Bluetooth Remote Control for Android Media Player, etc

voxluna · Jul 25, 2009

I'm looking for a Bluetooth remote to use in my car, to control my G1 when it's hooked up as a music player. This is both a safety and convenience concern.

The starting point is finding a remote control that transmits Bluetooth directly to the G1 (i.e., not infrared or wired). It needs, at a minimum, a forward and a stop button. Reverse, pause, and other functions are nice, but not mandatory.

The other half of the solution is software to control the media program in Android, which may or may not already exist; if not, I'll commission someone to write it. Maybe I can even offer a turnkey system for sale if there's enough interest.

I know someone's will say "search the forums", and I did. What I found seemed to be focus on wired remotes for another HTC phone, or remote controlling your PC with your phone. But if I missed a relevant post, please do correct me.

Ideas are greatly appreciated.

pistol4413 · Jul 25, 2009

remote

there is a remote for gaming used for the n95 i saw on a website it worked for android on a basic level. maybe that might help. in the development of this

juphro · Jul 25, 2009

Found this on another thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Wc0KqnW2M that some people are using. Jabra BT3030

Aux cable from car stereo plugged into remote. Remote paired with phone. Not *completely wireless* but atleast you don't have to look at your phone.

Does that get you anywhere?

voxluna · Jul 29, 2009

juphro said:
Found this on another thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Wc0KqnW2M that some people are using. Jabra BT3030

Hmm, I posted a reply to this, but it isn't showing up. Maybe forgot to submit.

Anyway, thanks for pointing this out. I had seen this a long time ago and forgot all about it. That's exactly the kind of thing I want. Here's the instruction manual, for anyone else who might be interested. It's about US$55.

The only problem I see here is that it'll register as a headset and thereby disable the sound coming out of the extUSB connector in the car.

pistol4413 said:
there is a remote for gaming used for the n95 i saw on a website it worked for android on a basic level. maybe that might help. in the development of this

It's the Zeemote JS1, and this blog has a video showing it interacting with a G1. This may ultimately be what I'd have to go with... it seems to be designed solely as a controller, without A2DP getting in the way. But looks like it needs some kind of interfacing software, at least on the Nokia. At US$20, I should just get one and play around with it. Cheaper than buying another car stereo with BT built in.

voxluna · Aug 26, 2009

Dual Infrared + Bluetooth Remotes

FWIW, I ran across two rare, interesting items.

One is the RicaVision Vave 100 Universal Remote. Unfortunately, it's $349... but in theory, it would control both your car stereo (via infrared, which the majority of remotes use) and the G1 (via Bluetooth). It's able to "learn" commands from 24 infrared devices, and has a 2.4" 240x320 color LCD screen. No PC or internet connection is needed for configuration.

The screenshots show artist/track info being received from Windows, so it's Media PC-oriented, but still a possibility -- assuming you could program it accordingly. If so, just carry it back and forth between home and car: use it inside for your TV and PC, outside for the car stereo and G1.

The other device is the Ricavision SideShow Remote for the same price, also having IR + BT transmitters. This is purpose-built for Windows SideShow, and has fewer buttons -- volume, play/pause, prev/next, etc. It's smaller than the Vave, but still has a 2.5" QVGA screen. This is perfect for my car setup, but there doesn't seem to be a learning mode or any way to program, so the chances of it working are about zero. Boo!

random_username_ · Aug 26, 2009

try the jabra 3030 (dogtag) theyre about $15 on ebay

trigeek · Sep 2, 2009

Apparently some people have had luck with this one:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8422

random_username_ · Sep 2, 2009

trigeek said:
Apparently some people have had luck with this one:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8422

yep they're pretty good once you get a working one

Do0zman · Sep 2, 2009

trigeek said:
Apparently some people have had luck with this one:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8422

Thats what im running right now. works pretty good battery is def not what its said to be though.

random_username_ · Sep 2, 2009

Do0zman said:
Thats what im running right now. works pretty good battery is def not what its said to be though.

mabye you got a faulty one like i did because the first one i got had a 10 minuite battery life lol

voxluna · Sep 3, 2009

trigeek said:
Apparently some people have had luck with this one:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8422

If that worked in my case it'd be perfect, and it's the smallest form factor yet. The only problem I foresee with this and the Jabra is that they'll want to subvert my wired headphone output over to A2DP. But for $13 I'll probably take a chance.

JJbdoggg said:
yep they're pretty good once you get a working one

Yeah, buying directly from mainland China, you never know what you'll get -- and if it doesn't work, it's usually pointless return it. But I've bought stuff from DealExtreme before, and dirt cheap, too. Back when I had this flashlight habit....

voxluna · Oct 5, 2009

[OT] Counterfeits

JJbdoggg said:
try the jabra 3030 (dogtag) theyre about $15 on ebay

Well, I finally bought a Jabra from there. I'll play with it and report back on whether it'll work like I wanted above.

Meanwhile, I didn't realize until looking more closely that most of them were fake. I've been burned by counterfeits before, and sure enough, there are a ton of them on fleaBay. I made this graphic to demonstrate:

Aside from the logos, they look identical. Price is an obvious warning, but not always. Location is another: I'm wary of shipping from Hong Kong. OTOH, just because it says Jabra doesn't mean it's real... the Motorola H700 is another example where it's nearly impossible to tell them apart online.

Unfortunately, even with VeRO and the rules against keyword spamming, this junk can be found all over eBay.

dixon_coxon · Oct 12, 2009

voxluna said:
Well, I finally bought a Jabra from there. I'll play with it and report back on whether it'll work like I wanted above.

Meanwhile, I didn't realize until looking more closely that most of them were fake. I've been burned by counterfeits before, and sure enough, there are a ton of them on fleaBay. I made this graphic to demonstrate:

Aside from the logos, they look identical. Price is an obvious warning, but not always. Location is another: I'm wary of shipping from Hong Kong. OTOH, just because it says Jabra doesn't mean it's real... the Motorola H700 is another example where it's nearly impossible to tell them apart online.

Unfortunately, even with VeRO and the rules against keyword spamming, this junk can be found all over eBay.

I just got a pair of these and thanks to your illustration, I'm convinced mine are counterfeit works well with all my other phones but the G1.

voxluna · Oct 12, 2009

dixon_coxon said:
I just got a pair of these and thanks to your illustration, I'm convinced mine are counterfeit works well with all my other phones but the G1.

In theory, if it's able to connect to one phone's A2DP, it should connect to any. But I wonder if it has something to do with the ROM you're running?

I've noticed the G1 needs some finesse when connecting and pairing BT. Also, there are different steps you can take that all arrive at the same result (ergo, lots of trial and error).

Anyway. Now that I have the Jabra, my next problem is keeping A2DP, HSP and AVRCP separate... more on that soon.

dixon_coxon · Oct 13, 2009

voxluna said:
In theory, if it's able to connect to one phone's A2DP, it should connect to any. But I wonder if it has something to do with the ROM you're running?

I've noticed the G1 needs some finesse when connecting and pairing BT. Also, there are different steps you can take that all arrive at the same result (ergo, lots of trial and error).

Anyway. Now that I have the Jabra, my next problem is keeping A2DP, HSP and AVRCP separate... more on that soon.

Here is whats interesting; I have tried the BT3030 with several ROMS and I get the same results (I even tried it on stock and then rooted). When paired placing and receiving calls work fine. The problem arises when you try to listen to music, the sound skips constantly and I haven't figured a way to fix this permanently. Do you experience this problem (skipping sound)?

skesseks · Oct 13, 2009

dixon_coxon said:
Here is whats interesting; I have tried the BT3030 with several ROMS and I get the same results (I even tried it on stock and then rooted). When paired placing and receiving calls work fine. The problem arises when you try to listen to music, the sound skips constantly and I haven't figured a way to fix this permanently. Do you experience this problem (skipping sound)?

no skips from BT. see my configuration in my sig.

dixon_coxon · Oct 14, 2009

skesseks said:
no skips from BT. see my configuration in my sig.

Here is my config see attached. I have tested this with different ROMS ranging from tmobile CRB 43 stock to current xRom. I also have a motorola s9 which works with my G1 with no problems.

voxluna · Oct 15, 2009

dixon_coxon said:
I have tested this with different ROMS ranging from tmobile CRB 43 stock to current xRom. I also have a motorola s9 which works with my G1 with no problems.

It's strange that it works with one phone and not another. But if it really is a counterfeit, all bets are off -- you may never figure it out.

pfn · Jan 5, 2010

dixon_coxon said:
Here is whats interesting; I have tried the BT3030 with several ROMS and I get the same results (I even tried it on stock and then rooted). When paired placing and receiving calls work fine. The problem arises when you try to listen to music, the sound skips constantly and I haven't figured a way to fix this permanently. Do you experience this problem (skipping sound)?

I got 3 knockoff bt3030s back in october (from dinodirect... shady) at $15/ea it was an ok price...

I too have the skipping problems on my Droid, but I just discovered how to fix them. Go into bluetooth settings, long-press the jabra bt3030 device, select options, and deselect phone audio and reconnect the device. Now, no more skips.

I don't know if it's the bt3030's fault, I think it might be an android bug where audio gets routed over phone audio instead of a2dp. This is evidenced by the skipping audio--headset audio only has something like 8khz of bandwidth.

It kind of sucks that phone audio has to be disabled, but in all seriousness, I use the bt3030 for a2dp far more than phone calls, if I need to make a phone call over the bt3030, I'll reconnect the phone audio and disconnect it when I'm done.

richardkemp · May 5, 2010

Don't know if anyone still cares, but for the record, and for searchers, there are these options:

http://www.scosche.com/products/sfID1/217/sfID2/341/productID/1937
http://www.scosche.com/products/sfID1/217/sfID2/219/productID/1938

Both of these are very expensive though as they are part of large packages for cars. YMMV.

Bluetooth Remote Control for Android Media Player, etc

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