Hawking Technologies Unveils HomeRemote At CES

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This new system employs Z-Wave.

Reply to
Robert L Bass

I will add the Hawkeye system to our online store this week.

Reply to
Robert L Bass

Product information will be posted first. The line will begin shipping in March, 2007. We'll post prices as soon as possible.

Reply to
Robert L Bass

That's interesting.

When Hawking announced HomeRemote more than a year ago, it was based on ZigBee. Then they delayed its release - I was told because TI bought Chipcon who made the ZigBee transceivers they were using.

Eaton, who announced a similar system even earlier and also delayed its release, have since released theirs which _is_ Zigbee based.

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snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com

Reply to
Dave Houston

More likely Hawking has decided that Z-Wave is a better choice. Quite a few major industry players have also chosen Z-Wave.

Reply to
Robert L Bass

As do the new Harmony 890 remotes. But in testing three of them I found the build quality to be insufficient to justify the outrageous price. The RF receiver was poorly designed as well. That and it's web-based programming tool was very slow and unreliable. I'm sure it's possible to make Z-wave devices that are reliable, but this wasn't one of them. There's also a z-wave based unit from Monster. It appears to be, essentially, a repackaged Harmony. But it's build quality was somewhat better; both in the remote and the RF base. I didn't bother testing but went with a Universal MX-3000 instead.

This year could be very interesting for remotes. Windows has a feature called "side show" that a couple of new remotes have announced using. It'll be interesting to see if/when they ship and how usable they are. But a working, cost-effective, bi-directional remote with an LCD screen would be a very interesting breakthrough for the home. Not that a wifi PDA doesn't do much of the same thing.

-Bill Kearney

Reply to
Bill Kearney

RicaVision's Microsoft SideShow Remote Control for Windows Media Center with "IR + Class 1 Bluetooth with 100 Meter Operating Radius" is an example of the two-way MS MCE / VISTA devices Bill writes above. Supposedly shipping for $199 in April 2007. (~Same price and timeframe as the Hawking Z-wave device.)

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(See also Ricavision's IR +BlueTooth receiver:
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I'm still waiting for a laser remote. If I point the remote at the ceiling fan it should know that I want to control the fan and not the video screen. Had I wanted to control the video screen, I would have pointed it there, no? Just as when I want to add milk to the grocery order, I point the remote at the milk container, not the cereal box.

... Marc Marc_F_Hult

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Reply to
Marc_F_Hult

Well, kitchen automation tasks are likely to be a good bit different than the AV or HVAC stuff. I've likewise no desire to have to lug around some magic pointer in the kitchen. There's a lot of potential for automation in the kitchen. But unfortunately most of the work in automation is being done by people that never actually GO HOME. All too often it's the geeks trapped in the cubicles that don't actually HAVE a life that get tasked with making lifestyle devices. Trust me, I know, having worked on a PDA some years ago taught some interesting (if disappointing) lessons about that.

For the kitchen I'm leaning toward using a setup akin to the "price checking" terminals you see at stores like Target. Something with a barcode scanner already built into it. Or one integrated in a way that allows hands-free use. The last thing you need in a kitchen is something separate or with dangling cords. It's all too easy to drop something into a liquid or get cords tangled and cut.

Not to mention dealing with gunk on your hands from cooking. That's a whole other touchscreen challenge.

I'd want an interface that deals with real world issues. While it's interesting to think about how automation could be integrated to deal with dietary issues (as in, "I'm sorry Dave you can't have that chocolate ice cream now") those things cloud over implementing just basic functionality. As in, quickly, tell me how long do I nuke the frozen veggies for? Or, crap I'm out of a particular spice, what else should I be keeping on the spice rack and cross-reference that with what's known to be on sale at the local grocery. Task-oriented is the whole point of a kitchen.

Anyway, it'd certainly be interesting to see things evolve in this area.

-Bill Kearney

Reply to
Bill Kearney

I dislike the pointer idea. I've used RF remotes for several years now and would NEVER go back to plain IR. Where do you point the remote when the TV is at the front of the room, the light switches on the side and all the AV gear is in a whole other room? Using a pointer would require waving your arms around like some wannabe Luke Skywalker in a light sabre fight, no thanks.

I find a combination of stick-type and touchscreen remotes works best. The stick-type with hard buttons works great for watching TV. You can handle the ffwd/rewind, joystick/arrow and other program selecting functions all from the comfort under a comfy blanket, all without having to look at a screen. But for the few times you want to do more, like setup the surround sound effects, tweak screen settings or lighting and HVAC controls I'm finding it's best to not try to jam all that into the stick-type remote. Even with devices like a Harmony some tasks are just not well suited to being crammed into device buttons or 'activity' modes. This after YEARS of trying to make that happen.

So if these 'side show' remotes can actually work /well/ with a desktop it could get very interesting. Not just from the standpoint of putting stupid crap like static local listing schedules or advertising drek on it. But things like bookmarking while watching a program such that it knows WHAT you're watching and WHEN in the program to make the mark. Use that to, say, pull up a webpage (later, or even on a different screen like your PC) about that particular part of the show.

Anyway, bi-directional remotes than act more as triggering "do more" agents for your desktop (or set top) box would be very clever.

-Bill Kearney

Reply to
Bill Kearney

March, 2007. We'll post prices as soon as possible.

You should also post your BBB report.

Reply to
Frank Olson

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