OK. I was trying to be vague for a reason. I don't yet have the 'system'. I'm in the design phase of my system. (I'm an electronics/computer/software engineer....).
My reason to ask the question is to gather ideas, company names, etc. So far so good, I've looked at a few of the companies mentioned on this forum.
The design concept is this: A WiFi capable 'PDA type device' with some number of hard buttons. I like the PDA model for display and touchscreen input. I know that I can get s/w for iphones and the ipod touch that will let me do RC functions. That's great and I see an ipad in the total system.
BUT, I need a 'PDA thing' in the form of wand remote. Touchscreen display PLUS some number of hard buttons. I DO NOT believe that a touchscreen only device is useful when 'flipping channels' and changing the volume. You need some tactile feedback and be able to find the proper buttons in the dark.. Not filpping through pages on a display. But for complex setup and control stuff, you need the display and probably touchsceen.
The remote will use Wifi to talk with my 'house controller' box. The backend device control (RS232, IR, etc.) is the easy part.... I'd think about the buttons on the remote sending TCP or UDP messages to the controllers. The display could be a mini-HTML browser, or something proprietary. The remote control 'programming' would be mapping buttons and touches to TCP or UDP messages.
I'm very familiar with Zigbee 802.16.4, etc. I'd prefer to stay with WiFi and not need to deploy another network in my house. But Zigbee is an option... A remote with IR could be nice to control devices in the room, but that's not the main focus.
So think about a 'platform' that I can somehow program to communicate with Wifi/IP/TCP/UDP. Don't worry about how those messages are routed to stationary equipment.
The 'house controller' will need to maintain the state of the system so that I can in turn display this state on multiple remotes.
Maybe what I'm looking for doesn't exist. But I'm still looking. I CAN prototype all of the remote capabilities with a PDA or ipod touch or something like that.
