Would you buy a phone with IR capability?

[pyroscott]

Most remotes that we have in our homes use infared to communicate with the equipment that they control. There used to be a couple phones with IR, but I don't know of any that currently have it. The Galaxy Tab 7 plus has IR as well as the Sony Tablet S allowing you to use them as a universal remote. I use an app on my phone and tablet to control my Google TV Box that works through WiFI, and it is really convenient. Would this be a feature that people would want? Or would it just be wasted space on phones that are continually trying to get thinner and make more efficient use of space.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

its going to be outdated. everything is going to being networked in the home and in the end you'll be able to control everything in the home through your home network.

[christopherc18]

I was actually thinking about that the other day. To me its probably a thing where I would use it for the first couple of days and then forget about it. So if it was between IR and thinness, I would choose thinness.

[McDroidBurger]

I agree with Sgt. Everything will be network controlled in the future rather than relying on an old IR type technology. Bluetooth never took off like they expected it to outside of mouse and keyboard use. I use my tablet to control many of my home theater components via network. I wouldn't search for a device with IR but I wouldn't avoid one because of IR either. I just likely would never use it.

 

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[pyroscott]

I'm surprised it hasn't been more prevalent on phones. I can see IR sticking around for at least 5 more years in home electronics

 

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[Sgt. Slaughter]

yeah but its not major enough to classify it as a feature to warrant the "need" for it to satisfy customers...Esp when you consider everything moving toward communicating through your home network.

[pyroscott]

Yeah, I don't think they will add it now, but it makes me wonder why it never made it on to phones. The controls for Google TV are awesome, at least the Sony Blu-Ray STB. It makes me excited for the future of remote applications.

[boiker]

I had IR on my old Palm Pilot. I liked it at the time. I occasionally wish modern smartphones had this feature.

[pyroscott]

I had IR on my old Palm Pilot. I liked it at the time. I occasionally wish modern smartphones had this feature.

 

After you said that, I dug my old palm out of the technology black hole in my garage and sadly it didn't have ir...

 

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[MacinJosh]

Technology black hole? I used to have one of those too. But it was in my bedroom, and there was an old Macintosh SE/30 and a Macintosh II as well, lol.

[pyroscott]

Technology black hole? I used to have one of those too. But it was in my bedroom, and there was an old Macintosh SE/30 and a Macintosh II as well, lol.

I found a VCR, an old GPS that is bigger than my cell phone, a bunch of old laptops etc. I don't know why I dont just toss this stuff...

[S4GRU]

I found a VCR, an old GPS that is bigger than my cell phone, a bunch of old laptops etc. I don't know why I dont just toss this stuff...

 

I just moved homes last month. The stuff I purged was amazing. Kind of liberating. The old computer parts...RAM, cooling fans, HDD's, etc. that I was hoarding was unbelievable. The stuff was so old, no one is using computer with a 20GB hard disk anymore!

[pyroscott]

I just moved homes last month. The stuff I purged was amazing. Kind of liberating. The old computer parts...RAM, cooling fans, HDD's, etc. that I was hoarding was unbelievable. The stuff was so old, no one is using computer with a 20GB hard disk anymore!

 

You use a SCSI daisy chain to connect 8 of those and you can get a 160GB hard drive