[opendtv] Re: Remote controls -- where's the outrage?
- From: "GerryK" <gerryk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 07:31:52 -0700
Three items about a "universal remote"
first
The IEEE-1394 trade association had an interoperability specification
in early 2000 - and at several consumer electronics conferences they had
interoperability demos -
all the products used a IEEE-1394 interface on the back panel,
and a single, simple remote control that worked through the TV set
actually sent control and signal routing information to all the
peripherals -
the system even worked for multi-room deployments, using the
fiber optic version of IEEE-1394 for greater distance
however - the IEEE-1304 solutions cost about $100 per product more than the
non-interoperable products, plus the major Consumer Electronics
manufacturers
want to protect their market shares by offering "features" that only work
with their
own brand line of equipment
second -
TV Guide On Screen (the Interactive Program Guide that comes built into some
new digital TV sets and Personal Video Recorders)
could be modified to act as an on-screen control panel -
however, each Consumer Electronics manufacturer would want to
"customize" how it worked, so, once again, only by having all the equipment
come from the same source would make it work with ease
third
Microsoft and Intel are well on the way to creating an
all-in-one Entertainment Personal Computer, that will contain
- a DVD Player that will also play Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio discs
- a 200 GB hard disk drive
- decoders for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, WMA, DivX, etc
- both stereo and surround sound (Dolby AC-3) audio outputs
- contain IEEE-802.11 a/b/g Ethernet network capabilities
that will permit the Entertainment PC to interoperate and
obtain "content" from all the PCs in the house
- and also use the wireless network to distribute "content" throughout the
house
plus, the Media Center PC "extenders" and the
upcoming Portable Media Centers will also contribute to making
"content" from multimedia personal computers more portable inside
and outside peoples homes
and all of these features would work from a single IR or RF remote
but I think the Entertainment PC itself will cost over $1,000,
and it will need to use the broadband connection and in-home wireless
Ethernet
connection that you already have in place, which means only people who are
at the higher end of the broadband PC market are likely to do this
thanks!
Gerry Kaufhold with In-Stat/MDR
Headquarters: Scottsdale, AZ
voice: USA 520 363-9752
e-mail: gkaufhold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug McDonald" <mcdonald@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 5:50 AM
Subject: [opendtv] Re: Remote controls -- where's the outrage?
> Henry Baker wrote:
>
> >These are all good suggestions, but are applicable to only 0.001%
> >of the viewing audience. Why are these extreme measures necessary?
> >How come the CE industry can't get its act together?
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> Two reasons:
>
> 1) Antitrust ... this is not a killer reason
>
> 2) the whole idea of exclusion. The real reason for this situation is that
> teh different manufacturers don't WANT their products to work together
> with those of other manufacturers, they want you to buy ONLY THEM
>
> Doug McDonald
>
>
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