iphone & ipad as the Universal Connector?

Mary Cronin Professor, Boston College

Manny's column this month Mobile is the new HMI reminded me of a common theme outlined in this article by Mary Cronin. I agree iphone ipad rock and are both just the harbinger of things to come.

http://smart-products.tmcnet.com/topics/smart-products/articles/82423-ready-take-control-ipad-as-universal-connector.htm

The iPad is perfectly positioned to connect and control a new generation of wireless smart, location-aware products in our homes, our cars, and eventually our offices. By the end of 2010, consumers will be using iPad apps to monitor and manage home appliances and overall energy consumption, to interact with and remotely control media in all formats from multiple in-home devices, and to keep tabs on exactly where and how fast Junior is driving the family car.

Yes, these apps are already available for smartphones and on dedicated systems like the EnergyHub monitor and the Control 4 home automation system. As for a universal remote, that promise has been made and broken so many times in the past decade that it has the aura of el Dorado. Surveying the lineup of nine dedicated remote controls that surround my current Logitech (News - Alert) “universal remote” I admit that these devices are never quite smart enough to let me get rid of all those other controllers, so I understand the skepticism about adding yet another home connector.

The iPad’s key advantage over those earlier devices that do nothing but exercise remote control is that the iPad start out as an amazing entertainment, content delivery, and interactive platform that make it irresistibly easy to integrate streams of information with a few touches of the screen. The controller functionality makes sense because you will be interacting with the iPad constantly anyway.

This is one of the many products that turn your iphone into an existing IR remote
 

Say Hello to http://thinkflood.com/ RedEye mini
Meet the latest addition to the RedEye family. The RedEye mini turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a full-featured universal remote, including code database and built-in channel guide,

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