Sony Tv Remote

One of the more appealing applications for any PDA is being able to convert it into a TV remote control. ConnectedMedia Corp.'s ConnectedTV ($29.95 direct per year) is a service and application combination that lets you download TV content listings to a Palm OS PDA which then serves as an intelligent, customizable television remote. You can configure ConnectedTV on your PDA to let you select shows by name, for example, saving you from memorizing their channels.

ConnectedTV does not run on Palm OS 5.0 (which is the latest version) yet, but the company says a compatible version that will have much higher-resolution graphics is in development. We tested ConnectedTV on the Palm m505 running version 4.0 of the OS, using the PDA to control a Sony television and a General Instruments cable box (hooked to AT&T digital broadband cable service). Training the application to work like our television and cable remotes was easy, for the most part, but training the application to mimic every TV remote-control button took longer than expected, and the results we got were inconsistent. Results vary depending on the cable box and television used. We were successful up to 18 feet away from the TV and the cable box, much farther than expected for conventional PDA IR signals.

We configured ConnectedTV to turn on the television set, but to control everything else via our cable box. You cannot configure individual control buttons on the PDA application to control multiple consumer electronics devices, so if you have a stack of entertainment devices, you can't use ConnectedTV to replace all your remote controls.

If you're planning to upgrade your Palm PDA, consider installing ConnectedTV on the old device for use as a personalized, dedicated TV remote control. This way, every member of your household can benefit from the added control and get the schedules with the PDA. But if you live alone, then you can get rid of the remote altogether and just use your everyday handheld.

Copyright © 2002 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in PC Magazine.

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