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PocketRemote: Integrating a Universal Remote Control with a Handheld Computer by Angus Huang Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degrees of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering and Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
February 1, 2002
2002 Angus Huang. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to M.I.T. permission to reproduce and distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis and to grant others the right to do so.
Author Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science February 1, 2002 Certified by Dr. Amar Gupta Thesis Supervisor Accepted by Arthur C. Smith Chairman, Department Committee on Graduate Theses
PocketRemote: Integrating a Universal Remote Control with a Handheld Computer by Angus Huang Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science February 1, 2002 In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degrees of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering and Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Abstract As technology brings more and more portable devices into common use, applications must be available to sustain this trend. While the features and performance of these portable devices are fast advancing, they are still quite limited when compared to a desktop computer. To be successful, applications should take advantage of these devices’ portability and convenience, but should be careful not to overstep their technological limits. This thesis examines such an application. The PocketRemote is an application that runs on Pocket PC handheld computers, in essence, turning each of these devices into a universal remote control to communicate with virtually any electronic component around the household. It is aided by SmartGuide, which downloads TV program information from the Internet via a connected PC. After transferring the data to the handheld device, PocketRemote will contain a fully integrated TV listings viewer as well. This thesis will look at the implementation of the PocketRemote and rationale behind various design decisions. It will then conduct a comparative analysis of PocketRemote with other options currently on the market.
Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Amar Gupta Title: Co-Director, Productivity from Information Technology (PROFIT) Initiative, M.I.T. Sloan School of Management
Table 1 - Palm OS v. Pocket PC - System Features Comparison [10] ............................. 22 Table 2 - List of all software required for development. .................................................. 28 Table 3 - List of all hardware required for development. ................................................. 29 Table 4 - IR encoding for Sony remote controls [23]. ...................................................... 75 Table 5 - Size of entries in the Channels table.................................................................. 81 Table 6 - Size of entries in the Shows table. ..................................................................... 82
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Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Amar Gupta for the guidance and support he has given me in this long, arduous process. He always made time to sit down and talk with me at every step of the way. I would also like to thank Nicoli Ames, my partner in developing this project, for all her hard work and selfless commitment to making this project a success. A thank you goes to Mark Chuang as well for his technical contributions and advice. Last but not least, my parents have supported me whole-heartedly throughout my entire college career. I would like to give them thanks for none of this could have happened without them.
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1
Introduction
Two emerging technologies, the personal digital assistant (PDA) and the universal remote control, seem destined to be unified into one device. While the two alone are extremely popular among the general consumer market, both can gain so much more by being fused together. Each would be able to make up for what the other lacks, and this marriage would result in the special case where the resulting combination is truly greater than the sum of its parts. The PDA, or handheld computer, is currently one of the hottest technological products on the market. It follows precisely the trend of shrinking devices. The PDA is the present-day manifestation of decades’ worth of evolution. Over the years, we have witnessed computers taking up entire rooms to desktop computers to laptops and finally to the PDA – computing machines that fit in the palm of a hand. While PDAs cannot compare with current desktops in terms of computing power, they are only a handful of years behind; a top-of-the-line PDA today has the same processing power as that of a PC only four years old. Gadget-loving consumers are snatching up these devices because they are feats of technology and simply neat toys. Despite all of this technological progress, however, PDAs are still used for little more than as address and schedule managers. Their growing popularity may not last long as their novelty begins to wear off and users begin to demand more useful functionality. A “killer app” is desperately needed to sustain the PDA’s growth.
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The universal remote control, on the other hand, already has its “killer app”; it eliminates the mess of remote controls present in many households. Lately, just about every home entertainment component and even some ordinary household appliances come with their own personal remote controls. Universal remote controls, however, are filled with flaws. Their goal of convenience is often times shattered by a mess of complexities in their design and implementation. One of its biggest flaws is its often-exorbitant price, which can sometimes single-handedly match the price of the entire home entertainment system it is intended to work with. It then becomes appropriate to fuse these two devices into one device. The universal remote control provides the PDA with a “killer app”; in turn, the PDA provides a foundation upon which the universal remote control can be implemented with minimal complexity and error. The PDA has all the right makings to run a remote control application. An infrared port is already present to beam commands to various enabled devices. An LCD (liquid crystal display) touch-screen helps to alleviate the clutter of buttons found on many universals by displaying only those functions that are needed. The ability of the PDA to synchronize with a desktop computer gives increased power to the remote control application, which can now harness the resources of the PC to do extra computing, editing, or Internet communication. The remote control itself would be software-based, which can help to provide a more flexible end product and limit bugs and complexity.
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1.1 P ROJECT DESCRIPTION In this project, we will develop a program called PocketRemote that turns a PDA into a generic universal remote control. In PocketRemote, graphical buttons on the PDA’s LCD touch-screen represent the remote control. The PDA’s infrared port carries out communication, and the PocketRemote will be able to control any household electronic component that is capable of receiving remote control commands (see Figure 1).
Receiver
Television
Cable Internet TVGuide Online
PC (SmartGuide)
Pocket PC (PocketRemote) Camcorder
VCR
Satellite TV
Figure 1 - PocketRemote's Overall Architecture.
The remote control’s appearance will be completely customizable by the user. This can easily be accomplished because the “remote controls” simply images created in a common image format (i.e. bitmap). Therefore, different button layouts, or skins, can be created using any standard drawing program. The actual buttons, then, are simply rectangular designations of pixels within the remote control image.
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In addition, PocketRemote will be able to download TV listings from the Internet via a PC and transfer the information to the PDA. This feature, called SmartGuide, is the main feature distinguishing PocketRemote from any other universal remote control. The TV listings viewer will be fully integrated into the PocketRemote application so that changing channels with the remote and knowing what is currently on TV will be a single, seamless experience. As users flip through channels, SmartGuide will be able to follow along and display media content for the various channels. Users can additionally scroll through the listings, click on any program within SmartGuide, and instantly be taken to its channel on their TV. This paper goes on to describe the design and implementation details of PocketRemote and attempt to show that PocketRemote is currently the best solution to “remote control hell”. Section 2 (Background) provides a general background giving an overview of the fundamental technologies used in this project – the PDA and the universal remote control. It goes on to describe current alternative solutions and their potential areas for improvement. Section 3 (Design) draws upon these areas of improvement and lays out the design goals that PocketRemote aims to meet. Section 4 (Specifications) serves as a user’s manual for PocketRemote stepping through the common operations of the program. Section 5 (Implementation) delves into the details of the program and its implementation. Section 6 (Results) presents the results of the project and discusses whether the end product has met the goals of Section 3 and how it matches up with those solutions in Section 2. This discussion leads into Section 7 (Future Work), which describes areas of the project that warrant future work. Finally, Section 8 (Conclusion) concludes with a general analysis and critique of PocketRemote.
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2 Background
2.1 P ERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANTS As we progress into the new millennium, technology is advancing at a faster pace than ever. What used to be at the forefront of this technological revolution - the personal computer - is now fast becoming an antiquated device. The PC is too confining for the new wave of technology, restricting people to sitting in front of a desk. In response to such a lack of freedom, the current technological trend is going through a fusion of computers and portable devices. Computing power is being distributed to all sorts of portable devices, delivering functionality never before seen or imagined. A personal digital assistant (PDA) is a handheld computer that allows one to store and organize information. Sizes are typically comparable to an adult hand, but are getting smaller and slimmer every year, although prices remain relatively constant between $100 and $600. Interaction with the PDA is normally carried out using a stylus via a touchsensitive screen. The PDA is the embodiment of the trend towards decreased size and increased convenience. These very popular devices give people many of the same functions as a desktop computer, all in a package that is capable of fitting into a trouser pocket. Users have computing power at their hands no matter where they are. The fascination with the latest technology and gadgets has made the PDA a big sell. New York-based NPD Intelect has estimated that handheld sales in 2000 topped 3.5 million and raked in $1.03 5
billion. These figures are way up from the 1.3 million devices ($436.5 million) sold in 1999 [1]. Drop in sales of personal computers during this same time highlights the trend towards portable computing. While getting closer and closer, PDAs nevertheless still have far to go before they can match the performance of today’s desktop computers. Many PDAs are still being used as little more than high-tech schedulers and address books. The Internet was a major factor in creating demand for computers and will play a similar role for PDAs as well. While wireless Internet connections for PDAs are available, current options are still too slow, expensive, and bulky. Wireless Internet seems to be the “killer app” that will make the PDA a truly useful device instead of just a fad, but right now, that feature is simply not practical. According to Palm, more than a third of the buyers of the wireless Palm VII, the bestselling wireless PDA on the market, have never even used its wireless features [3]. Jim Forbes, analyst for IDG Executive Forums, stated “once we stretch the budget to buy a $200 gadget, 99 percent of us aren’t about to pay another $20 or more to put the thing online. Not when we’re already paying for cable, long distance, cell phone and regular Internet access, even as electricity seems to get costlier by the minute” [3]. For example, to get the very popular Compaq iPAQ online, one would need to first purchase a PC Card Expansion Pak that retails at $150. Second, an actual wireless PC Card such as the Sierra AirCard 300 is needed – that is $400. And last but not the least, consumers need to fork over about $60 to an ISP for monthly Internet service. That is much more than the great majority of consumers are willing to pay, especially for connections at a painfully slow 40-50 Kbps.
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In addition, small screens incapable of properly displaying standard websites further detract from the Internet experience on PDAs. There are sites that have special HTML source specially designed for the miniature browsers of PDAs, but these sites are still rare. When one encounters a site not tailored towards PDAs, the page will usually appear incorrectly formatted. In somewhat of a catch-22 situation, this limited display has resulted in software that shies away from any sort of display-intensive nature whatsoever. Currently, there are few applications that use the PDA’s display to its full potential. Jeff Hawkins, co-founder of Handspring and the co-inventor of the Palm OS, does not believe that color screens currently make market sense; there needs to be more software applications that use color effectively [3]. So far, the only applications that really rely on a good color display are games and photo viewers, but games have been quite lacking amidst the backdrop of exciting new video game consoles, and photograph viewers have just not caught on. So there seem to be many limitations that inhibit the success of the PDA, the most critical being the lack of software applications. More specifically, it is the lack of useful software applications that play on the strengths of PDAs and avoid its weaknesses.
2.2 UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROLS Home entertainment devices have been multiplying in recent years. The outpouring of different types of media has spawned a multitude of different components with which to play them. A decade ago, a VCR and tape deck may have sufficed, but now, every household seems to have a list of must-haves that include TVs, satellite or
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cable, receivers, stereos, speakers, and various media players. When each of these components comes with a separate remote control, users quickly find themselves inundated. The remote control has engrained itself into our society. “Since [its birth], the remote control has become a cultural icon, a bane of television advertisers, a focus of household power struggles and an enduring symbol of American life. ‘We are in a remote-controlled world,’ said Dan Williard, president of Replacement Remotes. ‘People are lost without it.’ The most frantic calls to his company come from people who need replacements sent overnight before ‘the big game,’ he said” [8]. David Alpert, president of an Internet startup called MarketingInfo, admits that he is addicted to remote controls, as is his family [8]. The Alperts have accumulated around fifty-five remote controls around their house over the years to control things as trivial as the air-conditioning system and the lights. Five remote controls are required just to watch a movie, and twelve to listen to the radio (because of separate controls for components like the subwoofers and the equalizer). Although an extreme example, the Alperts show how remote controls can overrun a family’s life. The figures can be quite astounding. Remote controls now outnumber the entire population of the United States [5]. And according to the Consumer Electronics Association, the average U.S. household has more than four remote controls [3], which, in many instances, is greater than the number of residents in the house. In fact, 99 percent of all TV sets and 100 percent of all VCRs sold in the United States come with a remote control [9]. Simply having a TV and a VCR at home means owning two remote controls. Add any other electronic component, and it too, is likely to have a remote control as well.
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Beyond the home entertainment system, remote controls are now found with such appliances as the fans, air conditioning, lighting, synthetic fireplaces, and drapes. In the car, there is the in-dash stereo system as well as passenger video consoles. And even in front of the computer, PlanetPortal will introduce the WebRemote Control, which will allow a user to surf the web with a touch of the button – just for those who have become too impatient with using even a mouse. The universal remote control is the solution to the mess of remote controls that multiple electronic components bring. It is a single remote control that can be used in place of all others to control any device that at one time relied on its own remote control. With the current state of remote controls, there has never been a greater need for such a device. Universal remotes are priced from $7.99 to over $1000; this range makes it evident that different remote controls have very different features. Low-end remotes can be had for $20 or less. They work, but don’t come with any extended functionality. They will probably require users to enter codes for each of the components and will not likely support the more advanced options such as Picture-in-Picture for TVs. Mid-level remotes usually retail for less than $100. Most midrange remotes add the feature of IR learning; instead of entering codes for each component, the remote control can “learn” IR codes by simply aiming and clicking a working manufacturer’s remote at the universal remote. The universal will then pick up the code and assign it to one of its buttons. The high-end remotes often take the form of PDAs and have a wide array of advanced features and price tags that can soar in the hundreds of dollars. Not only can they learn IR codes, they often come with an LCD touch screen (much like a PDA) and the ability to connect to a
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PC. Some come with software programs that let users customize the interface on these touch screens. They can also accommodate a lot more equipment such as home lighting and WebTV. Companies have flocked to the universal remote control market, and customers have likewise flocked to stores to snatch them up. MSN's eShop currently lists 66 different models for sale [5], and the fact that many are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a universal remote shows the high demand for such devices. Many universal remote control fanatics have even risen from this crowd. For Daniel Tonks, updating, maintaining, and writing independent remote reviews for the Web became his new fulltime job [1]. He maintains a site named RemoteCentral.com that contains just about any information one would need to know about universal remote controls, whether a novice looking into getting a universal for the first time or an experienced user looking to get the latest tips and tricks. “[There] you can join in community debates, such as whether macro pause buttons should be activated after a one-second or a two-second delay” [4]. Despite their popularity, universal remote controls currently on the market are far from perfect and far from solving all the problems for which they were intended. Many fight a losing battle to achieve both functionality and simplicity, and usually are succumbed by one or the other. Low-end remotes usually manage to keep themselves simple and straightforward, but they lack the functionality to make them truly useful devices. As the remotes become pricier and more functionality is added, the complexity is magnified by several magnitudes. “At some point, massing remote features in one push-button unit becomes self-defeating, experts say. With so many options, confusion can displace convenience” [5]. Users get turned off quickly as complexity and the
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learning curve increase. Both sides of the price spectrum are vulnerable to bugs and defects as well. The low-end models are faulty simply because they are cheap and use cheap parts. The high-end models suffer from complexity, and therefore, a greater chance of bugs. One reviewer for the Wall Street Journal invited several computer engineers to test out and play around with a handful of universal remotes [4]. This intelligently elite group was baffled by many of the remotes and overwhelmed by their complexity. One of the members of this group was Yaroslav Faybishenko, who is regarded as one of the top Java programmers in the Silicon Valley. He used words like “awkward” to describe some of the remotes that he dealt with that day. These problems have caused much trouble for users. There have been stories of people who decide not to deal with the additional grief that many universal remote controls can bring. Instead, they make their own by taping their four most essential remote controls around a block of wood. Although this is an extreme example, many people are looking for a universal remote control that is reliable, cheap, convenient, and simple to use. So far, few, if any, of the current universals can offer all these qualities.
2.3 ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS The list of alternative solutions consists mainly of the universal remote controls discussed above – each of them has multiple weaknesses. The OmniRemote program is the exception in that it runs on Palm PDAs rather than a proprietary remote control device. This program comes the closest to resembling the PocketRemote but still falls short in many aspects. This section details a select few of the possible universal remote 11
controls currently on the market. This is a critical section of this paper because a large part of the motivation behind PocketRemote was drawn from the weaknesses that the alternative solutions exhibited. The design of PocketRemote was guided largely by trying to remedy these faults.
Radio Shack 15-1994
Figure 2 - Radio Shack 15-1994.
The Radio Shack 15-1994 is one of the more popular models on the market, attested to by the fact that it has its own website (www.hifi-remote.com). The 15-1994 is a mid-range remote retailing at $39.99, but many claim that it can do everything a highend model can. It can control up to six devices, including satellite and cable receivers. Its ability to support picture-in-picture controls is also attractive. Because of the lack of an LCD display, however, the 15-1994 is forced to clutter itself with an array of buttons so that the users will find a place for all their desired buttons.
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Philips Pronto
Figure 3 - Philips Pronto.
The Philips Pronto leads the way into the higher end of the universal remote control spectrum. It has seven “hard” direct-access buttons along with an LCD touchscreen that displays the soft buttons. Its 5.4 × 3.6 inch dimension makes it larger than most universal remotes and helps to prevent frequent “mistypes” of the soft buttons. The larger size, however, may require most people to use two hands when using the Pronto. The screen has a 320 × 240 resolution and is backlit for visibility in the dark. The lack of color and decent contrast, however, takes away from the screen’s full potential and makes viewing somewhat strained. One of the most unique features of the Pronto is the ProntoEdit, a complimentary software package used to create button layouts on a PC. A layout is created with ProntoEdit and then downloaded to the Pronto remote. Layouts can likewise be posted on the Internet and swapped and downloaded by any other Pronto user. This feature, in fact, has spawned its own website (www.prontoedit.com) where users can share layouts. The site also serves as a forum where users can go to easily obtain information, icons, program files, and infrared codes. The software itself, however, is both complex and 13
somewhat limiting. It undoubtedly requires an experienced computer user, such that for most persons, making new button layouts will be far from a trivial task. The Pronto has impressive features, but at $399, it is a major investment and seems hardly worth the price. Throw on the optional rechargeable battery pack and recharging station and the price increases by another $99. Philips recently unveiled its new color Pronto, which sells for $999. The ridiculousness of this price becomes even more evident when considering the fact that a customer can buy a complete home theater system for the price of this remote control.
Proton Smart
Figure 4 - Proton Smart.
For somewhat of a more reasonable price, the Proton Smart is available for $200 and comes with some of the same advanced features as the Philips Pronto. It is longer and slimmer than the Philips Pronto and takes the shape of a more conventional remote control making it easier to manipulate with one hand. The LCD touch-screen is also
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smaller, such that more of the focus lies on its “hard” direct-access buttons, of which there are eight of them (“On”, “Off”, “Volume”, “Channel”, etc.).
Figure 5 - ProntoEdit screen shots.
The display is still capable of being customized, however, with similar PC-based editing software. The software is much like the ProntoEdit, but is much more limited. Buttons are limited to simple rectangles, and no real graphics are allowed – only text and a selection of commonly used symbols such as arrows can be used. The program also has known bugs, which causes the program to crash if the right settings are not in place. The Proton also limits the number of buttons on a page, and the number of total pages as well. The Proton does not quite live up to the Philips Pronto’s features, but it also costs significantly less. However, everything with the Proton is sold separately so that to have the docking station and the editing software, customers must fork over $110 and $50 respectively. After doing the addition, the Proton no longer seems quite as affordable.
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OmniRemote
Figure 6 - OmniRemote running on a Palm Pilot.
The OmniRemote is a universal remote control program for Palm-based PDAs. It will convert PDAs running Palm OS version 3.0 or higher into a self-contained remote control with the buttons being displayed on the touch screen. The OmniRemote has a configurable user interface meaning users are allowed to create and place buttons wherever they wish. Up to fifteen screens and an unlimited number of buttons can be made, but only out of rectangles with plain text and a palette of common symbols. Not much else can be asked for out of the Palm in terms of graphics because of the limited resolution and color of the display. The black and white boxes of the OmniRemote are all that can be handled adequately from the Palm’s display anyway, making for somewhat of a dull and overly simplistic feel. The remote learns different IR commands from the remotes that it replaces – direct a remote at the Palm’s IR port, and the OmniRemote will learn the command. One major problem is that some Palm models do not come with built-in IR. In this case, the user must purchase either a Palm upgrade IR card or the OmniRemote external IR module, which retails for $30. Even with it built in, the IR port on the Palm points out the 16
bottom, making for very awkward controlling. This requires having to flip the interface and then holding the PDA upside-down in order for the IR beam to shoot out the front. Therefore, using the remote control can be somewhat of an awkward experience. The software retails for $20, but this can be somewhat steep for people who are not used to paying much (or at all) for software. Add on a $30 IR module, and the price might persuade many to go with a conventional universal. With most of the alternatives discussed, there is a general theme of being overly complex and pricey. In terms of consumer preferences, these are the two most important aspects of universal remote controls. The success of a universal remote lies solely in the consumer; any technical benchmark must give way to the user’s happiness about the product, which is dependent on how much the user paid and how easy the product is to handle.
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3
Design
3.1 P ROJECT GOALS In order for PocketRemote to be successful, it must meet several design goals, which are discussed in this section. The most important of these goals is convenience (for the user). If we examine the fundamental goals of both PDAs and universal remote controls, we will see that convenience is the underlying motive. Without a doubt, the functions of a PDA can be reproduced by less convenient means – people can manage their information using pen and paper, and any other computing needs can be accomplished back at home on their PC or possibly a laptop. Likewise, a universal remote control does not really do anything ordinary users cannot already accomplish on their own. The PDA and the universal remote control exist to provide a convenient alternative to having to lug around a laptop or having to get up to change the channels. Several goals spin off from the ideal of convenience – PocketRemote should be user-friendly, affordable, and attainable. The application should be very intuitive and users should not have to study manuals for long periods of time before being able to use it. PocketRemote is not intended solely for the technically inclined; it must be simple enough for the general public to use as PDA ownership begins to move beyond just the “techies” and goes deeper into the general public. Other goals that motivate the development of PocketRemote involve the market perspective on PDAs. Without more programs beyond basic PIM applications, future 18
increases in sales figures for PDAs could be in jeopardy. One of PocketRemote’s goals is to provide the PDA with a much-desired application to boost its usefulness and chances of survival in a harsh market. In order to accomplish this task, the application must take advantage of the PDA’s strengths while avoiding its weaknesses. The infrared port is an extremely underused communications means on the PDA. Currently, it is the most viable method of wireless communication, and applications simply do not take advantage of it enough. Few applications have really made much use of color screens either. Advanced displays with high resolution and a large number of colors exist, yet black and white PDAs still are big sellers simply because color screens are not necessary. Synchronization with the PC is also a very strong feature of PDAs. Because PDAs still do not have the full capabilities of a modern PC, they can gain a lot from being able to sync with the latter. Much of the work can then be done on the PC, and the results can be transferred to the PDA. There are some things that the PDA is not yet equipped to handle efficiently. One of those is wirelessly connecting to the Internet. As mentioned in the previous section, wireless Internet connections on PDAs are still extremely expensive (monthly payments plus additional hardware) and slow (maximum speeds of 40-50 kbps). Furthermore, web pages do no display correctly on the miniature-sized screens of PDAs, especially when images are involved. All of this makes surfing the Web a very awkward and laborious task. The Internet is probably the greatest resource out there, and easy access to it would bring a great deal to the PDA; however, Internet access is simply not a practical option at this point in time and should stay on the desktop.
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Another weakness of PDAs is text input. Without a full size keyboard, inputting text usually requires the user to write on the touch-screen using the stylus in some OSspecific handwriting guideline or to tap individual letters on a “soft” keyboard displayed on the screen. Needless to say, entering text is time-consuming and somewhat unnatural. A good application will keep the need for user input of text to a minimum.
3.2 P OCKET PC The decision to base the application around the Pocket PC operating system was the most critical issue affecting program development, since any application is strongly tied into its operating system. In the handheld world, there are basically only two operating systems in existence: Microsoft’s Pocket PC and the Palm OS. Such manufacturers as Compaq, HP, and Casio use the Pocket PC in their devices, while the Palm OS runs on Palm, Handspring, and Sony PDAs. These two families are fighting a bitter battle over market share for PDAs. Palm was at the forefront of the PDA revolution in 1996 and therefore has an overwhelming majority of the market. However, Microsoft debuted its Pocket PC operating system for the PDA in the spring of 2000 and is now fast on the heels of Palm. Pocket PC and Palm subscribe to two completely different mantras. Palm sacrifices features in favor of battery life and simplicity [2]. Pocket PC, on the other hand, is all about features and tries to mimic, as much as possible, the capabilities of a desktop computer. Although Palm has been the winner so far in the marketplace, its mantra may also be its downfall. As users’ preliminary fascination with Palms begins to
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wear off, they will increasingly demand more features. No longer being satisfied with this glorified address book, they will look to things such as color screens, MP3 and video playback, word processing, and wireless communication. The Palm OS will be hardpressed to provide such services while maintaining long battery life and an overly simplistic operating system. The Pocket PC is a more forward-looking system; it is the closest thing one can get to a desktop computer fitting in one’s trouser pocket. In fact, the Compaq iPAQ, running the Pocket PC, has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Most Powerful Personal Digital Assistant” and many other PDAs rival the performance of desktop computers only a couple of years old. Although the battery life cannot compare with that of Palm’s, the issue may become trivial in the future, as new battery technology is introduced over time. Pocket PCs come with 16-bit color screens with a 320×240 resolution. Such a display makes for a much-improved PocketRemote, which relies heavily on the user interface, skins, graphical buttons, and a TV listings viewer that is easy to read and navigate. It would be difficult to make a decent-looking remote control on Palms, which usually employ a colorless gray-toned display with much lower resolution. Pocket PCs have CPUs clocking at over 200 MHz while Palms are still operating at around 33 MHz, insufficient to handle many of the more advanced computing applications.
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Palm OS Applications
Address Book Calculator Calendar Expense tracking Games Mail Security Memo pad To-do list
Pocket PC Address Book Calculator Calendar Expense tracking Games Mail Security Memo pad To-do list eBook reader Internet Explorer MP3 player Voice recorder Street Maps
Battery
11 – 12 hours
6 – 12 hours
Character Input Methods
2
3
Connection Options
COMM, IR
COMM, IR, USB
Memory
8 MB
16 MB – 32 MB
Color Levels
256
4,096 – 65,000
Resolution
160 × 160
320 × 240
Processor
20 MHz
133 – 206 MHz
Automated Synchronization
No
Yes
Synchronization Speed
115,200 kbps
690,000 kbps
51.2%
13.0%
- 16.7%
+ 2.8%
$499
$499 – $599
Percent of PDA Sales (August 2001) Change in Percent of PDA Sales (June – August 2001) Price (MSRP)
Table 1 - Palm OS v. Pocket PC - System Features Comparison [10, 26]
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The decision to go with Pocket PC was not only based on the fact that PocketRemote would run better on its specifications, but that its features would eventually pull Pocket PC out as the dominant OS behind the world’s PDAs. As more and more serious PDA applications come out, people will come to realize that the Pocket PC is the superior operating system. Although still far behind, Pocket PC is gaining on Palm at a rapid pace. And with Microsoft’s track record, it is not crazy to think that the giant software corporation can come to control any technical domain that it sets its sight on. It already has a monopoly on PC operating systems, and that can only help its efforts in the PDA world. Because Pocket PC is based heavily on Microsoft Windows, users get a familiar interface, which even includes miniature versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and Internet Explorer. All of these factors will work towards Microsoft yet again owning the PDA market.
3.3 SKINS PocketRemote takes the unique approach of using ordinary bitmap image files (skins) to make up the appearance of the remote controls. Currently, most other LCDbased universal remotes provide their own template of buttons that the user can lay out with specialized software. PocketRemote’s use of skins holds several advantages over this current approach. The first advantage is ease of use. Creating a PocketRemote skin does not require users to learn another program, given that users already know how to use a basic drawing program such as Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop, and Microsoft Paint. In order to create a remote control on most other LCD-based remotes, users are required to learn a 23
specialized program made by that manufacturer. Many of these programs, based on the author’s trials, are not intuitive, limited in function, and difficult to use. The second advantage lies in the flexibility that these graphics programs offer. PocketRemote only puts a few restrictions, such as image size, on the type of remote control skins that a user can create. Because of this freedom, PocketRemote users can create skins to perfectly suit their needs and are not subject to the limited configurations of other universal remotes. Virtually any type of button can be placed anywhere. This flexibility leads to the third advantage of increased creativity. Remote controls made for the PocketRemote have the potential to be much more exciting and more appealing than the competitors’ because they can be made with the most powerful graphics software and are virtually unrestricted. The best that one can accomplish with the competitors’ software is usually some sort of arrangement of gray rectangular buttons with some text. Aesthetics, not just practicality, is an important part of the user experience and PocketRemote recognizes that fact. All of this leads to the goal of creating a large user community to create and share skins with each other. As an increasing number of persons join into such a community, excitement over PocketRemote will grow, attracting even more users in a snowball effect. This process of creating skins has already proven to be successful with programs such as the popular media player WinAmp, and PocketRemote hopes to play on that same strategy. Skins will be posted on the Web and made freely available for downloading among users. In this way, users do not even necessarily need to create their own skins. Yet, the author expects many users to get involved in creating skins resulting in some very elaborate creations.
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3.4 P ROGRAMMING LANGUAGES The creation of PocketRemote involved a range of development tools and programming languages, leveraging each language’s strength to a specific purpose in the overall development process. The main portion of PocketRemote that runs on the Pocket PC is developed using Microsoft eMbedded Visual Basic. Visual Basic is a good programming language to use for rapid software development. Its ease of use and high-level functionality allow for programs to come to life in a short matter of time. It is also a good fit because PocketRemote is based heavily on graphics, and eMbedded Visual Basic allows for dragand-drop of GUI objects making the creation of a user interface very straightforward. Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++ is used to supplement development on the Pocket PC. C++ is more difficult to program, but is a much more powerful language than Visual Basic. It is able to get on a much lower level than Visual Basic, which results in much greater functionality and is used in those areas that Visual Basic is not capable of handling. COM (Component Object Model) objects are developed in C++ in order to incorporate object-oriented programming (OOP), since OOP is not supported in eMbedded Visual Basic. The PC component (SmartGuide) is developed using Visual J++. The objectoriented aspects of the language are well suited for the program, and the Windows Foundation Classes (WFC), which are included in Visual J++, will allow for authentic Windows interfaces. WFC is an object-oriented framework that provides Java class encapsulation of the Win32 API, the direct interfaces to programming the underlying Windows operating system. 25
3.5 GENERAL APPROACH At the time of development, Pocket PC was still a relatively new handheld operating system. Not many people had programmed for the Pocket PC, so virtually everybody (including the author) was a novice in this area. The author did not have any experience in general Windows programming either, which would have been of considerable help in the field of Pocket PC programming. Making the task even harder, resources for programming the Pocket PC simply did not exist because of the newness of the operating system. The only published reference material was on the Windows CE operating system, the outdated ancestor of the Pocket PC. Microsoft Press had not even released any books or guides to programming its new operating system. A few resources did exist and were extensively used during the development of PocketRemote. These resources were mainly in the form of websites. The main site of interest was Microsoft’s MSDN Online (http://msdn.microsoft.com), which provided resources, tutorials, and code examples for developers using any Microsoft technology. Other sites were created solely for the Pocket PC. DeVBuzz (http://www.devbuzz.com) is devoted to eMbedded Visual Basic development for the Pocket PC and contains many tutorials and forums. Many bugs and problems were discovered by looking through other developers’ postings in the forums.
26
3.6 MATERIALS The following is a list of all materials used in the development of PocketRemote, divided into software and hardware.
Software PRODUCT
DESCRIPTION
Microsoft eMbedded
Development environment designed specifically for creating applications
Visual Tools 3.0
on the Pocket PC. Includes eMbedded Visual Basic® and eMbedded Visual C++®, including SDKs for the Pocket PC.
Main development tool used for creating the PocketRemote application. Microsoft Visual J++ 6.0
Development environment for the Java programming language.
Used to create SmartGuide, the portion of the PocketRemote application that runs on the desktop. Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0
Development environment for the C++ programming language.
Used to integrate SmartGuide with the Windows 2000 operating system. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
Development environment for the Visual Basic programming language.
Used to test and debug because it provides the fastest way to develop
27
programs. Microsoft Access 2000
Database program that is included with Microsoft Office 2000.
Used to transfer TV listing information downloaded by SmartGuide from the desktop to the Pocket PC. Microsoft ActiveSync
Allows data transfer between desktop and Pocket PC.
Used to transfer TV listing databases from the desktop (SmartGuide) to the Pocket PC. Corel Draw 10
Graphics/illustration program.
Used to create icons and remote control skins. InstallShield Professional: Setup-authoring tool. Windows Installer Edition Used to create the installation/setup process for PocketRemote. Table 2 - List of all software required for development.
28
Hardware PRODUCT Workstation
DESCRIPTION Any PC running the Windows 2000 operating system.
Used for all development efforts. Pocket PC
A PDA running the Pocket PC operating system (i.e. HP Jornada, Compaq iPAQ, Casio Cassiopeia, etc.).
Essential for testing purposes. IR Receiver
An infrared receiver connected via serial port to the PC.
Used for capturing the infrared signals sent by the Pocket PC and remote controls. Photodiode
Used for capturing the infrared signals sent by the Pocket PC and remote controls.
Oscilloscope
Used for analyzing the infrared signals sent by the Pocket PC and remote controls.
Table 3 - List of all hardware required for development.
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4 Specifications
The Specifications section serves to give a detailed run-through on how to operate PocketRemote, acting like a brief user’s manual. The section will cover how to set up both the PC and the Pocket PC component of the application and how to use them.
4.1 SMARTGUIDE (PC COMPONENT) This part of SmartGuide is meant to run on any Windows-based PC hooked up to an Internet connection. The “PC component” serves solely to collect TV show information from the Web. After parsing, the data can then be transferred to the Pocket PC component for viewing within the application.
Setup To start SmartGuide on the desktop, select it from the “Start Menu\Programs” folder; it should be listed as “SmartGuide” next to its icon. The SmartGuide window will pop up (Figure 7). The first thing to do is to set up the Provider ID, which determines who the particular cable provider is. Depending on geographic location, users may receive drastically different channel lineups, local programs, and show times from each other. Therefore, before being able to use SmartGuide, users required to look up their Provider ID from the TV Guide Online website. 30
Figure 7 - SmartGuide Provider window.
Users must go to http://www.tvguide.com/listings in order to configure their cable setup (Figure 8). Following the instructions at the site, users will first enter their zip code, which leads to a list of possible cable providers (Figure 9). Once the cable provider is selected, the configuration is done, and the correct TV listings will appear for that particular user. Now, the Provider ID can be found by simply placing the mouse cursor over any show in the listings. In the status bar at the lower-left hand corner of the browser, a message of the form “javascript: cl(‘xxxxxx’,’yyyyyy’) will appear (Figure 10). ‘xxxxxx’ is the Provider ID. To enter this number, go to the “Provider” tab in the SmartGuide window (Figure 7), type it into the text box, and then click “Enter”. Once
31
entered, SmartGuide will automatically connect to TV Guide Online using this new Provider ID to scan all of the channels available to the user.
Figure 8 - TV Guide Online - Listings Setup - Enter Zip Code.
Figure 10 - TV Guide Online - The Provider ID for this example is 71086.
33
Once the channel scan is completed, select the “Channels” tab to view the channel lineup (Figure 11). From here, users can select the specific channels for which they want information. To do this, simply click on a channel in the “Available Channels” column (or multiple channels while holding the Ctrl key) and click “Add” to move them over to the “Selected Channels” column. SmartGuide will only download information for those channels listed in the “Selected Channels” column.
Figure 11 - SmartGuide Channels window.
Of course, users can simply add all of the channels instead of choosing specific ones, but it is undoubtedly more advantageous to select only those needed. Slimming down on the number of channels selected will save connection bandwidth and download time. And because PDAs have limited memory, we wish to eliminate as much
34
unnecessary data storage as possible. Lastly, the PocketRemote user will be inundated with TV show information if all of the channels were selected, and navigating through them will be slow and disorderly. Therefore, being conservative on the number of channels selected will result in simplicity and efficiency.
Figure 12 - SmartGuide Times window.
After the channels have been selected, users will select the times of the day during which they want listings. In the “Times” tab, the days of the week are listed with start times and stop times for each (Figure 12). For each day of the week, a different time period can be set in order to maximally and efficiently coincide with a user’s TV-viewing preferences. This form allows users to limit downloading to only information that will likely be of use. For example, if the only TV a particular person watches was prime-time
35
on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, then they can simply set the start time to 8:00 PM and the stop time to 10:00 PM for each of those days and likewise select their corresponding check boxes. Only TV show information that falls during these times will be downloaded. One important fact about the “Times” form is that a day is defined to start and end at 4 AM instead of midnight. This modification allows for continuous viewing since only a single time period can be set for each day. Because many people are still awake – and watching TV – at midnight, a time period will have to be cut in half and separated on two consecutive days without this modification. In selecting 4:00 AM, we have set the day cut-off to be a time when almost everybody is asleep. In this way, the entire contiguous block of time during which a person is awake can fall under a single day. Furthermore, the “Default” buttons can make setting times easier. If TV viewing times are the same across multiple days, users can simply set that start and stop time in the “Default” row. Then, by simply clicking the “Default” button corresponding to a particular day of the week, that time period will be automatically set to whatever is displayed in the “Default” row. Finally, the “Task” tab provides the settings to enable automation of SmartGuide (Figure 13). Users can specify when and how often they want fresh data to be downloaded and SmartGuide will automatically run at these times. In the “Task Schedule” frame, users specify how often, in terms of number of days, that they want SmartGuide to run, and additionally, the time at which they want to run it. The time can be set to anything, but it is usually set to the early morning when users are asleep. This way, SmartGuide can automatically do its job and not have to take away processing time
36
or network bandwidth from anybody during peak hours. It is not necessary to run SmartGuide every night since a few days’ worth of data can be obtained in each download. A balance must be struck in deciding the frequency of downloads. Users want to maintain a higher number of days in between downloads in order to save the trouble of frequent downloads and synchronizations, but too high a number can also mean overwhelming memory demands or outdated information. A time period of two to three days is usually ideal.
Figure 13 - SmartGuide Task window.
The “Download Amount” frame allows the user to specify how many days of TV show information to get during each download. This number should be coordinated with the download frequency value just mentioned. If the download frequency was set to three
37
days, then the download amount should probably be set to at least three days so as not to miss data for any day. Of course, a number higher than three days can be set in case the data are not synchronized for more than three days, for example. Too high a download amount, however, will exhaust precious memory resources. Lastly, the “Download Status” frame gives information while the downloading is taking place such as current TV show or channel being parsed.
Using SmartGuide Once the setup is complete, there is not much to using SmartGuide since it is completely automated. All users have to do is make sure to have their computer on during the scheduled download events. Users can also initiate unscheduled downloads, however, by simply clicking the “Download” button. Once clicked, SmartGuide will instantly begin the process of downloading without affecting SmartGuide’s regularly scheduled sessions.
Database Synchronization After SmartGuide finishes downloading TV listings, the data are stored in a Microsoft Access database on the desktop’s hard drive. So the obvious next step is to get this information from the desktop onto the Pocket PC for viewing. This transfer is done via ActiveSync (Figure 14), the software that allows Pocket PCs to synchronize data – such as calendar, contacts, and tasks – with a PC.
38
Figure 14 - ActiveSync screenshot.
The Microsoft Access database on the PC is synchronized with the Pocket Access database on the Pocket PC. Whenever the PDA is docked, ActiveSync will determine if the database on the PC has different (fresher) data than the one on the Pocket PC; if so, the Pocket PC database will be automatically updated. So the entire process of transferring the TV listings is hidden, in a way, since synchronization is done automatically whenever the Pocket PC is put in its cradle. To setup such a configuration, dock the PDA in its cradle to start up ActiveSync. Then double-click the ActiveSync icon in the system tray and select “Options” from the “Tools” menu. Select “Pocket Access” in the list and hit “OK”.
39
Figure 15 - ActiveSync Options.
Figure 16 - Database Synchronization Settings.
In the ActiveSync window (Figure 15), double-click on “Pocket Access” to bring up the “Database Synchronization Settings” dialog box (Figure 16) and click “Add…”. In the resulting “Open file” dialog box, navigate to the location of the “SmartGuide.mdb” file on the desktop computer; this is the database file where SmartGuide has stored all the downloaded TV listings. The location should be the PocketRemote installation directory, which defaults to “C:\Program Files\System26\PocketRemote”, but it could vary depending on which directory was specified during installation. Click the “Open” button once the file is located. In the “Import from Database to Mobile Device” dialog box (Figure 17), enter the location where the database will be stored on the mobile device. If PocketRemote is installed in main memory, then it is probably “\Program Files\PocketRemote\ SmartGuide.cdb”. If PocketRemote is installed on a storage card, then it is probably “\Storage Card\System26\PocketRemote\SmartGuide.cdb”. Make sure all check boxes are selected and then click “OK”. 40
Figure 17 - Import from Database to Mobile Device.
Figure 18 - Database Synchronization Settings.
When the database finishes copying to the device, one should be returned to the “Database Synchronization Settings” dialog. Make sure the SmartGuide database appears in the list and that it is selected for synchronization; then click “OK” to complete database synchronization.
4.2 P OCKETREMOTE (P OCKET PC COMPONENT) We now turn to the Pocket PC side to discuss the operation of PocketRemote. The application is dependent on user-created skins to serve as the actual interface for the remote control. This strategy allows for maximum flexibility in allowing users to control how they want their remote control to appear and what kind of remote controls they need.
41
Remote Control Setup To start the PocketRemote application, click its icon in the “Start Menu\ Programs” folder on the mobile device. The application could take up to several minutes to load if the SmartGuide database is large. Once the application is fully loaded, a screen will pop up indicating “You need to create a remote control!” (Figure 19). Click “Options” from the Remotes menu at the bottom of the screen to setup a remote control.
Figure 19 - PocketRemote initial screen.
Figure 20 - PocketRemote Options form.
This brings up the “Remote Options” screen (Figure 20), where all of the management of the remotes is performed. Any installed remotes will show in the list box on the left side of the screen. To create a new remote to add to this list, simply click the “New…” button. A different form will now appear to allow users to create their new remote control (Figure 21). All skins subsequently placed in the correct directory will appear in the 42
lower half of the screen in preview form and users can browse through them with the arrow buttons to either side. The skins are categorized by their type (i.e. what devices they control). The first thing users need to do is select the skin that they want. Then a “Remote Name” must be provided; this is how the new remote control will be identified in PocketRemote, so the name should be a good indicator of what exactly the remote is intended to control. Once this is done, click “ok” in the top-right corner.
Figure 21 - PocketRemote new remote form.
Figure 22 - Remote control created.
Now, the “Remote Options” screen will reappear but with the newly created remote control listed in the list box (Figure 22). If unhappy with the recently chosen name or skin of the new remote, users can change these values by highlighting the remote in the list box and selecting the “Edit…” button. Otherwise, if everything is satisfactory, click “ok” to return to the main PocketRemote screen.
43
Learning Mode Now, the newly created remote will be displayed in the PocketRemote main screen (Figure 23). At this point, however, it is only an image with no functionality – it has not yet been taught what to do.
Figure 23 - PocketRemote displaying newly created remote control.
The learning mode is the process where each button “learns” what specific infrared signals to send out. This process provides for maximum flexibility in designing remote controls. Users can put any button that they want on a particular remote control or even mix buttons on a single remote from different physical remote controls. This will not affect the proper functioning of the program since each button is trained independently of others.
44
Figure 24 – “Remotes” menu with newly created remote control and “Learn…” entry listed.
In order for the new remote control to learn the appropriate commands, one must enter “Learning Mode”. To do this, select the “Remotes” menu at the bottom of the screen (Figure 24). At this point, there should be some new entries in the menu list. The first new item is the newly created remote control. This is where users can switch between different remote controls in their collection. The second new menu item is the “Learn…” entry. Select this entry to enter “Learning Mode”. To learn the command for a specific button, push that button in the PocketRemote display. A dialog box will appear indicating that PocketRemote is ready and waiting for any infrared signals to save for this button (Figure 25).
45
Figure 25 - Ready to capture IR signal.
Figure 26 - Command learned.
To carry out the learning process, align the infrared ports of the Pocket PC and the actual remote control, making sure that they are as close as possible to ensure a strong signal. Hold the button on the actual remote control for approximately one second. Once PocketRemote has picked up the infrared signal, it should indicate that the command was learned (Figure 26). Press “OK” if finished, “Retry” to relearn the command, or “Cancel” to undo changes to this button. After “OK” is pressed, the button that has been programmed should appear in another color in the learning mode screen indicating that it now has a command associated with it (Figure 27). Now, repeat this process until all buttons have learned their associated commands. To exit learning mode and return to the normal mode, press the “ok” button in the top right corner of the screen.
46
Figure 27 - The learned button ("1") appears in an alternate color.
Using SmartGuide Within PocketRemote SmartGuide is the main factor in setting PocketRemote apart from all the other universal remote controls. SmartGuide is integrated into the PocketRemote application so that the user can view TV listings while using the remote control and even interact with the TV listings to jump directly to a channel or show. There are three view settings for SmartGuide: hidden, simple, and full screen. In hidden mode, SmartGuide is simply not displayed (Figure 28). To view the simple mode, click the “SmartGuide” menu at the bottom of the screen and select “Show Simple”. SmartGuide will appear as a single bar at the top of the application, displaying several attributes for a particular TV show: (1) channel number, (2) station ID, (3) show name, and (4) starting and (5) ending times for the show (Figure 29). A show that is currently on (based on the PDA system time) will have its name written in white; otherwise, the name 47
will be in black. Being confined to only the top of the screen allows the user to operate both SmartGuide and PocketRemote at the same time, while having the essentials of each on the screen.
Figure 28 - SmartGuide hidden.
Figure 29 - SmartGuide Simple View.
The entire database of TV listings can be accessed from the simple view by scrolling through it one show at a time. Using the up and down arrows to the left of the channel number, users can scroll through the various channels for which they requested data. In addition, clicking the starting and ending times on the right-hand side of the SmartGuide bar will scroll through the database by time. Clicking the starting time will display the previous show on that channel, and clicking the ending time will display the next one. To return to the current time, simply tap-and-hold within the time display’s red pane.
48
Much more information for each show is available than what appears in the simple-view bar of SmartGuide. In order to pull up additional information on a particular show, simply tap-and-hold in the blue plane that contains the show’s name.
Figure 30 - Detailed show description.
Figure 31 - SmartGuide Full Screen.
A dialog box will appear which lists the basic information seen in the simple view along with the category, the show title, and a show description (Figure 30). Tapping anywhere in this screen will make it disappear. There is also the option to view SmartGuide in “Full Screen…” mode, in which SmartGuide is displayed on top of the remote control using the full extent of the display (Figure 30). In this view, SmartGuide looks more like the traditional TV listings found online or in the newspaper. The grid-like setup lists TV shows with channels on the vertical axis and times on the horizontal axis. The screen of the PDA can accommodate about eight rows of channels and two half-hour columns of times. 49
To scroll through the entire database of shows, one can scroll through the channels by clicking the up and down arrows in the white pane in the corner of the grid. Clicking the left and right arrows in the white pane will scroll the times by one-hour increments. To scroll by one-day increments, click on the left and right arrows to the right of the date in the green pane. The swooping arrow (similar to the button found in Pocket Outlook) will return the screen to the current time. Just as in the simple view, a tap-and-hold of a show name will bring up a detailed description of that show. To return to normal PocketRemote use, click “ok” in the top-right hand corner of the screen.
Creating Skins Although skins are simply bitmap image files, they need to follow some basic guidelines in order to be compatible with PocketRemote. First, it is recommended that two bitmap files be made for each skin – one representing the “rest” state of the remote control and the other representing the “pressed” state. The “rest” state will be used for the regular state of the remote control. The “pressed” image file will represent the remote control when all of its buttons are pressed. It is recommended that for each button, the “pressed” image should be different (i.e. inverted colors) in order to be able to signify that a user has pressed the button. The “pressed” file, therefore, should be the same as the regular “rest” file except that every button should be drawn as if it were pressed. Whenever a user presses a button, PocketRemote will display that button’s corresponding area in the “pressed” file for a second to notify the user that the button was pressed. The “rest” state file should be named “image.bmp” (Figure 32), and the “pressed” state file should be named “imagealt.bmp” (Figure 33). 50
Figure 32 - Example "image.bmp" file.
Figure 33 - Example "imagealt.bmp" file.
The bitmap files described above store only the image of the remote control. One cannot, however, tell from just the image where the exact buttons are. To specify button locations, one needs to create a text file named “skin.txt” containing x-y coordinates of the top-left corner and the bottom-right corner. These two coordinate pairs will be sufficient to specify a rectangular bound for each button. In addition, a button name is required for each button and should be descriptive of the button (i.e. “power” for the power button). A row in the text file will correspond to one button and will take the following form: ButtonName
xleft
xright
ytop
51
ybottom
The corresponding skin text file would look something like the following. # # # #
skin name: vcr1 category: VCR Buttons Name xleft xright ytop
power rec epsp disp tvvcr chanup chandn volup voldn stop rewind play fforw pause
After taking the previous steps, we should end up with three files – “image.bmp”, “imagealt.bmp”, and “skin.txt”. These three files should all be placed in one folder and that folder should be placed in the correct directory according to the file structure shown in Figure 34.
Figure 34 - Skin directory structure.
The first level folder underneath the “PocketRemote” directory is the “Skins” folder. Within “Skins”, users are free to create a folder for each type of remote control in their arsenal. The folder containing our three skin files should then be placed under the correct category. PocketRemote uses the name of the folder as the name of the skin. 52
5
Implementation
5.1 DESIGN RATIONALE PocketRemote was designed with two main modules: SmartGuide, which resides on the desktop, and PocketRemote, which resides on the PDA.
SmartGuide
User Interface
Database
Download
Parsers
Task
Settings
Channel Parser
Provider
TV Shows
HTML Parser
Channels
Times
Figure 35 - SmartGuide Module Layout.
SmartGuide is divided into four main submodules – user interface, database, download, and parsers (Figure 35). The user interface module covers the windows that allow a user to manipulate SmartGuide’s settings. The “Task” window allows users to customize their downloading preferences (in terms of when and how much). The 53
“Provider” window is used to establish the correct cable provider for the current user, so as to obtain the correct TV listings. The “Channels” and “Times” allow a user to specify which specific channels and which time periods they want data for. This allows for a more streamlined process since only pertinent information, with respect to the particular user, is downloaded.
PocketRemote
User Interface
Learning
buttons
commands
Skins/Remotes
SmartGuide
TV1
Hidden
TV2
Simple View
VCR
Full View
Cable
...
Figure 36 - PocketRemote Module Layout.
The PocketRemote portion is likewise divided into four major submodules – User Interface, Learning, Skins/Remotes, and SmartGuide (Figure 36). The User Interface consists of the actual remote control and its appearance on the PDA screen along with all menu items. The Learning module is responsible for the PocketRemote’s learning of IR commands from another remote control. The Skins/Remotes module handles all of the
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skins that represent the various remote controls in a user’s database. An important aspect of this module is managing the storage of the skins. The SmartGuide module is that part of SmartGuide that runs on the PDA. It is responsible for tying the desktop portion of SmartGuide in with the rest of the PocketRemote application. This module also needs to retrieve TV show information and display it within the application.
5.2 SMARTGUIDE – CHANNEL LINEUP Before any TV show listings can be downloaded, SmartGuide must first discover the channels available to the user based on the user’s cable provider. The cable provider, as the reader will recall, is represented by the Provider ID, which the user can look up at the TV Guide Online website. This is a one-time process that is executed whenever a new Provider ID is entered. The channel lineup rarely changes, so once determined, it is saved and can be referred to whenever SmartGuide downloads TV listings. This eliminates the need to rediscover the channel lineup on every download. The process of retrieving each channel is generalized in Figure 37.
HTTP Connection
(a)
HTML
(b)
HTML Parser
Channels
(c)
(d)
Channels Database
(e)
Figure 37 - SmartGuide Data Flow for Channel Lineup Setup.
First, an HTTP connection is established to the TV Guide Online Web server. The exact URL for the correct channel lineup depends on the Provider ID. The entire HTML 55
source for this page is downloaded and sent through the HTML Parser module, where the specific channels are picked out from the HTML. The channels for this specific provider are then be stored in the Channels database. Once stored in the database, this process should not need to be repeated unless a new Provider ID is selected, in which case, the new channels must be discovered for this new provider. The following subsections describe the implementation of this process and are supplemented with excerpts of the Java code used in the implementation.
HTTP Connection The first step in retrieving the channel lineup for a particular user’s cable provider is establishing an HTTP connection with TV Guide Online’s Web server. To do this, a URL is specified that contains the Provider ID. The exact URL is “http://www.tvguide.com/listings/index.asp?I=pid” where pid is the value of the Provider ID. This URL is then used to create a new URL object, thereby establishing the connection. static String URLPATH = "http://www.tvguide.com/listings/index.asp?I="; URL url = new URL(URLPATH + pID);
Now, the entire HTML source from this page is downloaded and stored in a single String variable. A BufferedReader is used so that the file is read in and appended to the String variable line by line. When the reader has finished scanning the file, the connection is closed.
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InputStreamReader isr = new InputStreamReader(url.openStream()); BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(isr); String inputLine; while ((inputLine = in.readLine()) != null) result = result.concat(inputLine.trim() + " "); in.close();
HTML Parser
Figure 38 - TV Guide Online partial screen shot corresponding to “http://www.tvguide.com/listings/index.asp?I=pid”.
Now, SmartGuide has the HTML source for the web page and must now pick out the channels. The web page that SmartGuide initially connects to is simply the TV 57
listings for all channels at the time of connection (Figure 38). During this initial phase in which SmartGuide retrieves the channel lineup, it is not concerned with the actual TV listings just yet. It only needs to scan through the channels displayed down the left-hand side of the grid. Looking at the HTML, SmartGuide is able to loop through and easily pick out the listed channels because of the repeating nature of the HTML source code. Each channel in the lineup has a block of HTML code with the same basic structure. The following code excerpt from the HTML source, for example, shows the block corresponding to channel 2A WGBH.
There is a lot of content in the HTML source that is not pertinent to the channel lineup information that SmartGuide seeks, such as ad banners, logos, time and date, and other preliminary information. SmartGuide skips over this and jumps directly to the first instance of “
