I see the remote capabilities of the Galaxy S4 and Optimus G Pro as gimmick features. They’ll only be truly useful when you can’t find the actual remote…
The recently unveiled Samsung Galaxy S4 and LG Optimus G Pro have infra-red transmitters that allow them to act as remote controls for several home electronics like TVs, stereos and air conditioners. While I appreciate the ability to use a phone as a ‘universal’ remote, I think the feature is of limited utility.
Infra-red technology in remote controls requires Line of Sight (LOS). This means aligning the IR transmitter on the remote with the IR receiver on the appliance. This is what you are doing when you point the remote at the TV/stereo.
In my opinion, there are problems with using the Galaxy S4 and the Optimus G Pro phones as remote controls.
First, you have to point it at the appliance, which in turn means your phone must be in portrait mode. Not much use considering you might be using it in landscape mode just before you need to control an appliance with it. You would have to change your device’s orientation and possibly yours as well just so you can adjust the volume of the TV.
Second, I know many appliances still use infra-red, but why? Using bluetooth would be much more effective. That is what Sony did with their wireless gamepads, and the unwieldy remote of the Play Station 3. What I find surprising is Samsung, LG and Sony still design their TVs to use infra-red. All that is needed is for manufacturers to ditch IR and use bluetooth instead. This is hardly an expense. Infra-red should be reserved for more subtle purposes like night vision camera and motion detection.
All in all, I see the remote capabilities of the Galaxy S4 and Optimus G Pro as gimmick features. They’ll only be truly useful when you can’t find the actual remote. I would personally enjoy using them for monkey business or practical jokes.
NFC Phone designed by Andrew Forrester.
