It's just another input device. You can make it do just about literally anything you want--press a mouse button, press a keystroke, do some action (volume, run AppleScript, etc--the latter of which is very powerful). They can be global actions or app-specific ones. Actions can be triggered by doing one of the six recognized "moves" on the PowerMate: press, long press, turn left, turn right, press/hold and turn left, or press/hold and turn right. Does that explain it better?
See above. This is not a mouse replacement. I find it better at replacing things I'd otherwise use a keyboard to do, but you can use it for lots of things.
Mine doesn't [work with new OS X versions]Around the update to OSX Leopard, it stopped recognizing the PowerMate and a subsequent update to the Griffin software didn't help. I wonder if this new software will be compatible with the old PowerMate....
Mine was fine until Mavericks, at which point they declared that it was not compatible and they were looking into it. It actually worked decently well except that turns and presses were translated into mouse movements and clicks in addition to the configured PowerMate action. Long press also stopped working for me.
They released an update a few weeks ago that was supposed to address Mavericks compatibility. Unfortunately, for me, it did not work. It did fix the problem of turns and presses registering as mouse events, but it did not fix the fact that long press does not work, and I'm not sure if press-and-turn is also broken or if it's just me (it's always been a bit hard to use that action). Glad to know I'm not alone. Hopefully they can fix these problems.
That is exactly what I'm doing with the wired version. It was a little complicated to set up. First, I had to write a Python script that could take in some command-line parameters (room, desired change: color temp, on/off, brightness, etc.) and send commands to the Hue bridge accordingly. Then, originally, I used QuickSilver to map function keys and modifier+function keys to these various actions. When I realized a wall-mounted keyboard wasn't going to make the best light switch, a friend suggested the PowerMate. I now use the PowerMate software to send events to my Hue bridge (still via the Python code) thanks to its "Run AppleScript" feature, where I can directly type a bit of AppleScript that will call my Python program with the right parameters.
To add even more complications, the PowerMate is (well, was) USB, and I don't have a computer sitting within 16 feet (maximum USB cable length without hubs or active repeaters) of every place in my home where I'd want a light switch. So I also had to use a few active repeater cables (and one hub) to extend USB connections from my Mac mini server (which I decided to use for this purpose) to two different rooms, then attach the PowerMate to them. I also had to get some surface-mounted cable channels to hide the cords since I wanted it to look neat and I can't put them in-wall where I live.
As I was doing this, I was thinking how much simpler it might be if they had a Bluetooth version. If only this had been announced a few months ago before I did all this.
Or, of course, Philips could make a compatible light switch, maybe one that's surface-mountable, battery powered, and wireless so it's easy for anyone to use--though as-is, they don't even have a permanant-installation option. Either one might have saved me from the above. It's really inconvenient to use an app every time you want to change your lights, and while actual physical switch still works, the bulbs don't remember their last setting, and you of course lose the remote-control ability.
PS - If you find an easier way, let me know.
(My other thoughts including building my own with Arduino, or figure something out with a Raspberry Pi or similar, though I guess I'd still need cables for at least power if not networking with either of those two as well.)
