Whoever did the market research to determine the price point for this should be fired. At best $99. No PC programming, not a chance at that price point.

Volalum

@nutbastard:
"i wonder how viable it would be"
It wouldn't. Unless you want to make sure it doesn't leave the room and you have very small (32") pathways to/from the room in question.

RFID and small proximity do not go well together.

JEmlay

@Monty: Surely you're thinking of ... a beaver, right?

ninjagin

Funny, I was thinking that any product with the name 'ultimate' in it was supposed to resemble soft brown stuff.

Monty

@Git Em SteveDave has a crush on the Swedes:

damn that's... that's way more patentable than my idea...

*bows to the superior inventor*

nutbastard

I want a remote that has a live feed of the tv on it when I walk out of the room. Rather than doint the head sticking out to see what's going on, just walk away, and Bam, tv on the tv remote.

Git Em SteveDave has a crush on the Swedes

@Kaiser-Machead's got LindsayJoy's cookies on the SuperDrive:

i wonder how viable it would be to create a RFID based proximity system that starts wailing klaxon sirens as soon as the remote (or whatever else you've affixed the tag to) goes somewhere it shouldn't, thus ensuring it's prompt return?

nutbastard

"if you are going to be bold enough to make a claim like that right in the name of the product, you had damn well better be able to back it up"

hmmm, that reminds me of a certain operating system, what's it called? Bistro? Vestige? ....

nutbastard

The only remote I would ever EVER call Ultimate, is the one that can actually home in to the TV no matter where it is in the house, so I can never lose it.

Kaiser-Machead's got LindsayJoy's cookies on the SuperDrive

oh, and yes, the entire idea is that one doesn't want it to leave the room in question.

nutbastard

@JEmlay:

"Unless you want to make sure it doesn't leave the room and you have very small (32") pathways to/from the room in question."

what difference does it make how large the pathways into the room are? as for proximity, one could use a varistor on the base station to set the range by modulating the echo output.

nutbastard

This should come as no surprise.

ESPN Ultimate Highlight? Also not so ultimate.

92BuickLeSabre

how about a remote that double as a vibrator so the missus does not have to steal the batteries and can just borrow the remote, now thats ultimate.

ichi1

You don't even have to shell out for a Harmony One. One of the older, less expensive Harmony's might serve your needs. They all seem to have the same feature set under the hood; the differences I'm aware of are battery versus rechargeable, dedicated buttons or not, screen: color, monochrome or none. I paid $99 for my Harmony 550(monochrome screen, no dedicated buttons, batteries) and after 6 months I likes it.

Go to your local Big Box and fondle the display models to see which one you like. Then shop around for the best deal.

Barcard

$50 less?

Make that $120 less!

[www.amazon.com]

SWEET price...

scoobydoo

@nutbastard: It would be like the same technology used in those radio collars for dogs w/the underground fence. They have a thing which you put on the couch/christmas tree, and when they get close, they get warned than shocked. Yours would be the opposite. When you aren't close, it goes off.

My remote encourages and promotes wandering away. But I would use your idea to kill the video on the tv, to save energy. If there was a way to increase the volume in relation to the proximity to the tv, even better. I have a tv in most rooms in my house except the BR, and we all have done the mad dash during commercials, but what about HBO when you don't have a DVR? Problem solved. Seriously, this will be patented by Apple next week and called the iRemote.

Git Em SteveDave has a crush on the Swedes

There seems to be some people that like the ESPN Ultimate Remote.
The Logitech Harmony 1000 is available for $50 less.

oopl

The Reddest Remote Available On The Market Today!

someToast

@JEmlay:

"Sound waves BOUNCE"

Sound waves? wtf? RF = radio frequency.

I think you're misunderstanding the whole idea. You have a base station in the center of the room, which outputs an echo to a passive RFID tag on the remote. The tag chirps (not an audible chirp, as it were, just a reply RF signal) back. No chirp back, alarm from the base station goes off.

Of course you could sit on your remote - the human body is relatively permeable to the frequencies employed for passive RFID tags.

nutbastard

@nutbastard:
Sound waves BOUNCE. The bigger the opening, the bigger the area you need to watch, the more run away waves you're going to have = false possitives.

Using the remote on my couch would be picked up by the sensor on the first door 4 feet away.

If all you wanted was to watch the room then flood the room with a radio. Wait for the remote to leave the room (instead of detecting the remote up as it leaves). But you better not sit on your remote! Unles you like klaxon sirens.

Like I said, It wouldn't. But feel free to invent something RFID that does work. I'd love to see it! Make sure it runs Vista!

JEmlay

ESPN does a crappy job with its main product: covering sports. Is it any surprise that it's forays into tech (this remote and the call phone) were disasters?

Zach Everson

And, have you seen the packaging? Seriously though, I got a X10 iconRemote for $60 that can control everything I own, including Apple TV, Xbox360, LG Plasma, Ipod Dock, etc. Its pretty hard to beat for the price. The only feature that really interests me with this remote is the wi-fi aspect, and even then, what I use it for? I can picture-in-picture the channel guide with a button push.

Duncam

I have yet see anything ESPN related that could be considered 'the ultimate'. Even their main purpose as Zach points out is sub standard. The only thing they do well is covering Champions League soccer if you get their alternate channels.

steaky

@nutbastard:

"Sound waves? wtf? RF = radio frequency."

Are you stoned? Or do you just play dumb for kicks?

Anyway, do you even know what RFID tags are? There is no way to implement proximity with RFID. You can either see the tag or you can't. There are some high end (ie SUPER expensive) radios that attempt to get a range reading based on the strength of the tag reading however LIKE I SAID in a previous comment these are not designed for close proximity. Those radios are accurate within 10 feet. That could be 75% or more of the average living room. Now what you said in your last comment is EXACTLY what I said in my last post. You'll notice you left out the word proximity and it became more feasible. What you are saying is already what we have.

Step one, install an RFID radio.
Step two, put an RFID tag on your remote or other devices.
Step three, implement the software that will watch your RFID tags and make sure they can always bee seen.

However, like I said that solution SUCKS. NO you can NOT sit on your remote. If your ass sits on the remote on the couch your RFID radio WILL NOT be able to see the RFID tag.

This is where that whole REAL WORLD experience comes into play. Why do you think grocery channels have the HARDEST time implementing RFID? Because of the nature of their product. An RFID radio can not see an RFID tag through a water melon. How the hell is it going to see through your ass? You can block a tag with your body. In a small room it's harder because the radio an can bounce off the walls behind you (there's those silly bouncing waves again!!!)

To answer your question for a third time:
It wouldn't.

JEmlay

@nutbastard: add a couch cushion detector and i'll buy two!!

bobojuice