Black Boxes: Philips ProntoLite remote control software for PalmOS

by Charles Fulton
Summer/Fall 2003

COMPANY Philips
CONTACT (888) 486-6272
WEB SITE www.pronto.philips.com
PRICE $20 (free 15-day evaluation)

Need a universal remote? Hey, sure, we all do. Own a PalmOS-based personal digital assistant (PDA)? Well, some of us do. Want to use your PDA as a universal remote? Hmmm, maybe. Philips, the makers of one of the first universal remote controls with a touch screen, presents ProntoLite, an application that runs on PalmOS 3.5 or higher, using the Palm device's IrDA window to control virtually any remote control device.

Sync It Up
To get ProntoLite, just visit Philips' web site, set up an account and download the zipped file, which contains the actual .prc and a PDF instruction guide. Then HotSync your Palm with your computer to install. To use the software, tap on ProntoLite to get started. The software has a free 15-day evaluation period that you should take advantage of before you actually buy the software.

Teach Me
Philips provides a slate of pre-defined names of devices and button layouts for TV, VCR, Cable, Satellite, Receiver, CD/CD-R, DVD, PreAmp, Tape and TV2. Many slates are several pages long, allowing access to almost any feature. ProntoLite is a learning remote and there is no code library to use as a starting point. Programming involved setting up your Palm to receive codes and then pointing your original remote at the Palm and pressing a button. The only major annoyance was that you can't change pages in Learn mode.

Transmitting
The range of the Palm IrDA was not nearly as great as a dedicated remote control. Of course this will depend on the model of your device. Also, since the majority of functions will be taught to ProntoLite via the main screen of the Palm device, ProntoLite doesn't have much in the way of tactile feedback (although you can program the hard keys to transmit the most common functions that you use).

Finally, while the Palm's battery life is excellent for a PDA, it's not very good relative to a remote control. We'd strongly recommend a PalmOS-based device with rechargeable batteries. If you use the device's backlight (e.g. for viewing in the dark), your battery life will plummet further.

Our Wish List
We wish we were able to actually define our own devices, or mask out the devices we don't own to simplify the interface. We'd also like the ability to change button names.

In the same vein, ProntoLite would be significantly better if one could customize the layouts for each device. We've seen several touch-screen remotes that are task-based (e.g. for movie watching), organizing screen controls for transport and menus on the DVD player. Macros would be another welcome addition. The capability to power up the entire system with one tap would be very helpful to many users. We'd also like to see an easier way to program the remote.

Promising to a Point
Palm III devices are inexpensive right now and ProntoLite is a unique application that is certainly worth a try if you're considering the purchase of one of Philips' dedicated Pronto remote controls or touch panels. Considering that ProntoLite is still in version 1.0, we expect it to improve over time, but the very nature of the Palm limits the software's potential out of the gate. While we wouldn't necessarily use ProntoLite on a Palm as our primary remote control, but it is a cool app that might just bring it all together for some folks. And you can't go wrong with a free 15-day trial version.

SMART SPECS
Requirements
PalmOS version 3.5x and 4.x