Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Anyone working on a Bluetooth PS3 remote app?

F

Frazzle

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 1, 2007
207
80
Now that the stack can be used to talk to other devices, wouldn't it be great to be able to control a PS3 on the iPhone? I'm no programmer, so I'm hoping someone else can pick up the idea.

Could take it even further by creating a small device that translates Bluetooth to IR, so you can make your iPhone into a universal remote that can control your equipment. Make a website where a user can click together their own remote layout and then download that into an app. Just some thoughts.

Grtz,
F
 
Could take it even further by creating a small device that translates Bluetooth to IR, so you can make your iPhone into a universal remote that can control your equipment.
Click to expand...
this is not possible, bluetooth is a radio wave, IR is light, you can't just convert between them, the iphone would need an IR emitter

Make a website where a user can click together their own remote layout and then download that into an app. Just some thoughts.
Click to expand...
this is also impossible, as apps for the iphone must go through the app store to be able to run on the iphone (unless you jailbreak) and therefore each person cannot have a specific app to there set up
 
philgilder said:
this is not possible, bluetooth is a radio wave, IR is light, you can't just convert between them, the iphone would need an IR emitterup
Click to expand...
this has been done the ir dongle fits into the headphone port and uses sound to generate the it signal.

philgilder said:
this is also impossible, as apps for the iphone must go through the app store to be able to run on the iphone (unless you jailbreak) and therefore each person cannot have a specific app to there set up
Click to expand...
You are wrong, the mrmr app is free on iTunes and lets you design and upload your own interfaces to control things (via osc protocol, but the same thing would be easy to do via Bluetooth ) no jailbreaking necassary. Teams are working on universal remote apps already
 
philgilder said:
this is not possible, bluetooth is a radio wave, IR is light, you can't just convert between them, the iphone would need an IR emitter
Click to expand...

I'm talking about a separate device that communicates with the iPhone using Bluetooth and sends out IR signals using an infrad emitter. Similar devices actually exist that take IR signals in and send out Bluetooth commands - so that you can control a PS3 (bluetooth only) using a universal infrared remote.

this is also impossible, as apps for the iphone must go through the app store to be able to run on the iphone (unless you jailbreak) and therefore each person cannot have a specific app to there set up
Click to expand...

I'm talking about remote templates. The app is just an app that you download through the appstore. It should have an accompanying website that you logon to using a normal PC or Mac. That site would then allow you to design a remote control template with codes and everything. This template would be stored in your account.

You then login to your account using the iPhone app and download the remote template you created. Conceptually this is nothing new (look at Bento for iPhone or just about any other app that logs you onto an external webservice). It just doesn't exist for remotes yet but could work great.

See what I'm getting at now?
 
mcmadhatter said:
this has been done the ir dongle fits into the headphone port and uses sound to generate the it signal.
Click to expand...

Ah, that's great. Hadn't seen that before. That way you can control the PS3 through one of those IR2BT devices (even though direct to Bluetooth would be far more elegant).

The remote software + dongle for iPhone is announced as some student project I see (uiremote.wordpress.com) but there's not been any new announcements lately (last 5 months). Well, maybe someone will pick up the idea. Should be simple enough, the iPhone would be a very elegant universal remote, depending on the customisation capabilities.
 
Any device that pairs via Bluetooth using the AccessoryKit framework needs to go through the "Made For iPod" program. Unless Sony sends the PS3 through that program and gets it licensed as an official iPod accessory, you won't be able to use your iPhone as a remote from an App Store app. Jailbroken, maybe, but not in the App Store. I'm guessing the only way this app would happen is if Sony makes it themselves.
 
philgilder said:
this is not possible, bluetooth is a radio wave, IR is light, you can't just convert between them, the iphone would need an IR emitter
Click to expand...

Well even without bluetooth, you could just have a Dock accessory for it now that the SDK allows that.

philgilder said:
this is also impossible, as apps for the iphone must go through the app store to be able to run on the iphone (unless you jailbreak) and therefore each person cannot have a specific app to there set up
Click to expand...

There are a couple apps that do that now. They will sync with the computer over WiFi to install remotes downloaded off the internet.
 
You can't sync the PS3 with the iPhone. Sony would have to join 'Made for iPod' to allow the phone to talk to the PS3. So this will likely never happen.
 
SpeedFleX said:
but headsets work without the Made for iPod... well too bad tho would have been great^^
Click to expand...

Different, you are connecting a phone accessory to the PS3. It is different to connect the phone as an accessory. Apple locked the phone down in this regard, it sucks, but its Apple's way.
 
Jeremy1026 said:
You can't sync the PS3 with the iPhone. Sony would have to join 'Made for iPod' to allow the phone to talk to the PS3. So this will likely never happen.
Click to expand...

So let me get this straight:
- There is a Bluetooth remote (made by Sony) that allows you to control the PS3
- Several manufacturers have already made IR-to-Bluetooth devices to allow you to control the PS3 using a universal infrared remote (so the Bluetooth codes are out there)
- The iPhone is technically capable of sending the necessary codes through the BT stack (right?)
- So the only reason we cannot have the iPhone control the PS3 using Bluetooth is because of some logo programme, not because it's technically impossible (right?)

If that's true, the app 'PS3 remote' could actually be created, it's just that Apple wouldn't allow the app to be on the Appstore. Right?

Now that s***s.
 
Frazzle said:
So let me get this straight:
- There is a Bluetooth remote (made by Sony) that allows you to control the PS3
- Several manufacturers have already made IR-to-Bluetooth devices to allow you to control the PS3 using a universal infrared remote (so the Bluetooth codes are out there)
- The iPhone is technically capable of sending the necessary codes through the BT stack (right?)
- So the only reason we cannot have the iPhone control the PS3 using Bluetooth is because of some logo programme, not because it's technically impossible (right?)

If that's true, the app 'PS3 remote' could actually be created, it's just that Apple wouldn't allow the app to be on the Appstore. Right?

Now that s***s.
Click to expand...

Correct, almost. Your last bullet is wrong. Apple won't allow the phone to interact with any device that isn't part of the Made For iPod program. So Sony would have to buy into it to get an iPhone PS3 bluetooth remote made.
 
The iPhone won't even recognize the PS3, IR Blaster, etc. Anything using the Accessory frameworks has to be part of the MFI program. This allows you to have an officially licensed accessory. If you want more details of how it actually works, inquire with Apple, but you'll need to sign an NDA to get the specs and details. Unless a device is part of that program, there is no way for it to handshake with the iPhone. It's not that Apple will reject the app for not having the device as part of the program, the iPhone simply cannot talk to the device unless it's part of that program. A 3rd party dev will never be able to make an official PS3 remote app. The other way around it is to get a networkable IR Blaster. This device sits on your network and can send IR commands to devices. You can use the Nyko PS3 IR remote receiver with a device like this. Then you can connect to the blaster over WiFi and send commands to control your PS3, your TV, stereo, whatever else you have connected to the blaster. But for someone to make an IR add-on for the iPhone, they'll need to create their own licensed IR add-on.
 
WeBe++ Bluetooth HID Mouse & Keyboard

If you Jailbreak, you get the service NOW! A new iPhone/iPad/iPod touch app just released...

Control your PS3 / Mac / PC with this app...

WeBe++ Bluetooth HID Mouse & Keyboard... available in Cydia store.

http://www.weblooks.ch/webe-plus/

Cheers :)

Gabe
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back