What really needs redesign is the Remote app. If the remote app mimicked the tv screen you'd never have to look between your phone and the TV.
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Apple TV Concept Envisions iPod Touch-Style Remote
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+1
BTW, this touch remote concept from Carbon is worthy of mention.
http://www.carbondesign.com/projects/toggle
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You must be quite an athlete if you need to conserve the energy necessary to move en eyeball to look at your remote..
You must be quite an athlete if you need to conserve the energy necessary to move en eyeball to look at your remote..
And you must be someone famous if you need a remote to control your TV
I love total control and tactile feedback of remote buttons. Muscle memory is the key here. Even after I use an iPhone, often times I wish it has real keyboard with which I can blind-type. Can't do that on a touchscreen now, can I?
Try moving your eyeball so often just to switch channels or volume on a touchscreen remote, you'll see how tiring it really is, for your eyeball.
I would guess the $99 pricepoint is important to Apple, especially considering even at that they are on the high end.
I think that the obvious next feature will be this:
Since all iOS devices with bt4.0 can act as iBeacon devices, I believe that the next apple tv will add a lock screen swipe option on your iPhone/iPod/iPad whenever you're in proximity to your apple tv which will open the remote interface without having to unlock your device. Just a guess, but I'd wager a good one. Having an interactive interface that shows information based on the current output of the Apple TV would be awesome too.
Since all iOS devices with bt4.0 can act as iBeacon devices, I believe that the next apple tv will add a lock screen swipe option on your iPhone/iPod/iPad whenever you're in proximity to your apple tv which will open the remote interface without having to unlock your device. Just a guess, but I'd wager a good one. Having an interactive interface that shows information based on the current output of the Apple TV would be awesome too.
Harmony ultimate or just smart control achieves this. It uses bluetooth from your iphone to a receiver that beams out rf/infrared. On my list once my cracked harmony one screen becomes unusable.
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Actually an awesome idea. Even just the ability not to have a passcode at home etc...
And you must be someone famous if you need a remote to control your TV
I love total control and tactile feedback of remote buttons. Muscle memory is the key here. Even after I use an iPhone, often times I wish it has real keyboard with which I can blind-type. Can't do that on a touchscreen now, can I?
Try moving your eyeball so often just to switch channels or volume on a touchscreen remote, you'll see how tiring it really is, for your eyeball.
Oh please, I absolutely concede that tactile buttons are a plus for a remote, but a remote becomes nowhere near being useless if it is touchscreen based.
I use Remote.app when I can't find my Apple TV remotes or I am searching for a lot of YouTube videos with the keyboard.
It's a total pain in the ass to use. Unlock the phone, find the app, wait for it to connect via wifi, deal with the sluggish non tactile arrow controls missing your targets over and over. Repeat every time the phone sleeps. It's the worst when you just want to quickly pause.
And the current remote sucks - it is way too small and a pain in the ass to navigate with due to the size
I have no need for an AppleTV (been using a 2012 Mac Mini HTPC with the Harmony Link, free app for it cross platform), however this concept looks amazing. I hate to admit it, but I'd throw down $99 just for the form alone.
(brilliant use of the iPhone 5S form and colours, now if it only support more codecs, DTS, and "true" 1080P)
(brilliant use of the iPhone 5S form and colours, now if it only support more codecs, DTS, and "true" 1080P)
Sheesh. I use the iPhone app remote for XBMC and I have ZERO problems operating it. And I'm almost 50 years old, lol. With my "normal" remote, I still have to look at it to find the channel button or the source button and once I've found the channel button, I can THEN keep pressing it without looking. Same with an app button. Maybe you guys have Parkinson's or something…
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Air TV
You got an iPad and iPhone?
Cable for one device into the back of your TV and use the other device as a remote.
You got an iPad and iPhone?
Cable for one device into the back of your TV and use the other device as a remote.
You've never been in the room with someone else and they asked you to pause it real quick to answer a call or something? It's a 5-10 second operation with the app, or instantaneous with the real remote. Not sure how anyone wouldn't notice how irritating that is.
Think differently and make the touchscreen responsive while asleep whenever the tv is on and flick up or down anywhere on screen.
5-10 sec is a long time in this context, you'd have to be REALLY slow to take 10 seconds. There's also no reason for it to be designed to allow the phone to fall asleep and lock up. The app I use for an alarm clock keeps the iPhone screen on all the time it's active. The app for XBMC also has gesture controls available so you don't have to aim at a button to make things happen. Another plus is that the remote controls could be app-specific so instead of a huge remote with 90% of the buttons being useless and tiny, you have a screen with only the buttons that matter for the app that's active and big enough to be blind-clicked.
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its more then that though. I pretty much know most of the buttons on the remote without even looking.
volume, channel, power, input, DVR, on demand.
There would be no way for a touch screen to replicate this without a physical button.
Why? I can type on my MacBook Pro keyboard without looking because I've gotten used to the relative proximity of the keys to where I typically hold my hands, not because of the way they feel. I don't rest my fingers on the keyboard while I type, they hover above so the fact that they are physical keys make no difference to me.
I agree sort of, I can prob get away with it too, but someone that's not that into tech that has been using a physical button for 40 years may have a tough time and get fed up quickly.
Not sure they would be a target customer
Keep in mind that I'm nearly 50 when I say that, but I'm exceptionally comfortable with adapting to new technology. Apparently, more than many younger people here… On the plus side, being able to make the buttons bigger, brightly lit in a dark room with bigger type would be a major boon for the older set. The only buttons that light up on my current main remote are the source buttons to confirm what source I'm controlling with other buttons, so basically the buttons I rarely use while watching.
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