See this thread.

iPronto killer from Sony?

Any comments?

It is a different product. The Sony piece is a wireless TV, not a remote control.

The Microsoft prototype of the "Home Tablet PC" apparently offers IR and RF automation control as a reference design.

It seems they are taking what they learned from the dead "Smart Display" product (that used the Nevo Remore) which used WindowsCE (which itself has PDA-based remote apps available) for an OS.

Now blend these varied Remote Control possibilities and technologies into a Tablet PC configured more as a "Super PDA" for home use than as a business TPC and you have a possible killer application/device.

These Home Tablets seem to also be set up to be Self-contained "MCE Extenders" too.

Hard info is scarse, and final design relies on what a TPC manufacturer chooses to incorporate.

If Philips was REALLY smart, they would kill the iPronto as they have the DesXcape Smart Display, combine the technologies of the two devices, add to a Tablet PC and have the best programmable remote on the market that is a computer too. No need for another PC to do the programming.

Or as a compromise: pretend the PENG Emulator was actually a working device using the IR Port on your Tablet or Laptop to send the signals....that alone would be cool...and I would buy an IR Dongle that contained the IR and RF transmitters if Philips sold them.

For now, it would be great to be able to address the 802.11-to-IR extenders that are available for iPronto from your PC (with no iPronto in the loop)... nearly every tablet shipping is 802.11 capable, and I'd much prefer a standard WinXP device over iPronto's custom hardware. This would put the focus on a run-time ProntoEdit (and perhaps widen the audience).

One of the things that bothers me about all of these devices is that the designers are aware of all the popular automation devices available, and the technology to control most is trivial, the User Interface being the only point of substantive development.

I can see no reason why an expensive "Universal Programmable" remote like the TSU3000/7000 cannot be set up to provide selectable RF Frequencies allowing ANY Pronto to control ANY popular RF device like X-10, Z-Wave, ATI Remote Wonder, OneBox Remote, Garage Door Openers or any number of others.

RF "Learning" ought to be achievable as well, even if you had to do so inside a little faraday cage shoebox lined with foil.

As it sits now, there really is no true "Universal" remote that covers the majority of consumer products, and too many "crutch" devices are necessary to make the best available remotes work across various systems.

Even the Prontos can't correctly emulate the RC6a toggle codes (which a $10 transmitter can send) for Windows MCE...you have to tweak the Windows registry to turn off the key debounce feature.

Or the silly state of affairs that US Prontos send RF that would work on European X-10 and vice-versa or whatever....how about Pronto RF that sends the right one for the right country, after all many Pronto users are using X-10 through jury-rigged IR-RF transponders and such.

So Philips, Sony, HTM, whoever else...when you introduce the next generation of "Universal Remotes", please make them able to emulate whatever IR and RF we throw at them that is related to common consumer products.

Or at least sell optional feature kits which allow a plug-and-play swap of RF modules.

It can't be that hard.

Don't forget the HomeLink system that some cars come with, which can directly learn a wide range of RF garage door openers, X-10, etc. So, the technology exists...