Tag Archives: remote control

Control Sphero From Your Smartphone

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Scott gets a demo of Orbotix‘s Sphero from Adam, one of the company’s founders. At first glance, Sphero is a robotic ball remotely controlled from a smartphone or tablet. Yes, I was kind of underwhelmed too, but fortunately, it’s a bit more than that. To start with, Sphero is as much a game development platform as it is a product and second, while you can move the ball as you’d expect, you can also get information back from the ball.

The example given in the video is that two Spheros can recognise when they’re close or touch each other, so tag or sumo games become a possibility. Taking it further, there could be augmented reality games where you move Sphero into objects only seen on screen.

On launch, Sphero will work with iOS and Android devices with ports to other smartphone platforms in the future. Available for the 2011 holiday season for under $100. If you are interested, you can make a reservation for your own Sphero or two.

Interview by Scott Elliot for the Tech Podcast Network.

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HippoRemote Pro

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A mouse that I use with one of my computers died and I decided to try the Hippo Remote Pro as a replacement. As a mouse replacement it has both its strength and weaknesses. However if you have a computer set up to play media, it works great.

HippoRemote Pro can be downloaded from Itunes, for $4.99, you can get Hippo Remote Lite for free, too try out the basic functions. You can set up the remote to be use either with Windows, Mac or even Linux. There are easy to follow setup directions for each, on line and also on the application itself. HippoRemote Pro, can be used as a simply desktop remote, but its real power is within the different profiles that are available. Different applications and website have their own profile which are created to get the best out of that application. There are about twenty profiles that come with the remote and there are also user created remotes that are available for downloads. If you want to make a profile, there are instructions available on the website.

As might be expected the remote works best with those websites and applications that you would normally use a stand alone remote with, such as YouTube, Pandora, Hulu, among others. It works less intuitively with applications like Google Chrome or Gmail, and takes sometime to get use. There are macros that come with each profile to add to there ease of use. For example there is a Gmail profile and it has macros that include, go to inbox, go to task, and go to starred. If you want to go to your starred emails for example, you simply hit the “go to starred macro” and you are there. HippoRemote does have a keyboard, which is available at the touch of a key to be used when it’s appropriate. It is strictly for entering in a small amount of texts and should not be seen as a replacement for a full size keyboard, at least not the Iphone version. The Ipad version maybe a different story, I am not sure since I don’t have one.

I would love to have the opportunity to try the Hippo Remote Pro on the Ipad, on the Iphone it feels cramped at times. Even with this complaint, it is great to be able to sit back in a chair and play some Youtube videos. Then when I am tired of them, I can go to Hulu and choose which video I want to play, hit the play button all without leaving the HippoRemote. If you are looking for a good remote control on either the Iphone or Ipad I highly recommend the HippoRemote Pro, it is easy to use and can be customized to your needs.