phone > > > > manufacturer who has to decide what hardware to incorporate into their > > > > products to sell in a particular market. The market in Japan seems to > > > > be the leader for phones - even the US is a laggard in this respect. > > > > > Let me quote from a Mercury News report about the lacklustre response > > > > for the iPhone even though Apple reported it sold 1 million in the > > > > first 3 days : > > > > > "For example, young people in Japan take for granted the ability to > > > > share phone numbers, e-mail addresses and other contact information by > > > > beaming it from one phone to another over infrared connections. Being > > > > without those instantaneous exchanges would be the death knell on the > > > > Japanese dating circuit. > > > > > While the iPhone has Bluetooth wireless links, it has no infrared > > > > connection. > > > > > The iPhone lacks other technology long available on Japanese cell > > > > phones, such as digital TV broadcasts, a built-in camcorder, voice > > > > recognition and an "electronic wallet" function. " > > > > > For the whole article, click here: > > > >http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9898056?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.co. > > .. > > > > > I think the Andriod team should look at market needs and if they want > > > > to be a global phone OS. As an open platform, Android should support > > > > as many market needs as they can. After all, anyone can submit a new > > > > feature for all to use, isn't it? But this does not mean a > > > > manufacturer should (or want to) install all the features - this > > > > should depend on what they need for the market they want to enter. > > > > > That is what I understand is the benefit of an open platform, imho. > > > > > On Oct 2, 4:12 am, Al Sutton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > >> For 'phones Bluetooth is pretty much a "must have" because of ear > > > >> pieces, GPS integration, and in-car speaker systems which wont work > > well > > > >> with the line of sight requirement IR has. > > > > >> imho, given that Android already has 802.11 & BT I can't see there > > being > > > >> a lot of call for another communication technology. > > > > >> Al. > > > > >> acton wrote: > > > > >>> It all depends on what you want to do with wireless data transfer - > > > >>> i.e. sharing or swapping videos and photos. These are going to be > > > >>> very large in the next 6-18 months with 3 megapixel cameraphones and > > > >>> soon 5 to 8megapixels. > > > > >>> Even today some Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones continue to support > > old > > > >>> IrDA - at 1Mpbs. All new phones from NTT Docomo, Softbank, KDDI, > > > >>> Sharp, Casio, Kyocera, etc support the faster 4Mpbs IrSimple > > > >>> protocol. That is also complemented with a whole range of portable > > > >>> photo printers: > >http://acton-acton.blogspot.com/2008/09/printing-from-your-phone.html > > > > >>> I have seen demos of phone-to-phone sharing of photos and user > > > >>> generated videos using IrSimple - it is fast! less than 1 sec. > > Let > > > >>> me know if you want to see the live demo - I can bring it to one of > > > >>> the dev meetings! > > > > >>> I know some Japanese companies are trying to get in touch with the > > > >>> Andriod product team to include IrSimple into their spec. Anyone can > > > >>> help to do that? > > > > >>> regards, > > > >>> -acton > > > > >>> On Oct 1, 1:32 am, Al Sutton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > >>>> The HTC spec sheet > > > >>>> (http://www.htc.com/www/product/g1/specification.html) makes no > > mention > > > >>>> of it so I would assume that it's not going to be there initially. > > > > >>>> IR ports have died off with the increase in popularity of Bluetooth > > > >>>> because of bluetooths advantage of not needing a line-of-sight link > > > >>>> between the two devices, so I would go out on a limb and say that I > > > >>>> think it's unlikely IR will ever make it into a Android device. > > > > >>>> Al. > > > > >>>> sai wrote: > > > > >>>>> I have been trying to find on the android home page, I see Blutooth > > > >>>>> and wireless support but there is no mention of the infrared port, > > any > > > >>>>> ideas if it is supported now or may be later ? > > > > >>>>> Thanks > > > >>>>> Sai > > > > >>>> -- > > > >>>> Al Sutton > > > > >>>> W:www.alsutton.com > > > >>>> B: alsutton.wordpress.com > > > >>>> T: twitter.com/alsutton > > > > -- > > > Al Sutton > > > > W:www.alsutton.com > > > B: alsutton.wordpress.com > > > T: twitter.com/alsutton- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. 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