Nexus 7 Is A Great Remote
I have been working with a high end audio video installer for over a decade. They have helped me put entertainment systems into a few homes and offices over the years. They have taught me a lot and I have taught them some stuff too.
A few years ago, when iPad came out, they started pushing the idea that you could use a tablet to control your entertainment system instead of expensive and proprietary controllers. So we started using iPads and iPod Touches to control our audio and video in our home and office.
It works well and you don't have four remotes on every coffee and conference table. One tablet does the trick.
Recently, we did an overhaul of our beach house and it was time to get a couple controllers. I had just gotten my Nexus 7 and the idea that I was going to go out and purchase a couple $399 iPads bugged me. I asked them if I could use a Nexus 7 instead. We did some research and indeed all the apps we needed for our various equipment were on Android. So we went with the Nexus 7 instead.
Yesterday I saw one of the partners in the audio/video company and he had my Nexus 7 in his hand. I said, "how does it feel?" he replied "it's fantastic, the form factor is perfect". The iPad works as a controller but it is a bit bulky for that use case. And a phone is a bit small for many remotes. A 7" tablet can be held comfortably in one hand and the screen size is really perfect for remote applications.
I am not going to swap out all the iPads we have for Nexus 7s because the larger tablet works well enough, but for all future situations like this I am most certainly going with a 7" tablet. It's yet another example of where the 7" form factor is better than the large and small mobile form factors we've been dealing with for the past few years.
Comments (Archived):
What were those software packages? Can you share more details regarding what’s needed to make this work? Thanks.
It all depends on what hardware you useFor me it is sonos app, R2 app for the crestron switch in the rack, iTap for the macmini, boxee WiFi remote, apple remote app for appletvI don’t have all these devices in every situation but those are the primary apps I use
Alright, just ordered a Nexus 7 to run the home Sonos. Huge leap for someone who’s otherwise an iOS ecosystem guy. (Your demo of Eater on the device didn’t hurt.)
#winningI wonder if apple remote runs on the nexus 7 so you can control your appletv from it
Sure, you’ll find apple remote on google Play.The 1 area where Android/GoogleTV has not caught up is re a serious alternative to AirPlay. Solutions like Skifta and others that are DLNA-based sound nice but still aren’t nearly as elegant. I can today do mirroring with iOS6 or Mountain Lion, albeit Developers releases.
You badass music geek.
high praise, considering the source 🙂
Thanks!
I think Fred has a commission deal w/ Google. 🙂 I can see why they comp him stuff as it comes out!Waiting for Fred’s review / AVC comments on Google Glass
I can’t wait for the glasses
Just spent some time on the Google/Nexus site…..They are really humping Google Play……”Nexus was designed around Google Play”
Holly mac 🙂 I’m such a novice with all this. The most I’ve done is use an Aux cable from the iPhone to the stereo and bluetooth in the car’s system. But where do I start if I want to connect my iPhone’s (wireless) to the stereo as a starting point?
William, I am much like you in this aspect. But my BF is hooking me with a lot of cool things.
Connect an airport express to your stereo and airplay into your stereo from your phone
Apple revised the express (announced around WWDC ) earlier this year. I got for XMAS last year …but returned it after I read they were updating it. I need to get one of these on order.biggest change in Ethernet jack in and out ( I think they added the out one / bridge). They might have also updated the radio – the engadget review below mentions dual band wi-fi.http://engt.co/KwFyMhWilliam – if you already have a Airport extreme router, I think this joins your home network real easily. It will also help improve the signal through out your home if in a separate area from the router – range extender.
It sounds like multiple apps are required to control various devices. Is that accurate or are there apps that control more than one device?
There are multifunction apps but I prefer separate apps
Sonos – new product – SUB – coming out in Augusthttp://bit.ly/Lj8YB9
Cool
I think it depends on what brand you go with. I know Pioneer has said remote app and others do as well. Its all in the play store.
Thanks
Problem solved: http://www.cultofmac.com/18…
They definitely need to do that
I have a question, please. I am a new startup, i have built a new website, everything is working fine and perfect. Now i am looking for a web hosting, is there myabe any hosting only for startups, or i have to have my own server at home for example?For many web hostings in the internet, i have to upload my source code, and the support teams and technicals have access to all my data and code, is this a safe thing to do? I don’t feel confortable with that option, i am asking what did other startups do?Thank you in advance for your help.
Amazon Web Services
Thank you all for your response
Or Rackspace
Amazon Web Services is pretty standard for a lot of startups because of the “elastic” scalability options there. As John mentioned, Rackspace is also very good. Rackspace also offers a variety of options such as “cloud”, virtual private… , managed hosting, dedicated servers. But Rackspace will typically cost a bit more.There are other options which allow you plenty of control, but with that control comes some extra effort (and skill, in some cases) on your part. Media Temple is good, Liquid Web is good (great service) and many more, but look closely at your need for rapid expansion. More importantly, look at your need for handling pops in traffic and paying only for higher capacity when needed.Each situation is unique. Some will say AWS all the way, but for some projects one may be better served by working with RS, MT, LW, or any of the other top-level hosts. Carefully define your needs and the “what ifs” before you sign with any.
It’s nearly impossible to answer this question without knowing what your service is and how much money you are able to spend. It’s like “I’m getting married where should I go on my honeymoon”. Or “where’s a good place to live”. You’re not going to get an answer in one paragraph. To many variables.One of the things you will have to learn is that there are no shortcuts. You have to take the time to read and learn what you can, and then ask questions of a more specific nature in the correct place. Part of the learning process is finding the correct place to learn, observe, and ask questions.If you are asking a question such as that on a blog like this you haven’t done your homework.”i have to upload my source code, and the support teams and technicals have access to all my data and code, is this a safe thing to do?”It’s a good sign that you intuitively recognized this issue. But the fact is security is an entire topic in itself. That’s only one thing to be worried about but more importantly is the other security issues that you don’t even know exist (once again judging from the nature of your question on “hosting”).”i am asking what did other startups do?”That’s a good starting point. But even established successful startups fuck up on security all the time. What others do is not always the right thing obviously.The short answer to your question (based solely on your question and since others have offered their opinion) is, money not being an object:- Colocated server (physical piece of equipment, not VPS) which you buy and rack somewhere that you can physically gain access to and judge the security. You most certainly don’t need rackspace to start. – Learn sysadm skillsYou can easily start this with a server running off your home internet connection (which has other issues of course with your ISP and what they allow) but it’s a great way to learn how everything fits together. Then after you cross that you can think about other ways to do the same thing (colo as mentioned above being only one of them).But the truth is you are actually better off worrying about building out your product and not worrying about the issue you are worrying about for now. (The issue being someone snooping on your code I mean, not security in general that is really important). The product features and service are what is important.
LE, your comment is accurate, but I would suggest that in some cases a statement such as “You most certainly don’t need rackspace to start.” is not quite fair, for the same reasons that we know too little about the project to guide properly. IMO your reply was perhaps most helpful because it suggested more research/learning based on assumptions drawn from the nature of the query.I would suggest that learning about colocation is great, but a very risky path for young startups unless they like driving to the DC at 2:00 a.m. to swap drives or power supplies. (Of course there are many types of colos and their support, but they require more skill than the other options.) It’s not for everyone, but an option for those for whom it makes sense. For many, colo has proven to be a false economy.Obviously AWS is most popular for startups lately, but I’ve run dedicated boxes at Rackspace and loved it. Security was required, reliability, professional support, etc. and RS has it… for a price. Liquid Web does a great job for helping those needing a bit more guidance (including setting up the server completely, etc.), but have fewer data centers if distributed mirrors are required, or greater security, etc.As you mention, security is a big deal and the host is only one tiny element of it. Most security issues come from application and architecture weaknesses and little to do with data center shortfalls.Again, you gave a focused reply that was great. I just wanted to suggest that summarily dismissing a high-end host (such as RS in this case) without more specifics may not be fair to Thomas. If he needs security, extra engineering support, multiple DC locations globally, etc. and has more money than time – depending on his project – it may be a fine choice. We don’t know if the project is a tight B2B service requiring security for a relatively compact user-base, or if it’s a social project sharing photos of kittens around the globe.What I opted not to say and what you were very direct about (to Thomas’ advantage I believe), is that the comment suggests that some reading/learning is his next best step. Fortunately, the info is abundantly available.
Thank you for your answer.1- I have already done the research needed, i tried 3 hosting website until now. It was a very bad experience, there is no support, they don’t answer emails and so on. I choose them because they are cheap, between 15$ and 20$ a month.They answered me only the first time, and once i ‘ve uploaded my war file i did not get any answer, and my website can not be reached.2-Builing out my product: i have already built my product, i need just to launch it now, My product is a kind of a social community.3- With secure i meant: if i did upload all my file, like the 3 times before, and the people where i host my website have access to all code, and most of them are technicals or programmers, and many people are trying today to build a new website, like me, so i am a little bit afraid, maybe i am exagerating, that is why i prefer to ask.4- I think that people woh live in California or New York have a huge advantage that they can quickly reach and have contact with investors.5- Why i did put the question here: because i think that this community is a community for startups, investors and new products. So i said maybe someone here had the same experience and can help. Maybe i am missing something, especially that i don’t live in the US.6- I know that most of the people in this community are successful, rich and well educated people, and asking such a question here is maybe too boring for all of you. But my goal is to become a rich and a very successful entrepreneur, and i am nearing my goal.
“I choose them because they are cheap, between 15$ and 20$ a month.”That’s actually not that cheap. Cheap is like $4 a month. That said the fact that they didn’t answer questions might also depend on the questions that you are asking. While it would be easy to pass this off as non-excusable the truth is some customers aren’t worth the effort in the amount of service or handholding they require. That said there is effectively no difference between someone replying to your email and turfing you and not answering at all. So it all depends on what you were asking them obviously.”My product is a kind of a social community.”So post a link and we will all take a look at it.”I think that people woh live in California or New York have a huge advantage that they can quickly reach and have contact with investors”Where do you live?” I know that most of the people in this community are successful, rich “Only @fredwilson:disqus and @JLM are successful and rich.”and well educated people”@sigmaalgebra but he doesn’t hang around anymore”maybe too boring for all of you”Not true. Today since the topic isn’t IOS we are forking to discussing energy efficiency in old houses.”But my goal is to become a rich and a very successful entrepreneur”Can’t think of anything funny to say to that so I will just say good luck.But please do post the link to your site wherever it is hosted right now.
You know what would be a great fun friday topic. All the AV equipment you have in your home and your ratings for each. I’m not saying just you, everybody.
I own a lot!
Yes but maybe just your favorites. Or favorite electronic item for the house.Mine is actually a Mitsubishi Split AC/Heat system I put in my 170 year old house. Literally makes it a different place. My neighbor put one in the day after he came in to talk to my wife, because he just couldn’t believe it.I have three different people considering them that live in new houses including one in AZ because once you come in my house and realize that it is more comfortable than yours even though it is so old it is an eye opener.Maybe it would be too much like a commercial, but why not say what you love.
“Literally makes it a different place.”Details?
When you have central air or central heating in a big old 3 story house. Rooms are cold or warm no matter what the season. No matter what by the time it flows through the ducts to the it is cold in the winter and warm in the summer. This is like being in the Arctic in the Summer and having a space heater in the Winter. Dust in ducts? There are none. Filtration?? Special Platinum filters in each unit.When you have a unit in each room, it is whatever temp you want. Instantly.The outside units don’t make a sound of noise and the insides are quieter. The main unit inverts the AC power into DC and feeds the R104A to each unit and returns it along with pumping out the moisture. Each has a wireless remote thermostat that is mounted next to the room’s light switch. Walk into a room and say I want it colder or warmer, hit a button. Instant temp to what you want and you don’t affect anybody else other than those in the rooms.Efficiency? 19 Seer. My electric bill. 1/2 the price of a new McMansion with the same sqft.
Nice. I like the granularity.Question. I know the rooms in old houses are generally pretty small. Do people ever insulate the walls in old houses by putting an extra layer and insulation on top of the existing wall? Or is that a non-starter because of loss of space? Is there a material that is thin and insulating that can be added to the interior walls?Does the humidity exit out through the old hvac ducts or did you break through the walls and duct out of each room?
I have a 800 sqft Great Room and a 600 sqft kitchen. They size by the room. 15k BTU down to 9k BTU. 4 to 8 inside units per outside unit. No ducts at all…high pressure, low pressure, DC voltage, and condensate line, all in a 2inch line. You run through wall, through duct, attic, basement or outside house: whatever works. The key is you are from AZ and want it stupid hot in either winter or summer in your room, and I want it freezing in mine? No problem. Just like a hotel. Like to sleep in cold, but the room is not in use during the day in the summer, no issue, turn on when you go to the bathroom for the night and you are set. Nobody puts extra insulation on top of the beautiful plaster walls or original windows. You pump insulation in the walls, seal the wavy glass windows, get big heavy drapes, and put insulation on the bottom of the roof (not in the attic; on the bottom of the roof).
I have a 22 year old house and the first quote I just got today to replace a simple bath faucet was 7 hours labor at $90 an hour, 1 man job, from a contractor I’ve used.I can’t even begin to imagine what you have to deal with on an old house. The house was in really good condition and it’s been nothing but money since we bought it. (Home warranty paid for a few things and was well worth it…)That said things like this have always been fun to me as I had to help mechanics when I was younger that my dad hired by holding tools and flashlights. I actually learned business things from some of them.You no doubt remember the original “This Old House” back when Bob Vila was host.
I am a big fan of split systems for ac and heat. We live in an apt building so we use a cooling tower on the roof for cooling and a boiler in the basement for heat. We have heat exchangers on each floor that do the rest.
how does it work from an energy efficiency perspective (that could be interesting to talk about)
Did I miss something? It went from a discussion of AV to AC without skipping a beat.
Yes. That seems like a very fragmented market, and it would be valuable to hear about what’s above the noise.
Always wanted to have a AV equipment discussion w/ Fred Wilson…….I recall once reading and exchanging comments re: SONOS ( airplay, airfoil)…….further I recall the first AVC post about the 7″ nexus a few weeks ago w/ the screen shot and there was the SONOS app. ( I don’t think the app was on Fred’s Home Screen/Fun Friday photo…hummm)I initially thought w/ the Wilson’s disposal income budget they would have Crestron whole house systems ( and maybe they do)…..Speaking of Crestron…..their business must of changed a little – here was a company that sold displays (propabably Win CE devices) – I am guessing for around $5K +/- each….and then comes the iPad even at $500 – it had to be a game changer for them….I would rather have a iPad ( & now I guess a Nexus) on my coffee table vs a proprietary Crestron or AMX control/Tablet.Biggest problem w/ Crestron is that my understanding is that most of their systems are closed, and every thing is custom…..I think a few years ago they came out w/ a lower end system that was more plug and play.
The only crestron equipment we have in our homes and offices is the MC3 which costs about $1500We use them in situations where there are a lot of sources in a single room and we want to switch sources quickly and intelligentlyWe control the MC3 with the crestron remote for iPhone and iPad and the R2 app for android
Crestron – I have a few friends ( I am sure you have more) that spent easily $100K on their home automation – even at $100K – this can be entry level w/ Crestron.Made in USA…It is just scary how quick tech changes …and you spend $100K and in a few years it is out dated
http://gawk.it/search?forum……but for those who still follow the ‘reassuringly expensive’ approach there’s this;http://www.meridian-audio.com/Good enough for MOMA.
This stuff goes out of date so fast that open systems are important
I’m getting my nexus 7 tomorrow. My first Android device. Any tips on the apps that can make it a good remote?
Depends on what devices you want to control
Right! silly me. I want to mainly control my iMac. basically what I do now is use Logitechs’ amazing Harmony Link which works great with the iPhone, but i’m open to suggestions.
iTap is worth checking out
I’ve tried buttonless remotes and can’t stand them. You have to look down the second you want to do anything. The lack of tactile feel is too much of a drawback, imho.
Exactly. Having to look at some device to adjust volume by +/-1 step is very annoying. Same goes for having to switch in and out of remote app(s) for such small tasks.That said remotes on phones/tables are cool for more advanced stuff.
interesting post that follows nicely from @fredwilson:disqus comments on Bijan post about Nexus7 http://bijansabet.com/post/… (that I discovered via @engagio)
That’s where I got the inspiration for this post
That was my guess!
“It’s yet another example of where the 7” form factor is better than the large and small mobile form factors we’ve been dealing with for the past few years.”Are you ready to replace the driod phone yet?
7″ are also lighter. The iPad is really quite heavy – not compared to a laptop or MacBook Air, though you expect some weight behind those.And you’re right – that’s really the question to ask. Can it function as your regular phone too? I imagine it depends how you like carrying your devices.
For me – I would choose both (& only carry / take one at a time)…provided I could easily switch back and forth between devices.Two key apps are voice and txt. It would be great – if all I had to do was ” enable” the phone I was taking w/ me that day.I ideally think I might like the 7″ form factory for most times, driving to work, @ work , @ home , on plane or while traveling etc….I would probably opt for the traditional smartphone if I hopped on the bike, or i was going out for dinner.I like Fred & others comments about the Bria app (VOIP)
When I first got my iPad, I distinctly remember feeling like I was walking around with an $800 piece of glass.
Hehe – that you really don’t want to drop..
I just did.
nexus 7 or something else?
Forget all of the talk of the digital wallet…I’m loving my digital coffee table. (See attached picture.)As important as the lack of clutter is the 2-way communications. Getting information about what’s playing on the tablet is useful. I often use the TiVo app to figure out what I’m watching next. Nice to be able to do that without covering up what’s on screen or having to navigate a virtual keyboard with a pointer.
Nice setup
I think there is a good chance the 7-8″ form factor will become the standard and 11″ tablets will become secondary use. The Nexus 7 feels like a better size than my iPad for most basic uses. It feels like the 13″ laptop versus the 15″ laptop. Those couple of inches makes a huge difference.
Could have been a wild goose chase on the part of apple. They may have perceived that they wanted to be at that size but felt it would have given the competition a head start or something like that. So they purposely started at the MVP form factor and allowed others to think that was the way to go to divert their resources . Then when they perfected their technology they now are going to shift to a smaller standard. And in some business uses the larger size is what you need and they’ve done well there.
Jobs was pretty clear that 7″ was too small. He made a comment once about supplying sandpaper with every device so you can file down your fingers. Of course, the iPhone and iPod touch are smaller… Classic jobs misdirect.
“Classic jobs misdirect.”Jobs misinformation followed a pattern. But even if you were well aware that he could be faking it’s not like a major corporation can make a decision in a certain direction because they think they are getting played. I’m not a corporate person but I would imagine trying to present and justify your case by pointing to something Jobs said as not being true (because of his history) would be a pretty tough sell.Stuff like this has been throughout history.One of the key successes of these operations was to convince Hitler that the Allies’ plan was to launch their main attack across the Straits of Dover with the fictitious First United States Army Group to be led by George S. Patton. The fiction was maintained after the Normandy landings to the effect that Hitler, still believing an attack was imminent across the straits, was unwilling until it was too late to reinforce his troops in Normandy with forces placed to defend the Pas de Calais.
the Ipad could be more of a work replacement depending on how internally powerful it gets.
I have remote on iPhone for music vie airplay, and iPad for TV. If I could ditch the TV remotes and do all thru my old 3G phone then I would. I wonder if I can. It would be nice to have the old phone run TV and music.
like the old apple box ran the customer service “next” take a number display at the original tekserv location
Nice to here that Google finally built their own device which consumers may support and buy in larger numbers. I’ll admit, I’m an Apple fan, loyalty runs deep with me because the Cupertino Team have earned my trust and dollars. They consistently build great products which integrate amazingly well. I guess I just don’t want to switch because from everything I read, there truly isn’t enough separation in the features or product benefits that would make me consider it. Plus, I’m confident Apple will come out with a similar form factor very soon, which once again, will “simply” be better!I had a good laugh when I read the post heading, “Nexus 7, Is A Great Remote.” I guess they really found their market segment there!
I think the 7″ form-factor is really ideal for this. I don’t like the iPad as a remote (and many other things) because of size, but looking forward to a 7-8″ model. The Nexus 7 looks great and I’ll get one too, for testing as well stuff like you’re doing. At $199ish this stuff is fun, at $399 or more it’s a bit more serious.
The 1%
Yes. I wrote a post about that last year
Total AV geek out – killing me.
I think iTV has not quite yet arrived but will on time-spans relevant to where I allocate developers, say the next 12 months.I tested a Google TV at my brother’s place in the US recently, a large keyboard with a poor track-pad/mouse substitute, the set-up was arduous, the loading was a huge issue, the UI was clunky, and the content selection often disappointing. Still a big step up from regular television, which I think many tech-oriented people have mostly given up on in the past 5-10 years. Now they’re reunited, if Google leverages a strategy with Motorola to combine mobile devices with the iTV experience, they could have something titanic – Apple will surely compete and the Asian manufacturing giants will orbit around trying to capture the left-overs.My brother is mildly less geeky than I am so him buying a $99 unit to play with wasn’t surprising, but that my Argentine brother-in-law bought one as well, for probably 250% that cost, tells me that this is a product category with mainstream potential.Buffering/caching and UI are not hard problems to solve and probably will be in the 2013 models. Content is, as usual, a problem – if Freud were alive today he would write an ebook called “The Internet and Its Discontents”. Seems like that app store and maybe just maybe HTML 5 on that platform will be the next epic opportunity.
see my post why the 2 latest apple rumors are actually one. this exactly fit my thoughts. http://hopflow.com/u/75/h/7…
I hate that i’ve gotten myself hooked into Apple’s closed ecosystem. The thought of rebuying all those apps and relearning an operating system? It was hard enough to figure out Keynote from Powerpoint this year. But i HATE my iphone. I really do. So i’ll get to an Android phone one of these days soon.
you may or may not love. I find both sets of phones have their tradeoffs
i had a guest in town for a few days who was just switching from android to iphone and was really upset that not all apps go into landscape; this was an issue that had never occurred to me.also; my friend has enormous fingers, and said android apps were chunkier and easierthe few minutes i’ve spent with android phones were unpleasant in the same way that working on a wintel box is unpleasantdifferent folks, different scenariosymmv
Android is more Ubuntu than Windows. Blackberry is Windows
perfect analogies
Disclaimer: the comment below is not any reflection on the Nexus 7 — I’ve had mine since Tuesday and am liking it quite a bit.While the Nexus 7 or any tablet or smartphone make pretty cool looking remotes, for regular use they’re far less practical than something like Logitech’s Harmony One remote.One standard I use for grading a remote’s usefulness is how much I can do one-handed without having to look at the remote. Aside from the easy ability to do one button programming for things (eg watch TV, watch Blu-ray, watch XBox 360 etc) I don’t need to even look at the remote to raise or lower volume.As a frequent DVR user, the ability to pause, rewind, fastforward, skip ahead 30 seconds etc without ever actually looking at the remote is also a pretty big deal. The Nexus 7 is prettier, but it’s definitely not more useful for me in day-to-day use.Disclosure: excluding sports, I’m sure Fred watches much less TV than I do, and I’m pretty sure he uses a DVR much, much less frequently than I do.
An early AVC regular is in the house!
Care to share some pictures?
the cash register business is already being killed by iOS and the 7″ could accelerate it; the hippie food court at the farmer’s market has most checkout happening on ipad with square. the merchants i bought from and asked questions of already have the ipad; no need to buy a cash register.
Are you using the Logitech Harmony Link to connect to your AV equipment or something else?
my audio system is sonos and i don’t need much for thatfor video, i use an inexpensive crestron unit in the rack and the R2 app for android to control it
Not true. I believe androids are over 50% of phones bought in the US. Samdroids are 26% of the market and iphones are 14%When you add tablets the numbers change a lot. But a nexus7 at 199 vs an iPad at 399 is a big deal
You know what is funny? Steve Jobs used to say who cares what my market share is. BMW doesn’t have a big market share but they build great cars, I don’t want a Chevy.I’m the same way, I don’t care what the market share is, I care what is the price and what can it do.
“iphones are 14%”Young people are the canaries in the coal mine on this one. No time for research (like Paul!) but anecdotally I believe teens are heavy into iphone so those numbers could change.There was a time when iphone came out I wanted to buy them for my daughters. Neither was interested in the least. Things have changed. Now they managed to get my father to upgrade his so they could get his old 3s phone (and that is after doing the same with the 3 and the original one).
I’m guessing Android has even greater market share world-wide too.
“I care what is the price and what can it do.”True but the part of “what can it do” is driven by the software which is written by people that care what the market share is. That is the (only) reason it does matter.Jobs statement is true regarding autos and many other things with the exception of cars for the masses in which case market share does matter.