APPLE iPad: As A Remote Control? - Page 3

This is more a case of comparing apples to oranges vs why the iPad wont make a good controller. If you are a fan of the TPMC-8X from Crestron or other similar wi-fi touchpanels then the iPad would be a very good replacement/solution as long as the connection issue can be resolved. At $500 with such high resolution (compared to other similarly sized touchpanels) wrapped in a sexy apple package its hard to choose something else.

But if you are a fan of the T2-C then IMO you wont be happy with TPMC-8X's or the iPad. They are 2 completely different approaches to control. A reason to get the T2-C is obvious.. the hard buttons. A reason to go with the touchpanel is that you can completely eliminate unused buttons from a source menu page. A non techy member of the family wont wonder why the record button isnt recording anything when they are listening to XM.

Another reason to get a large touchpanel is for things like monitoring your subsystems (lights hvac security etc) You can easily fit the floorplans of a house on a T2-C. Heres a screenshot of CJ's TPMC-8X that shows how easy it is to quickly see the status of all lights in the house.



So there really is no right way to do it and in some cases clients choose both in a single room. A large wired panel and a hand held remote seems to be the best of both worlds. Full control over the entire home from the large panel and a wand style remote like the T2-C for watching TV.

Many things. Here are a few:

Volume level status. This is probably the most common use of 2way.

Meta Data from XM, FM, iPod, Music and Movie servers.. so that you can navigate them from any zone.

Feedback from subsystems like lighting and security and hvac. You can see what the temperature is in all areas of the house. You can see what lights are on or what security zones are tripped. This data can be displayed in a text list or it can be displayed visually with floorplan views. It can be used to show what sources are in use by having the icon highlighted or text under the icon that says "IN USE".

This is the Home Page of an interface i am working on. It has many examples of what 2way can give you.

Time and date.

What room you are in.

Latest Caller ID information.

What music and/or lighting scene is currently active.

What the status of the security system is.

What the inside and outside temperatures are.

You can also see what page you are on by the highlighted Home Icon and you can see what camera is selected. These are things that can be done with a 1way system by creating multiple pages that show different states. But with a 2way system things can be driven by the processor. That doesn't mean much for the end user for things like what page you are on or what camera is selected IMO because a 1way system can be programmed to closely mimic this but think about the fact that you could create one interface for the entire house. 1 File. Then let the processor drive the necessary elements for each room.

I personally use a URC remote in my family room because i prefer the buttons over a touchpanel for watching TV. The T2-C is about as perfect as you can get with a handheld remote in terms of button layout and the touchscreen that you can completely customize for each project.

Its going to be difficult for you to convince yourself to move to an iPad when you have the right tool for the job already .

iPad shipped: UPS tracking to receive tomorrow in NJ


ANCHORAGE, AK, US 04/02/2010 2:30 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
ANCHORAGE, AK, US 04/01/2010 9:42 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
CHEK LAP KOK, HK 04/02/2010 4:43 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
SHENZHEN, CN 03/31/2010 9:50 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
CN 04/02/2010 10:45 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Thanks for the update Mark.. do you have any other news that will make me depressed and envious?

Newark, nj, us 04/03/2010 5:39 a.m. Arrival scan
louisville, ky, us 04/03/2010 3:57 a.m. Departure scan
04/03/2010 1:13 a.m. Import scan
louisville, ky, us 04/02/2010 5:58 p.m. Arrival scan
anchorage, ak, us 04/02/2010 2:30 a.m. Departure scan
anchorage, ak, us 04/01/2010 9:42 p.m. Arrival scan
chek lap kok, hk 04/02/2010 4:43 a.m. Departure scan
shenzhen, cn 03/31/2010 9:50 p.m. Origin scan
cn 04/02/2010 10:45 p.m. Billing information received

just arrived

Got mine too. I don't really see it as a remote (well who knows), but rather as a wall mount HA controller. Testing to start this weekend.

what an excellent platform

the iPhone keyboard and screen were too small for me to make use of all its functions comfortably

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEbdEt4tFd0

Early usage, mixed so far for me.

I have been working on a webpage for a few months:
webpage <2way> girder <2way> TCP: global cache/TiVo/lighting <2way> serial/IR(1way)
It will be my whole house remote. I still have a way to go (lighting control and lots of stuff to tweak), but the iPad is really going to work superb for me.

Thanks for the video. iViewer connects really quick. Are you able to control things right away or is there a delay between the app loading and the ability to actually control things?

Perhaps a half second or so delay after it loads? Whatever it is, it's nit much.

I imagine it would get slower if you built many screens though. Working in that now.

Looks like we may have to add another Contender to this mix:

HP's Slate Device Delivers a Holistic Mobile Experience

A full featured Windows OS. I think I am going to hold off on the iPad until this lil' gadget hits the market.

One question. But will it blend?

^^^

LOL!

"will it blend" is one of my all-time favorite websites...

Brilliant marketing IMO! "woo, ugh pad smoke". lol

^^^

without a doubt one of the best marketing schemes on the net... i love those videos...

you guys are breaking down my resistance to buying an ipad...

^^^

+1...

anyone got a vnc client running on it yet? if so, results?

The more I use it, the more I love it even more.

Although the iPhone/touch apps I have tried run fine, I haven't found any that use utilize more than the native iphone resolution (320x480). For VNC, I am holding out for realVNC to be updated for iPad. If realVNC doesn't come through soon, there are already 3-4 iPad VNC apps.

I had my webpage interface working via firefox before the iPad arrived. I was waiting for the iPad to arrive to tweak the layout, but it took more than some tweaking to get it going. I didn't realize mobile safari has different events and a different way of processing events (because of the touch interface). Onmousemove doesn't work. Onmousedown, onmouseup, and onclick are triggered at the same time. Onclick is also triggered with a slight delay. Mobile safari adds ontouchstart, ontouchmove, and untouchend that can be used instead. The touch events track how many fingers are on the screen (allows a two finger swipe to do something different than a one finger swipe). Autodesk's sketcher is a good example of how different menus can triggered with a different number of fingers.

Another update for anybody interested...

I had wifi signal strength issues in my media room, so I upgraded my router to N (d-link dir-855). With N, browsing is now the same speed throughout the house AND my remote app is now lightning fast. TiVo seems to respond faster from my web than from direct IR control!

I have the web app as one of my home apps (moved photo off the home slot), so getting to the app is always easy. If the iPad locks (you can set it not to lock), one slide and your back into the app...

I bought the Bluetooth keyboard for the iPad and like the it, but enjoy the iPad on its own.

YouTube video of a pretty cool app on iPad that controls Vantage Controls system

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXMo8bdgEX8

Checkout the videos done by one of our users:
http://www.youtube.com/user/aslamma2

How about getting rid of every overlay and on-screen menu?

When I press guide, I will look at my iPad and pick a show without blocking the current show that is on the screen.

When I want to fast forward or find a scene, I will look at my iPad for the cues and press ok to make the big screen change.

When I press a macro, my remote won't ask me if everything was ok. It will know.