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36 Comments
- nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12It's just a freakin' awesome remote. It can detect devices within range and then request a list of possible commands, that's just sweet!
I want one remote to control my tv, amp, dvd player, and computer, and other devices I buy in the future. I have 3 remotes right now, which is too many. I could have 2 except my Sony remote doesn't control everything on my Pioneer DVD player. With technology like this I could have one truly universal remote. - Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12"The appliance provides information to be displayed on the display screen, and information entered through the user input mechanism is communicated to the appliance. Since the appliance provides the information to be displayed on the display screen and also interprets the entries on the input mechanism, the universal remote control needs no special knowledge about the appliance."
So when you choose say DVD player, the screen (on the remote) will look like, and will have all the corresponding buttons that it should to function as the remote for that device, and if you change to say TV after that, then the screen of the remote would visually change and will change functionality to suit.
These guys are so clever! It's always the simplest ideas that are the best right? - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8"Indeed; that's why I've been using my PDA's remote control software exactly this way since 2002. It's nice Apple was able to invent it years later..."
Look at the patent publish date. It was first applied for as a patent in April 2002, which means it was probably invented sometime in late 2001. By your own admitting, this invention predates it. Maybe your PDA software was inspired by this patent application. - Goatman, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11Why is Apple patenting this?? isn't this done by at least 3 other Universal Remotes?? 2 of which are made by Sony and Logitech?
- arkowi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5iTV universal remote = feature of new iPod
- Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8"Always fun when some websites are some years after... ^"
@ sosudaniel?
You are aware when the Patent & Trademark Office publishes a patent, that that's a different thing to Apple filing that patent? - Obscura, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6The problem with touch screen remotes is that there is no tactile feedback. You've got to look at it to figure out where to touch it. A good remote can be operated by touch alone so you don't need to look away from what you're watching to adjust the volume.
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually a good remote would activate over thought, but hey, who's counting.
The biggest problem with remotes is the interface; nobody can make a standard remote interface, so even if you did get tactile feedback from said remote, it varies from remote to remote anyways, so you still have to look down at the keys to see what button to press. Some have the up/down channel buttons on the left, some on the right, some on a little d-pad like-thing on the bottom. Some have numbers like a telephone, others don't have numbers at all. Most have a whole host of buttons that make you scratch your head when you go to press them ("why the hell does my remote have an enter and a return button?!"), some remotes have absolutely every functionality you could ever imagine, ever, built in with its own button. And even worse, when you go from remote to "universal" remote, all of those functionalities and layouts disappear, rearrange themselves, and have no accurate labels as to what they do.
This remote solves most of the above problems, while only adding the one problem of its own (no tactile feedback, which is only a problem to about 50% users, as the other 50% don't give a damn about tactile feedback anyways, and prefer the 3rd Generation "touchless" touchwheel instead of the 4th Generation "Clickwheel".. /rant). - ceralor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@geminitojanus
Notice that apple trademarks this ***** years before they figure out how to ACTUALLY do it? Brilliant! - Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Actually this is fundamentally different from regular run-of-the-mill "universal remotes", in that it doesn't require any prior knowledge of the device you are trying to control. Current universal remotes have to be formally introduced and paired with all the devices in your house, which in itself not only takes a very long time, but is sometimes so confusing that it becomes impractical, annoying, and ridiculous.
This displays on its screen what the device says it should, in other words all the buttons you see on your regular remote for that device should appear on this device. All you have to do is select the device you want to control, and press the button you want to press. It even provides on screen visual feedback to tell you what's happening. And know Apple it will probably look pretty cool too. - paulsmerdon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Agreed, I would bet almost any money that this is the case.
When Steve Jobs demoed iTV at the Showtime event it struck me as a little odd that they were talking about a product that was many months away from release. Looking back, my guess is that iTV was ready to ship but the iPod video, also scheduled to be unveiled at the event, wasn't. - pcrepairshop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Do all patents have to be submitted in diagonal print?
- ceralor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Logitech's new Harmony has separate channel and volume buttons, tactile, for this reason, I bet.
- EBFoxbat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Can my 16:9, full-screen, iPhone/true video ipod do that?
- robroe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"This specification can be encoded in a markup language such as extensible markup language (XML) or hypertext transport protocol (HTTP)."
Being a pedantic geek here, but isnt HTTP a protocol rather than an "extensible markup language" would the comparison not be with HTML? Maybe you don't have to have any accurate technical data for a patent?? - crombenevolant, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Looks just like my Pronto....
- MrPeach, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What I haven't seen in the comments thus far is the clear and unequivocal notion that this is built on BIDIRECTIONAL communication between the remote and the device, and NO legacy device supports this.
I don't mean to trash this idea by any means - it's a fundamental change in the way CE devices work and I think a good one. One that should have been undertaken by CE Cos long before now. And since Apple has patented it, that means we won't be seeing it in the future either because they aren't going to want to pay the "Apple tax".
Sigh. - ekralc007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This type of remote does not address the issue of the appliance sending the remote a list of buttons and commands that have a bad UI and don't make sense.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Look at the patent publish date. It was first applied for as a patent in April 2002, which means it was probably invented sometime in late 2001. By your own admitting, this invention predates it. Maybe your PDA software was inspired by this patent application."
Fair enough, except the copyright date on the software is 1997. Care to explain how the company was 'inspired' by Apple's patent application now?
Apple remains a bottom-feeder. - LycoLoco, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Actually, some of them use little beeps, so while it's not tactile, you do know that you've pressed something.
- LycoLoco, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3With technology like this I could have one truly universal remote.
http://www.smarthome.com/8156b.html - ceralor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Agreed!
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I really hope Woz had something to do with this remote. His company Cloud 9 had a remote he created that used dual processors and could work from a couple floors away, through concrete - and this was in 1985.
If the engineering of Woz is involved in this remote, I'd pay old-school Mac money for that thing. - emorphien, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5to be honest the harmonys effectively accomplish a lot of that too
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+7"These guys are so clever! It's always the simplest ideas that are the best right?"
Indeed; that's why I've been using my PDA's remote control software exactly this way since 2002. It's nice Apple was able to invent it years later... - LycoLoco, on 10/12/2007, -8/+7"These guys are so clever! It's always the simplest ideas that are the best right?"
Too bad Chameleon remotes have been doing this for years. It's not clever if you're using an existing idea.
http://www.smarthome.com/8156b.html - patience, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2@nofxjunkee: A marketer's dream. "I buy therefore I am."
I would suggest reading:
Culture industries cultivate false needs; that is, needs created and satisfied by capitalism. True needs, in contrast, are freedom, creativity, or genuine happiness.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_industry - sosudaniel, on 10/12/2007, -10/+9http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1164
Always fun when some websites are some years after... ^ - guy66, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Wow talk about taking existing ideas and saying to world "hey look we're all new and shinny" - Xerox comes to mind :)
Look at the Harmony remotes from Logitech to see a good idea ,developed and available today.
If the article was genuine then shame on Apple... - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2"You shouldn't be able to patent something until you've made it work. Pah!"
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense for all those $10,000 startups trying to compete with $75,000,000,000 companies like Apple. - flag564, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3"C'mon. Its apple. All the EVER DO is copy other people's ideas and then quickly trademark them!
For gods sake you stupid ***** apple dronez, stop worshiping at the alter of jobs for just a few minutes a week and take a peek into the real world for a change. You might be surprised!!"
Seriously. Apple just ripped off the universal remote and the Chameleon remote, and the fanboys want to give them the Nobel prize. - emorphien, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Well as much as there are things I don't like about the Logitech Harmony, it's still probably going to be better than the Apple remote based on other input/control peripherals (keyboards, mice).
- atreyue, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3You shouldn't be able to patent something until you've made it work. Pah!
- LilBoyLuver, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1I can't wait I hope the buttons are soft!!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -15/+4C'mon. Its apple. All the EVER DO is copy other people's ideas and then quickly trademark them!
For gods sake you stupid ***** apple dronez, stop worshiping at the alter of jobs for just a few minutes a week and take a peek into the real world for a change. You might be surprised!! - patience, on 10/12/2007, -17/+3Fanboys unite: Below, you will see Apple Fanboys talk about how this will be the best remote ever.
Guys: Its just a remote. Unless it knows when it is under the couch, its just a remote.
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