BASICS The Universal Remote Dormant in Your Smartphone By JOHN BIGGS March 19, 2009
WHILE the universal remote has served humanity with distinction, its days are numbered, and your smartphone is to blame. In the beginning, a universal remote had to control two or three things (typically a television, a cable box and a VCR or DVD player). And for a handful of devices, a remote with all the buttons in one place worked just fine. Over time, the universal remote expanded its jurisdiction, as there were new devices to control: audio receivers, streaming-video boxes, digital video recorders and other home entertainment components. The universal remote did only what it could: It grew more buttons. But that was a stopgap at best. With so many devices to manage - and with so many buttons to use - universal remotes started to become ridiculously complex. There was a solution, of course: touch screens. Devices using these interactive displays can change their layouts depending on the remote being mimicked. Several manufacturers put touch screens into their high-end remotes. But touch screen remotes were - and are- expensive. A traditional universal remote costs $20 or so. Touch-screen models often cost in the hundreds. Some engineers got to thinking: There is a growing number of touch screens in the world, in the form of smartphones. And since more and more entertainment devices are Internet-enabled, and since smartphones are as well, they don't even need an infrared transmitter; they can control equipment using Wi-Fi. And so now we have a bounty of applications and accessories that let us use the technology we already have to control the technology we already have. This is not only frugal, but upgradeable and flexible. Whether you want to control your music, your television or your PowerPoint presentation, there's probably a solution using your phone. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/technology/personaltech/19basics.html *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
