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It’s two-for-one this week as I take a look at the Dijit remote control app and Griffin Technologies' Beacon accessory, which connects to your phone over Bluetooth and then operates your home entertainment kit. Dijit Android app screenshot   Dijit Android app screenshot Devices get basic layouts, such as this one for a Sky+ …

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  1. bdam
    Holmes

    Mystery solved re NTL Virgin Media box!

    About 5 years ago I had a Genius 815 (http://tinyurl.com/c5guob8) and I got that sucker working with everything, TV, HiFi, PVR - even a custom Dbox2 decoder - but would it talk to the NTL box? If it felt like it! I'd sooner it not communicate at all than the half assed way it almost did, just the way you describe.

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    1. deshepherd
      Reply Icon

      Re: Mystery solved re NTL Virgin Media box!

      Think the issue is that the cable boxes used a different IR protocol to other AV devices (?IRDA vs IR) because the original idea was that the IR connection would be used for more than simple remote use and things like IR based keyboards etc would be used.

      There was a similar problem in getting an original S1 TiVo to control one of these boxes as the TiVo was designed to output IR signals which the cable boxes didn't recognize so you had to buy an extra "dongle" which plugged into the IR extender port and "translated" the IR signals into IRDA

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  2. Miffo

    Price

    Sounded quite interesting but the hardware needs to be about £20 for me personally. £50 pushes it into proper money!

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    1. Bassey
      Reply Icon

      Re: Price

      Quite right on the price. I just replaced my All in one remote with a new model for £15. It does 6 devices, macros and the rest of the family can use it when I'm not there - which isn't the case with a mobile phone. I'm sure there IS a market for this but it has to be quite limited; consisting of people who either live alone or where everyone in the house has an Android or iPhone and doesn't mind having to start up an app on their phone just to change channels on the telly - which would rule my wife out for a start.

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    2. Stu
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Re: Price

      Yup, It's way too much money and doesn't do much. Or do anything on most devices without the ugly block of IR transmitter.

      Gimmick-tastic!

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  3. Boothy

    Such a shame mobile makers stopped putting infra-red transceivers in phones. I used to use several of my old phones as universal remote's.

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    1. Gene Cash Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      And on my old Palm devices...

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  4. Neil 44
    Meh

    NetTVs

    An app shouldn't need an (expensive) Griffin box to talk to network-connected TV (Samsung et al)

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  5. Tom Chiverton 1
    FAIL

    "with Sky+. A single tap on the navpad always resulted in the screen indicator jumping two places rather than one"

    So it's totally broken when talking to Sky+ then. Wont be buying.

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  6. druck Silver badge
    Boffin

    Multiple devices

    The Watch TV screen should allow buttons for different devices, as in my case the channel change is done by the set top box and the volume control by the AV receiver. But does it allow a single button to send commands to multiple devices? For example to turn on/off the TV, set top box and AV receiver in one go? Even with a multi-device physical remote, it's 6 button pushes, and something which a bit of kit like this should be able to simplify.

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  7. ms_isle
    Meh

    Power:

    •4 AA batteries

    •Expected battery life: Up to 8 weeks under heavy usage; monitor battery life within the Dijit App.

    8 (to 12 I guess) weeks huh? So put an end to searching for that ellusive remote that the kids have hidden and start searching for sets of four batteries - at least rechargeables can be used. The details on macro functions seem quite scarce and there is no option to plug in a slaved , wired IR transmitter for amp in a cupboard etc, which would have justified the high unit cost for my circumstances...

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  8. stdunbar
    WTF?

    Android 2.3.7?

    There is no Android 2.3.7 - 2.3.4 is the most recent version in the 2.3 line. What does it really require?

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Re: Android 2.3.7?

      There isn't? Should I roll back to 2.3.4 then? Or are you just wrong?

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      1. stdunbar
        Reply Icon
        Thumb Down

        Re: Android 2.3.7?

        http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

        I don't know what you're running but there is no 2.3.7.

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        1. David Dawson
          Reply Icon

          Re: Android 2.3.7?

          The dev docs are there to show the API, not be a definitive view on the release history (note the API Level it, thats the important thing as far as release go, or should be anyway)

          Unfortunately, you got this one wrong, 2.3.7 does exist, and is running on real hardware now. (as mentioned, CM7 is 2.3.7 now)

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  9. Cupboard
    WTF?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history#v2.3.7

    http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

    And, in fact, on my phone thanks to CM.

    Now then, back to the Beacon... I can't think of any advantage to it running on batteries, it's with a load of other stuff that is mains powered and it seems to just add another potential point of failure.

    Can anyone enlighten me?

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  10. Al Taylor
    Alert

    2.3.7?

    Well spotted.

    Dijit's product page in Google Play does indeed say 2.3.7 but that's clearly nonsense as it works on my Desire HD running 2.3.5.

    Slight case of reading spec sheet with brain in neutral.

    Apologies

    Al

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  11. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    Can you use it as a timer?

    I"ve got a set top box that can record but not as a timer. So, something to control it could be useful.

    I'll guess that Android 2.3.7 may be a typo for 2.3.4 - what features would it be demanding from the later version anyway?

    Presumably a cheap tablet with Bluetooth would work, if there is such a thing and if you can get the software onto it - a lot of cheap tablets don't work with Android Market, which takes away a lot of the point of having such a device.

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  12. Scott Millar
    Gimp

    I think TV's/AV companies should just have an inbuilt bluetooth to all thier devices and a protocol that you can use for any phone I see the future in this!

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