Database Users

TV Tuner and FM Tuner for Athena

Hi
I see in these sites a SDIO TV Tuner and A SDIO FM Tuner
Do they work with athena?
http://msmobiles.com/news.php/4782.html
http://forum2.mobile-review.com/showthread.php?t=43515

Not much of a help here, but that's what I think
Radio, I can get a radio for £1 which I think those SDIO stuff will cost much more than that, and consider that it may also takes up my phone battery. It is ok that you stop listening to radio, but having a phone with dead battery isn't very good.
TV: The SDIO seems small enough, but I wonder how big an antenna it needs. I have those WinTV USB adapter, which has a size of a PC mouse and seemingly portable. However, it won't work unless I have a massive antenna attached to it. At my area, even with the massive antenna with booster still gives me relatively poor quality. Just make sure you will be using it on a good signal area.

hanmin said:
Not much of a help here, but that's what I think
Radio, I can get a radio for £1 which I think those SDIO stuff will cost much more than that, and consider that it may also takes up my phone battery. It is ok that you stop listening to radio, but having a phone with dead battery isn't very good.
TV: The SDIO seems small enough, but I wonder how big an antenna it needs. I have those WinTV USB adapter, which has a size of a PC mouse and seemingly portable. However, it won't work unless I have a massive antenna attached to it. At my area, even with the massive antenna with booster still gives me relatively poor quality. Just make sure you will be using it on a good signal area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tanX Radio is not very imporstant
but TV Tuner on mobile is very interesting
i want to know to they work with athena or no?
that thing you say work with athena or no?
is there any Bluetooth TV Tuner like Bluetooth GPS Reciver?
tanX

Wow - thats lucky, I was just thinking about this.
I was wondering how feezable it might be to use a WinTV type tuner with a WM5 device, namely the Athena via the external USB cable. I can get a reasonable signal here where I am on DVB-T, and it would be cool to be able to listen to the radio/watch TV via the Ameo without needing a seperate 'remote' device. I currently have the WinTV hooked upto our desktop machine @ work for this purpose, but it would be good to be able to do it via Ameo. You used to be able to get a CF TV adapter for Windows Mobile devices, but it was anallog and used seperate batteries to run the tuner.
Three problems, would the Ameo have the raw processing power to be able to do decoding of the data coming in from the TV tuner. I.e., Does the USB Stick do the decoding then the computer/pda just have to display the image/control the tuner e.t.c.
and
Drivers:- I'm guessing drivers arn't available from Hauppage/someone else, but I believe linux drivers are. For an intelligent programmer (not me ), would it be difficult to convert the drivers to WM5?
Power:- Would the Ameo be able to supply enough power to powerup the USB Stick - I'm guessing the battery would wear down pretty quickly if it could (not a problem if running on mains, like id expect to do).

Another alternative for WinTV decoder would be to install the TV Tuner on your home pc and then watch the home pc via orb.com. This would allow you to have cable and/or satellite connected at home and be able to watch live tv on your athena.
A better solution if it is available in your country is to purchase Sling Tv Tuner and watch Cable/Satellite tv on Athena. The picture quality of SLing is a little better and you don't have to leave your PC on all the time.
I find the sling tv tuner better, but others like ORB because you can also stream mp3 or other videos also.
Check them out at
www.orb.com (need a tv tuner card to watch tv)
www.slingmedia.com

Yeah, I've considered the sling, but the problems with it are that a) I'm not allowed access via our corporate firewall and b) I'm 'technically' on a data plan that doesn't allow for streaming services. Unfortunatly I'm 100m shy of being able to access the BT Openzone that's around here, so no chance for me to connect that way either.
Also seen a few comments on here that says the Sling Resolution on the Ameo is rubbish, which kinda puts me off a bit.
Its not something I was desperate for, but it would be quite a cool function to be able to connect up a USB tuner!

tv +radio
i have ameo and i have tv and radio all the time over umts
in my home i have some dreamboxes. ( dvb-s sat and dvb-c cable recievers...
1 of this nice box is with audio& video cable connected with a small server .
on this server runs windows media server 9
over internet i can choose programm ( http://amd.co.at/anti/webif.png ) and server give me this signal via umts to my ameo.. thats all
very fine quality and good sound
i use tmobile flat rate / non traffic and all good run..
regards

I'm using my Slingbox Pro with my x7500 and it works great. Just used it last night to control my cable box while eating at my favorite Italian restaurant.

The Athena has a MiniSD slot so SDIO devices will not work with it.

Bluetooth TV tuner
Anyone take a look at this:
http://www.permian.com.cn/en/products_06.asp
Looks interesting. Does not show any details for pricing or anything else.

What is by far the coolest thing you can do with your Hermes

I am currently getting bored with my Hermes, I have flashed about 10 Roms in the past few months and I have followed the herd on almost every customized look we can come up with (Black, Custel, iphone lookalike, kaiser lookalike) you name it.
SO I thought I would reach out and see what other people are using their Hermes for. First and foremost I use mine as a phone. Anyone else? I also use Tomtom for Nav and orb for music and videos. Once and a while I stream XM too because I have an account. But thts about it.
I would love to hear about what else I can do and what other people think the best thing they have found on the Hermes is. I'm curious to see how crazy it can get.

Links to the coolest things folks here have done:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1010449&postcount=5
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=672628&postcount=1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1011991&postcount=10
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1012249&postcount=5
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1209297&postcount=40
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1218608&postcount=17
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1238684&postcount=7
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1213780&postcount=4
Mike

when I'm bored I use it to mess around with other people's phones and pc's,
funny how so many people leave their bluetooth on nowadays on both phones and laptops
I also use it to surf the net in classes (no laptop policy)
anyone else \()/?

afguard17 said:
I am currently getting bored with my Hermes, I have flashed about 10 Roms in the past few months and I have followed the herd on almost every customized look we can come up with (Black, Custel, iphone lookalike, kaiser lookalike) you name it.
SO I thought I would reach out and see what other people are using their Hermes for. First and foremost I use mine as a phone. Anyone else? I also use Tomtom for Nav and orb for music and videos. Once and a while I stream XM too because I have an account. But thts about it.
I would love to hear about what else I can do and what other people think the best thing they have found on the Hermes is. I'm curious to see how crazy it can get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Orb is awesome (I was watching Anchorman on my commute home this evening), also I use my Hermes mostly for work, so tons of email (100 a day or so), attachment viewing\editing). TomTom is a life saver, as is GoogleMaps (saves me lots of 411 charges). Besides that day to day stuff, playing with ROMs and using it to wow friends and co-workers ("I forgot my ethernet cable! how am I supposed to get online now?!"..."Oh, please... allow me" along with a million other examples), wardriving, camera, mp3 player etc.

When I am bored I use the cameras three shot panorama mode to do funny things like getting a friend to do different poses in each of the three shots when the photo is finished its pretty cool. Seeing the same person three times in the same shot doing different things can pretty funny and if you have an imagination you can do some wicked stuff, ill have to look around for some of my shots and post them.
Psiodon

haha Mike Channon you smart ass.. lol.
I use my Hermes as a webcam.. .. The guy mentioned above likes to see me naked for some reason..

I know it is stupid, but I find it cool to run old games using ScummVM. Friends are amazed when they see (and hear) Monkey Island or DOTT on this device. (for the same reason, I have DOOM on my Nokia phone )
The Pebbles application (bluetooth remote control) is fun to play around with, as it offers a great deal of controllers (touchpad, scrollwheel, ...). But I haven't got round to making a proper interface for the softwares I use (at the moment, I prefer to use Puppetmaster on my Nokia to control my laptop, is this also displays data from the application on the mobile screen).
From a technological point of view, the internet sharing via bluetooth is IMO one of the coolest features of the device.
Of course, being able to view movies or get some work done on a plane is great too. And then there is PocketFMS: connect the TyTN to a bt gps, and you get a moving map flight management system (yep, for general aviation!); which can be combined with weather data!
It is a cool device... but could be more stable at times.
Jörg

I have a bluetooth to serial device, which means I can run terminal connections over bluetooth.. so I can use it to configure routers etc.. just plug the dongle into a serial port.. connect via the phone and there's no need to carry round a laptop for that anymore.
I also use it as a phone and pda of course for those things.. For a normal day it can practically replace my laptop for dealing with both windows and *nix machines.. Pretty good if you ask me.
If you really are that bored of it send me it I can put it to good use
(oh yeah and I play scummVM on it too )

sambartle said:
I have a bluetooth to serial device, which means I can run terminal connections over bluetooth..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My I ask what kind of bt-serial device? Does it have its own battery, or does it draw power from the serial port?
I have no experience with such devices, but the reason I'm asking is that I wonder if it is possible to connect a bluetooth GPS to a Nikon D200 (this has a serial port for a GPS, to allow for coordinates to be embedded in the exif header). Of course, a setup like this is not supported (I mailed Nikon with this question), but they didn't say it wouldn't work (they hadn't thought of this).
Thanks!
Jörg

sambartle said:
I have a bluetooth to serial device, which means I can run terminal connections over bluetooth.. so I can use it to configure routers etc.. just plug the dongle into a serial port.. connect via the phone and there's no need to carry round a laptop for that anymore.
I also use it as a phone and pda of course for those things.. For a normal day it can practically replace my laptop for dealing with both windows and *nix machines.. Pretty good if you ask me.
If you really are that bored of it send me it I can put it to good use
(oh yeah and I play scummVM on it too )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what can you do on a windows box via serial? on a unix/linux box: that must be pretty hard given its lack of VT100 support i.e. 80x24, and no wrap around lines.

having a satnav system...
me walking like a walking encyclopedia ..
wealth of info related to work.. (medically.. )
oh forgot to mention is i dont have to worry about mespilling something.

Orb is the best

The Slingbox player is always nice to have when there is time to kill.
The "coolest" (geekyest) thing I've done is use it to control my irrigation system. I have several Insteon home automation devices installed and when I needed to check all the different irrigation zone sprinklers, I just used the phone to remote in to the host PC and turn on/off each area while I walked around the yard and made adjustments. I could also use the same process to control all the lighting in the house as well.

+1000 for Orb.

V J said:
My I ask what kind of bt-serial device? Does it have its own battery, or does it draw power from the serial port?
I have no experience with such devices, but the reason I'm asking is that I wonder if it is possible to connect a bluetooth GPS to a Nikon D200 (this has a serial port for a GPS, to allow for coordinates to be embedded in the exif header). Of course, a setup like this is not supported (I mailed Nikon with this question), but they didn't say it wouldn't work (they hadn't thought of this).
Thanks!
Jörg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its one of these (I actually got it cheaper than this - from the manufacturer who also sells them on ebay himself but has none on there at the minute), expansys also do them
It's powered via a USB cable.. But i have a solar charging unit that outputs via USB and works fine with it.. so i dont need usb to use it.. does the nikon proivde 5v on any ports as that would probably work.. (maybe even the usb port if it has one and supports weird configs (not just to connect it to a pc as that wont suply voltage))
I have no idea if it will connect a bluetooth gps to a camera.. the closest i can try is linking it to my bluetooth gps and seeing if nmea flows to the serial port.. ill give it as go for you this week.

frustin said:
what can you do on a windows box via serial? on a unix/linux box: that must be pretty hard given its lack of VT100 support i.e. 80x24, and no wrap around lines.
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Click to collapse
depends whats connected to the windows box .. or what software its running.. or what its purpose is.. (i work in telecommunications)
On a desktop theres probably not much point, but theres switches, analysers, ATM's all sorts of industrial windows installations that all have serial diiagnostics and terminals..
on a *nix box its pretty much the same deal.. if its running a serial terminal i can connect to it with mToken or Mobile Putty.. theres hundreds of different bits of serial kit you can connect too.. serial is serial doesnt matter that its sent via bluetooth to the PPC.
Works on routers and all kinds of switching gear.. it's absolutly invaluable to me!!

Cool things with the TYTN
I assigned VJCandela to one of the side buttons, this help locating the key hole to my door (home, not car, I am a responsible person!) when it's pitch dark and I polished a few with the boys!
This phone belongs in a James Bond movie, period.

possibilities are endless!
Orb is great!
The Slingbox pro is awesome!!!
Im was thinking the same think as far as what else is possible via these phones... the quest for home automation is what brought me here (via search)
I think the links in the 2nd post should keep me busy for a bit...
Thanks!
Xtra

frustin said:
what can you do on a windows box via serial? on a unix/linux box: that must be pretty hard given its lack of VT100 support i.e. 80x24, and no wrp around lines.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wuh?
Methinks you didn't read his reply all that thoroughly.
Routers, at least enterprise class routers have serial managmenet ports - hence him specifically mentioning serial in the same sentence as routers and nothing else.
I'm not even sure I know what you're trying to say regarding VT100 support - which is just one of many types of terminal emulation (based on the old DEC VT100 video terminal). Windows itself doesn't provide out-of-band management compatible with textual terminals, but many servers *do* have serial out-of-band facilities which can in turn talk to Windows running on said server...think lights out managmement. Most Sun servers have serial access to both the PROM and running OS, and you can redirect a serial port to a console in Linux.
I'm betting that when the OP mentioned managing Winders boxen with his Hermes he was thinking RDP.
But you knew all that I'm sure. =)

I'm a musician - I use it as a guitar tuner (PhoneTuner), I have a spectrum analyzer (HASA) for finding feedback frequencies when doing sound checks, I use it to record songs I'm working on with an MP3 recorder(AudioNotes), to record lyrics (Word, Notes, or even putting lyrics into a Task item so it will sync over the air with Outlook). I use ORB for streaming media from my server while on the road. I use the LED light as a flashlight mapped to the push and hold button with VJCandela. I use it as a timer for Texas Hold 'em poker to decide when to double the blind (SPB Time). I have an english dictionary, and a spanish-english dictionary on it. I use it to read ebooks (HaaliReader). I use it as an RPN calculator (CalcNOW). I use INAV for GPS guidance with a bluetooth GPS receiver when on tour.

TV streamed to phone?

Hey folks so I am trying to do something that I am not entirely sure I can do. I will try my best to explain it clearly and I hope one of you may be able to direct me in the right direction as I am having little luck on google.
Basically I have IPTV through my phone company. I have the option for a second box and am looking for a way to stream that feed through my computer. From my computer I would like encode the feed into a mobile feesable compression and feed it to my phone through.
Is anyone aware of anything like this that will work or something capable of doing this??
If someone even knows of a service provider that works directly with TV feeds over the internet for mobile I would be even happy with something like that. But of course ideally it would be better to be able to use my own services that I already pay for.
On a last note. My cell phone provider DOES offer tv for mobile but NOT for pdas. LOL and the TV service itself is lousy.

I think the solution is on this web-site orb.com
I'm using it successfuly all the time.

Thanks I am gonna check out that software whenI get home.
On further research while here at work. I came across the Slingbox media option. I was curious if anyone has tried this for there home system yet? The website states that it can be connected to your satellite or digital cable boxes but I have to admit I am confused with the interaction of the two. Mainly the remote control portion.
If you have a Sling box which is acting like a "tv" but actually defering that signal to a remote location like a laptop or phone how does this box change the channel if it's just receiving signal? Does the slingbox itself act like a uber remote control and has to be placed directly infront of the digital box to act like a remote to relay the information back to the remote device?
I apologize if this seems on the border of being off topic but the goal is to stream live TV to my PDA which I suspect one of you techy people may have tryed such a solution!

I have used the Slingbox mobile player extensively with my Mogul over the Sprint EVDO network...I LOVE IT!!! Occasionally it's a memory hog and I may have to reset the phone...but all in all the Slingbox will do what you are asking about.

I have loaded and been running orb now for the past week and have to admit I am extremely happy with this application. It is fantastic so far and the intereface is great and easy to use!!
However after continuing research I will definetly be investing into a sling box as I have a second digital box collecting dust and would love to be able to channel surf lol!! Will just have to run both I suppose. Orb for movies and audio and Slingbox for tv surfing!!
Thank you for your input everyone!

mrkawphy said:
... how does this box change the channel ... ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Sling hardware has an IR transmitter dongle, (or two), that you point at the decoder boxes IR reciever. The Sling client app, (both mobile and PC), have a software controller counterpart that can even actually looks like the remote control, (PC version). All IR functions work great from the mobile and the PC clients!

I love the slingbox and use it fine on my titan, although have had issues on other HTC Smartphones. It basically captures any video signal and sends it over the internet for remote viewing. whbell is right, it has a IR blaster that you put on the front of the device you want to control remotely and it sends your remote control codes to the box. You don't need a seperate set top box as long as the people at home are ok with watching whatever you are watching. I have mine hooked up to my pvr and can pull up all my recorded movies, or more importantly, setup a recording remotely if I forgot to do it at home.
Definitely a must have.

mrkawphy said:
I have loaded and been running orb now for the past week and have to admit I am extremely happy with this application. It is fantastic so far and the intereface is great and easy to use!!
However after continuing research I will definetly be investing into a sling box as I have a second digital box collecting dust and would love to be able to channel surf lol!! Will just have to run both I suppose. Orb for movies and audio and Slingbox for tv surfing!!
Thank you for your input everyone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ORB is great for TV, just install a TV tuner / capture card in your PC. Sling box is okay for people without PC's, but if you already have one setup with ORB, there is no need for Sling box.
BTW, if you use Windows Media Center,you could also check out WebGuide.

[Question] Video Stream from IP Webcam to IE/Opera on Blackstone?

Hello Blackstone Community!!!
Has anyone here successfully streamed live video from their IP Webcam to their blackstone using the Internet Explorer and/or Opera web browsers? Please specify if you were using WiFi, GPRS, or 3G connections. What IP Webcam did you purchase!
My application: I would like to purchase a IP Webcam that allows for........
- Pan/Tilt/Zoom
- Bi-Directional Audio Functionality
- Wireless - Wifi and possibily battery operated
- Allows for streaming to multiple web browsers using
WiFi, and GPRS, on my Blackstone ( I live in USA so 3G not an option)
Please provide advice if you can or let me know what technology on the webcam I need to at least satisfy the requirement to allow streaming to windows mobile devices using WiFi, and GPRS connections.
Thank you

Have a look at this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=492081
Not so much for the cameras itself, but the application seems very useful.
When I get the time, I'll be having a play.
As for the CCTV itself. Most reputable manufacturers will have units that will meet your purposes. It depends on budget and situation. AXIS are good and cheap, Panasonic are good and midrange. Sony are v. good and expensive. Spec sheets will tell you all you need to know.
There is tonnes of information out there, and many many forum dedicated to CCTV professionals. Go go Google! Probably better than asking here.

I had a little dabble with streaming a web cam to the internet and the best program I came across was a free program called YAWCAM (Yet Another Webcam Software!).
http://www.yawcam.com/
I haven't used it recently, but it is simple to use and I successfully streamed images of our home to my Orange SPV E650 (this too was an HTC smart phone, but rebranded for Orange in the UK).
I reckon on the HD the results should be pretty good. A the time I was using it for monitoring our newly installed cat flap (CATCAM!) to make sure both of our cats were actually using it (one still refuses to!) .
I think if you used this in conjunction with remote desktop, VNC or the like, you should then be able to control the camera too.
Hope this helps...

Android and IR Remote Control

Hey all,
I am interested in the idea of using my phone to control my home theatre equipment. The ability to control any IR equipment with your phone would be a very neat feature and a nice selling point, especially as Google has made clear their intentions to enter the home automation field. However at present it seems very hard to do this with Android.
I know that a solution is to use an IR transmitter connected to the 3.5mm headphone jack. The leader in this market seems to be a company called ThinkFlood who have a product called RedEye Mini. Here's an explanation of how it works...
http://thinkflood.com/products/redeye-mini/#how-does-it-work
Unfortunately for us Android users the software is in beta testing and the RedEye Mini hardware is not compatible yet.
I am wondering if anyone can shed some light on this project and whether it can be achieved yet by any other means?
Also does anyone know whether native support of IR hardware has been considered for Android. Seeing as this technology could very easily be built into phones it seems like a smart move for Google with their home automation drive and all.
I am interested to hear your thoughts and solutions.
Thanks

The concept of home automation would be improved if IR were not used at all. Line of sight comms is very limiting. On the plus side of course it means there are fewer radio waves flying round my house and frying my brain!

I agree 100%. I need to keep all the brain cells I can
Unfortunately though most home theatre equipment still relies of IR and I believe it will for a few more years. Google should jump on IR if they are serious about home automation.

if you use XBMC than there is an nice app to control it and many more.

Controlling the PC is easy as apps can communicate with it via my home network. The problem I have is using my phone to communicate with other equipment such as my TV and AV receiver. For these the only way I can think of controlling them is via IR.

edcoppen, as far as I know you have 2 options for IR on Android:
1/ - Already available DIY solutions -
You can check the Androlirc application (that would be me!)
And a friend of the project has developed a enhanced Audio2IR module that is called Irdroid (mine was just a proof of concept)
You'll have to be (or get) familiar with LIRC to go down that path.
2/ - Anounced and "soon to be available" IR equipped Android devices -
Touchsquid
Conspin Andi One
That a lot of link dropping for a first post, I hope xdadevelopers will let me submit that... (Submit...) Yeah, that's what I thought, you'll just have to look for web sites by yourself then.
Anyway I think we're gonna get some action in the IR/Tablet world soon... Until we get rid of that 30 years old, one way tech (on the plus side, it "owns" 100% of the market and the battery autonomy for a traditional remote control has to be measured in years... that's close to an infinity in the Android world)!

Quite interesting that there will be IR equipped mobile devices any more. I thought the technology would die out. I actually still carry my Nokia N73 with me and from time to time change the channel on the TV in the pub. Great fun!!!

Yeah, I had a nokia 7650 ten years ago with an IR transmitter/receiver and used to have so much fun changing channels in my sports bar. I reckon the technology has less interest nowadays as we move further into the digital age. The best and easiest way to automate your home theatre and stereo systems is to connect them to a pc and control everything from your phone. there are tons of apps in the market that allow you to do this. I have tried a few and am currently using three I find the best: Unified remote (specifically for their spotify remote, which now a days is my stereo system, but they have tons of other remotes and works great over LAN), phonemypc (for me one of the best vnc apps in the market) and remote desktop client, a great RDP app. Whatever you can connect to your pc (with the right hardware/firmware you can even connect all the appliances in your home, even your lights and air-conditioned, to a main server) you can control from your phone, either through LAN - using your home network - or even away from home using the internet (WAN). IR is an obsolete technology in the digital age.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

StreetGuru said:
Whatever you can connect to your pc (with the right hardware/firmware you can even connect all the appliances in your home, even your lights and air-conditioned, to a main server) you can control from your phone, either through LAN - using your home network - or even away from home using the internet (WAN). IR is an obsolete technology in the digital age.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont agree that it is a dead technology... yet! Most AV devices in the home still rely on it and unless i'm mistaken cannot be connected via the PC. Take for example my Samsung TV or my Harman Kardon AVR. I really want to be able to control these from my phone and cant find a viable solution. I have all the apps you mentioned and none of them help me here. You say via the right hardware/firmware can help... but what hardware would you use to connect the two devices I named to a PC, and how mush does it cost?
If an IR transmitter could be built into a watch 10 years ago I see no reason why it coultn't easily be added to a mobile phone. I know its personal preference but I would see it as a strong selling point.

IR hardware range too weak
My older HTC Windows phone had IR support, I had hoped to install AV remote sw on it. Found out the hard way that the IR range on many phones that had the hardware was only a few feet. It was intended as a bidirectional business card sharing type of thing before bluetooth took over. I'm thinking bluetooth is why most phones don't even have the IR hardware built in anymore.
I'm currently looking for a T-Mobile Froyo phone that has IR with sufficient range for AV remote use, any experts out there?
I don't want to depend on any dongles plugged in to the phone, but I would consider an external wireless box that had the IR command set and transmitter and a wireless way to communicate with the phone, preferably bluetooth so I don't have to turn on the wifi radio every time I use it.
i have a new enough Sammy tv to use DLNA etc, but that means turning on the wifi.