Using your PDA as a remote control

Using your PDA as a remote control
One area that has seen some action is the personal digital assistant (PDA)
marketplace. PDAs have a sophisticated operating system (OS), usually the
Pocket PC or Palm OS. They have IR, 802.11, and sometimes Bluetooth wireless
capabilities. And they have a programmable onscreen interface, making
it easy to show different buttons for different devices. These features make
PDAs ideal for wireless remote control of any entertainment, computing, or
other networked device. You can cue up an MP3 on your computer and play
it on your stereo system in your living room. You can find out what’s playing
on DirecTV tonight by wirelessly accessing TV schedules on the Internet and
then turn your DirecTV receiver to the right channel to watch. With the ability
to play in both the PC and entertainment (as well as home control) worlds,
the PDA can do lots of things, as demonstrated by the following products:
Philips offers ProntoLITE (www.pronto.philips.com; $19.95), which
is a device that turns a Palm-based PDA into a universal remote control.
ProntoLITE for Palm is compatible with versions 3.5x and 4.x. Note: As
of this writing, it is not compatible with Palm OS version 5.0.
Universal Electronic’s Nevo (www.mynevo.com) has a more onboard
remote control operating system solution, initially built into HP’s iPAQ
Pocket PCs.
The popular Intrigue Technologies’ Harmony Smart State Technology,
which powers the Harmony Remote (www.harmonyremote.com) control,
is being ported to PDAs. See the nearby sidebar (“Total Harmony
with your wireless entertainment”) for more about this cool product.
For people who want the flexibility of a big color screen, PDA-based programs
allow you to take advantage of the dropping costs of PDAs to get a world-class,
universal remote. Many PDA manufacturers are looking at making this a standard
feature on their systems. Check out your PDA’s home page on the manufacturer’s
site for any information on remote control software.