Control TV using cell phone

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d7e7r7

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Is this possible or not?
Has any one done it successfully? If so could you maybe share what you did?

Thanks...
 
d7e7r7 said:
Is this possible or not?
Has any one done it successfully? If so could you maybe share what you did?

Thanks...
Click to expand...

Well it's all relative... depends on your phone, your tv, your computer, ... and ultimately what you mean by control.
The simplest solution would involve IR control of your existing tv and DSTV decoder only.
There are a number of programmable remote that can accomplish this, including 1 or 2 on the iPhone and Android phones.

But in case you were interested in an full alternative to DSTV,
I'll detail my setup :
1. Mac mini is the computer; on which I have loaded:
a. remote buddy from Iospirit.com -- this allow me to control most of osx features from the iPhone, or an IR remote / Nitendo Wii, etc...
b. boxee from www.boxee.tv -- this is media centre solution that gives you access to multiple content sources; your local stuff, youtube, hulu.com, bbc iplayer, netflix, etc....
c. vpn connections linked to a subscription -- basically to access most of the "free movie /tv content" on youtube, hulu.com, ... you need to have either a IP address in US, UK, Canadian, French, German, ... as these sites use this to verify your eligibility to stream their content.
d. subscription to netflix (if you want access to more than 17000 movies and tv shows)
2. High speed, low latency and unlimited data connection; something akin to 4 or 10mbps ADSL or fast Wimax, ...
3. iPhone with boxee app and AJAX based TV remote for remote buddy.

Price for the above is:
1. Mac mini -- R6299 (once off)
2. remote buddy -- 29.99 Euros (+-R300 once off)
3. boxee -- free
4. vpn subscription -- $49.99 for six months (+- R60 per month)
5. netflix subscription -- $7.99 per month (+- R24 per month)

So that works out at R6599 once off, and R84 per month for the content (R60 if you leave out netflix). I didn't include the cost of the internet link or my iPhone as this is not used for only the TV. But you can work on a cost of between R1000 to R2500 for an unlimited link of sufficient capacity (my cost is R700; a special 24 month deal that is unfortunately not available anymore)

This gives me access to:
All the content on the US, UK, Canadian, French and Germany TV networks (sport, movies, tv shows, ...). Netflix as I mentioned gives me access to more than 17000 entertainment titles, typically all titles on DVD are made available 1 month later.

The key benefit being that all the content is available on demand i.e. I get to watch what I want at the times I choose.
 
There has several free apps to use the IR port as a tv/air con/car hifi/sound system remote control. The ones for my phone work really well with huge databases of tvs etc. I guess that counts as controlling the TV?
 
******99 said:
There has several free apps to use the IR port as a tv/air con/car hifi/sound system remote control. The ones for my phone work really well with huge databases of tvs etc. I guess that counts as controlling the TV?
Click to expand...

Any links?

EDIT:
LOL :D:D:D The forum censors your name in posts ^^^ :D:D
 
[)roi(];4987593 said:
As I originally said its all relative to
Click to expand...

Nokia N82 for now but due for an upgrade soon so looking at all options...
Just to change channels, volume, etc...
 
d7e7r7 said:
Nokia N82 for now but due for an upgrade soon so looking at all options...
Just to change channels, volume, etc...
Click to expand...

The options are going to vary depending on the phone... and not all phones have the ability to do this...
Plus you need to consider whether the cost justifies the end result; as you should see from the links I provided that is quite costly to do this for very little actual gain...
 
[)roi(];4987251 said:
utube, hulu.com, bbc iplayer, netflix, etc....
c. vpn connections linked to a subscription -- basically to access most of the "free movie /tv content" on youtube, hulu.com, ... you need to have either a IP address in US, UK, Canadian, French, German, ... as these sites use this to verify your eligibility to stream their content.
Click to expand...

What vpn service are you using?
 
AntiThesis said:
What vpn service are you using?
Click to expand...

There are a few you can consider; strongvpn.com, hideipvpn.com,...
The one I'm using is www.ibvpn.com; current price for us, uk, Canada and Europe is $36.98. It also offers a free service which isn't as reliable. For us only you can also consider HotspotShield except that it has a monthly 10gb limit
 
My entire tv experience is delivered to my screen via a pc running XBMC. there is an official XBMC remote for android ( my phone is a htc desire ). The phone will even display incoming calledid on the tv and mute the sound while a conversation is in progress.....
 
BOYAH said:
0r you could just use the remote.
Click to expand...

Where's the fun in that? :D One day I'd like to start my car with my phone. I know it's possible - there are products for it. It's cool :p (at least for a techno junkie)

[)roi(];4988609 said:
There are a few you can consider; strongvpn.com, hideipvpn.com,...
The one I'm using is www.ibvpn.com; current price for us, uk, Canada and Europe is $36.98. It also offers a free service which isn't as reliable. For us only you can also consider HotspotShield except that it has a monthly 10gb limit
Click to expand...

Thanks :) I'll check them out next year when I move. All sounds useful.
 
If you have a new tv with DLNA and one of the new HTC handsets like the Desire HD, you can use DLNA from the phone to control the tv. stream straight from your phone to the tv or ps3. pretty cool.
 
Yeah, DLNA is looking pretty cool and AFAIK there are a number of third party apps that can work with it on most platforms. Very nice.
 
Obelix said:
My entire tv experience is delivered to my screen via a pc running XBMC. there is an official XBMC remote for android ( my phone is a htc desire ). The phone will even display incoming calledid on the tv and mute the sound while a conversation is in progress.....
Click to expand...
I've tried xbmc, plex, zinc, hulu and boxee. Overall imo boxee is more complete; I found xbmc to be a bit lacking. Plex also shows promise.
 
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