Infrared blaster on the Nexus 5?

[MikeySoft001]

JHB, thank you for admitting you were wrong and misleading when you said " every major smartphone includes an IR blaster". Unless you are trying to say the nexus 4/5 and your iPhone are not major smart phones.

 

[JHBThree]

JHB, thank you for admitting you were wrong and misleading when you said " every major smartphone includes an IR blaster". Unless you are trying to say the nexus 4/5 and your iPhone are not major smart phones.

I did no such thing. We were discussing android devices, considering we're on an android forum. The nexus is not a major device based on sales alone. Fact is, you are wrong. The number of devices with it blasters is going up, not down.


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[MikeySoft001]

Riiight. Which would totally explain why every major smartphone includes an IR blaster that their predecessor didn't. It would also explain why most cable boxes have them, and won't be getting rid of them anytime soon. Yup, those got' dang IR blasters are going the way of the dinosaur for sure. /S


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Please reread your post. You said "every major smartphone". You said nothing about your iPhone not being included. At best your statement is misleading. But is really just plane wrong. And now you are trying to quantify you meaning of "major".

 

[Puzzlegal]

So what he meant to say was "a bunch of the best selling lines have just added this feature".

The precise wording is a quibble. It does seem to be a feature that is making a come back, rather than a feature that is on its way out.

That surprises me a little. It's not as if ir remotes have recently become more useful. In fact, what with more connected appliances, they are a little less critical than they were 5 years ago. Still, I look forward to having that feature on my next phone. (probably an s4 mini.)

 

[Lloyd Kaplan]

An IR blaster is a nice extra. It's kind of like your girlfriend bringing over her twin sister just for sexy time.
You don't miss things you have never had.

 

[datscharf]

Hi,

It would be nice if IR was to be replaced by wifi, solving issues like line-of-sight and having to be in the same room as your device. But most devices (if not all) still comes with the traditional IR receiver and remote and I wouldn't expect this to change the next many years. Until all devices both the new ones you bought recently and the the ones you possed for some time supports wifi it will be a PITA if you would loose IR on the newer generations forcing you to have both IR and Wifi/phones to control all your devices.

I wanted a way to control all our devices with my Android phone without being in the same room. I wanted to control my 5year old Marantz AVR (without network/wifi capabilities) and our television (with wifi) using the same interface. Thats why I developed AMOTE which is a fully customizable universal remote app that work together with a LIRC server. I made a small blaster circuit connected it to a Raspberry PI running LIRC. This way I can control AVR, TVs and other IR based devices at our home.

An IR transmitter on my phone would be nice, but I would still have to be in same room as my AVR to turn down the volume. Now I can use the best from both worlds, I can control everything using WIFI. And I can control the volume from the kitchen when the kids are watching TV in the livingroom.

Best regards
Martin Bang Andersen

 

[d3v14n7]

IR blasters aren't going away anytime soon, nor are CDs, DVDs or BRs for that matter... Practically every consumer/home audio/video device uses IR remotes, and with the number of devices in the average household, it'd be stupid for smartphone OEMs to just stop offering smartphones and tablets with IR blasters, especially considering just how much people use their devices these days, having a smartphone that is able to not only control absolutely every other device in your home that has a remote, but can be customized to mirror the original remotes perfectly is something many would find extremely useful...

 

[Puzzlegal]

And I can control the volume from the kitchen when the kids are watching TV in the livingroom.

If the kids are watching the tv, I don't need any hand held remote to adjust the volume. I just shout, "could you please turn that up so I can hear it over this sizzling steak?" Or "turn that down!"

Works like a charm. I don't even have to get the key phrase exactly right. My kids' built-in natural language engine is very powerful.

;-)