Database Users

Uses for an old wizard?

I have a recently retired htc wizard, and am beginning to think what I can usefully do with it. Current market value is about £50 tops I think, so not entirely worth selling. Thinking of building it in to a box adding a small amp and speakers and turning it in to a clock radio / multimedia device or similar. Has anyone else successfully completed any such projects? Any tips or suggestions?
In short, what's the best use I could put it to?

mcurtayne said:
I have a recently retired htc wizard, and am beginning to think what I can usefully do with it. Current market value is about £50 tops I think, so not entirely worth selling. Thinking of building it in to a box adding a small amp and speakers and turning it in to a clock radio / multimedia device or similar. Has anyone else successfully completed any such projects? Any tips or suggestions?
In short, what's the best use I could put it to?
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Click to collapse
I gave mine away to my neighbor. But interesting idea you got there Probably more expansive then just buying something like that. Though I guess with some tweaking you could make it into a boombox you can take with you everywhere that could use WiFi or GPRS to stream music from your home box.
Now that, would be cool.

Does it work properly? Is the usb solid?
An old Wizard to me, means a test dummy.
You can donate it to an xda dev...to work on creating new roms.
Or I guess you can go with your idea.
Or you can give it to me!

I have plans afoot to use it as a touchscreen in my car. The idea is to have a laptop in the boot running some media software with a HD full of music and videos. Install Citrix Metaframe on the laptop and then use the Wizard as a client. Hey presto... a media centre with no wires!

pletharoe said:
I have plans afoot to use it as a touchscreen in my car. The idea is to have a laptop in the boot running some media software with a HD full of music and videos. Install Citrix Metaframe on the laptop and then use the Wizard as a client. Hey presto... a media centre with no wires!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow...pretty good idea
might just have to do this w/ the old axim
edit: wonder how this would work for this purpose http://dotnetvnc.sourceforge.net

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 ... ?
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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.

control archos with remote or etc..

i was wondering if there was a way to control my archos with a wii remote or etc..i cracked my screen and now the touchscreen doesnt work.. i used my mouse and keyboard and they both works but im not about to be carry them out with me just to control my archos.. some one please help..

I use something similar to this that works well. It's about the same size as the tablet, so it makes it that much easier to carry around.
Condolences on the broken screen. I feel your pain. Luckily Archos fixed mine before they decided to drop the service. I paid for it, but it was worth it.

There is an app called wiiremote or something similar. You just have to pair the device using bluetooth and assign the button on the wii remote and buttons. I use this for all the Nintendo games

Thanks y'all...is there a way for me to use a usb mouse and the on screen keyboard together? I can't seem to get the on screen keyboard to show up...
sent from epic 4g

Nevermind got it to work...had wii controoler selected and no keyboard under settings...now how do I get my mouse to use 1 click instead of double. Cuz it takes to long to double click each letter..
sent from epic 4g

Not sure about the double click, but you might try the SlideIT keyboard. That would be hella quick with a mouse (I imagine.. never tested it myself).
Available from the market. Free demo version there too.

Thanks...the slide works perfects...way better than double clicking...so now all I need to use is a mouse.. no keyboard no more now that I can use the on screen one...
sent from epic 4g

Is their an app that will let me control my tablet using my phone...something like andriod vnc or xbmc remote? A mouse is ok but my phone would be better since I always have it with me...
sent from epic 4g

Hmm, maybe Andoird VNC Server in conjunction with some ad hoc wireless network.
That is, of course, if your phone can be made to broadcast the adhoc network. I know mine can (WinMo 6.5) but I am not sure about others. And then you need to get a VNC client for your phone so that it can connect. There are plenty of them out their for most phone OS though.
I haven't tested this solution, and I imagine you will need root for it so UrukDroid maybe?
It might turn out to be more hassle than what it's worth.
More info on the wireless adhoc on archos here.

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.

What should i do with my old S4?

Hi, i have gotten a new phone some months ago. Now my s4 is just laying there, use it sometimes for testing apps and xposed modules.
Anyone have an idea for what i could do with it? Some cool modifications!

There ain't much. You could use it as a retro gaming console. Hook it up to your TV and a controller and welcome back to old school gaming.
The only other useful thing I see is using it for media and web surfing, thus saving battery of your new phone.

Home automation and Media systems
Hi,
You could use your phone to set up Home automation systems and device/geofencing recognition. Basically, you could "mount" it to your wall in the hall way or living room, and use it to control bluetooth/wireless temperature controllers, you could use it as a "area" beacon, such that when your "regular" phone detects it, it switches to home modes. You could use it for "generic" (edit: voice) searches as you walk around the home (weather, movies, tv series, etc.).
As for media systems, you could also just place it in front of your TV, and use it as a multimedia controller to a NAS, chromecast, or remote controlling of your computer (if this is hooked up to your TV screen, you could sit in the sofa and basically use your computer just like you were sitting by it).
These are just some suggestions Hope they gave some inspiration.

Hi
Why don't you just look around you and find someone who can't buy a phone and give it to him as a good thing you done in your life :angel:
Bye bye

wouldn't you like your own personal VPN server or media server/android TV box ? perhaps you'd prefer a baby monitor or online security camera feed ?
the options are pretty much endless if you enjoy tinkering. it's also good to have a half decent backup phone too lol...