iPad Cradle adds Button Based Controls – The Best of Both Worlds
The Apple iPad has become the standard control platform for the home. The feature rich user interface of apps for the control of music, lighting, comfort, and security make it the ideal platform for the control of your TVs and control systems in your home. One of the best iOS applications for TV Entertainment Center control comes from a company called Roomie Remote. They have written a great iPad app that allows you to turn on and off your TV, change the channel, change the volume, select video source, and see the channel program guide all from the large graphical screen of the iPad. Instead of using a traditional button based universal remote control – with its limited graphical screen, Roomie Remote provides all the same TV control functionality from the touch screen of an iPad. Leveraging the the richness of the iPad graphical interface it can also show TV and Movie cover art and descriptions, the full TV guide on the screen, and graphical renderings of each individual remote control (such as your TiVo remote control) – making it very easy to learn and use.
The main challenge of using an iPad for the control of the TV experience is that you may want to be able to look at your TV while you are changing channels or changing volume. That is difficult to do when you have to look down at your iPad – away from watching the TV. To solve that problem a southern California company called Dana Innovations has launched iPort with Buttons – a charging cradle that wraps around an iPad Mini and provides customizable buttons on its sleeve. Now you can adjust volume and change channels using physical buttons and never look down at your iPad – unless you need more information about the program you are viewing. It’s truly the best of both worlds – the graphical richness of the iPad platform and the convenience of buttons for basic TV controls.
Please call cyberManor to schedule a demonstration of this this innovative TV control solution in our Smart Home Experience Center.
