VITO Remote 4.0 - Now with Voice Support! [Archive]

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Darius Wey

10-01-2005, 05:00 AM

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://vitotechnology.com/en/products/remote.html' target='_blank'>http://vitotechnology.com/en/products/remote.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"With VITO Remote, you can use your PDA as an all-in one IR remote console to operate TV, VCR, DVD, karaoke, home theater and anything else including garage gates and video camera. VITO Remote is easy to program and use, and with its new voice control capabilities you can even control your home and office equipment with your voice! CCF files support allows downloading settings for your equipment from the internet, and even use the original remote controls' interface!"</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20051001-VITORemote.jpg" /><br /><br />VITO Remote 4.0 has just been released and features a new voice control option, a new easy training mode, and much more. <a href="http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=6972&associateid=204">PocketGear</a> is offering a free trial version, and is also selling the full version for $15.95. Who needs a universal remote when you have a Pocket PC? ;) [Affiliate]

seaflipper

10-01-2005, 06:39 AM

Way toooo geeky for me. Cool idea, but they have to come up with an easy "Harmony Remote" style of menu driven setup on pocket pc. The concept of "learn from your remote" is so 1990s .... :lol:

Muntasser

10-01-2005, 08:16 AM

why cant they just make the software like Universal Remotes u can buy from shops today where u put in the brand code and it automatically recognises the device. The last piece of software I used (TotalRemote) required me to train every single button, which is a waste of valuable time.

Training should be limited to weird buttons that the remote has which you wouldnt expect to find on a standard device.

Muntasser

10-01-2005, 08:26 AM

btw, i just checked the site and to be fair, it includes 50 prelearned devices.

However, surely by this revision it works with X50, or are they still in the stone age?

ONe last bitch - the default interface looks gawdy.

Menneisyys

10-01-2005, 11:13 AM

Way toooo geeky for me. Cool idea, but they have to come up with an easy "Harmony Remote" style of menu driven setup on pocket pc. The concept of "learn from your remote" is so 1990s .... :lol:

This is what Pronto/CCF compatibily is (would) be. There're thosaunds of pre-made Pronto drivers (much more than for Nevo!), which are compatible with Pronto-capable Pocket PC remote controllers (NetRemote IR, Total Remote, and, to a certain degree, PdaWin TV remote controller 5.5 and VITO Remote - here, I'm referring to the previous, 3.5.1 version, which had only limited Pronto/CCF compatibility).

The previous versions (see my big roundup of all Pocket PC remote controller apps (http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17874)) had pretty bad Pronto support (unlike, say, NetRemote IR). I'll yet to have retest the new release, Pronto compatibility-wise.

The new VITO app, on the other hand, has unique capabilities: voice control (the only other remote controller app that has this is PdaWin TV remote controller 5.5). Furthermore, it's the only application that has seamless QVGA landscape support. Also, it has a unique feature that no other RC app has: you can set its orientation anywhere (90/180/270 degrees), even on devices that otherwise have no built-in rotation support. People with IR ports on the side/bottom of the PDA, rejoice :)

Also, it has one of the best hardware button support - much better than that of NoviiRemote or TotalRemote.

I hope its Pronto support and its device compatibility (the prev. version wasn't compatible with the iPAQ 36xx/37xx series) will turn out be much better than that of the 3.x series (will try to test it today, along with the new Novii version; will keep you posted).

Menneisyys

10-01-2005, 11:21 AM

ONe last b*tch - the default interface looks gawdy.

"Native" interfaces look generally ugly (if it's "ugly" that "gawdy" means - couldn't look it up in the dictionary because I'm in a hurry to swim), not just with the VITO app. Take a look at, for example, the otherwise excellent RemoteControl II for Pocket PC 1.18 to see really ugly native interfaces :)

This is (also) why Pronto/CCF compliance is so important - CCF interfaces can be beautiful (especially color ones) and they completely hide the 'native' interface.

Menneisyys

10-01-2005, 02:29 PM

So, I've tested the new, 4.0 version of ViTO Remote and thoroughly compared it to the previous version.

Voice command

It seems to be only different from the previous version in the speech recognition module. I haven't compared its accuracy/recognition capabilities to that of PDAWin TV Remote Controller 5.5, the only other infrared remote controller application to have voice recognition. Note that I'll do this as soon as I have some free time. Definitely not now because I have to go out now to fetch some old Commodore User mags and Sinclair ZX Spectrum cassettes for my computing museum. Yes, the hard life of a computing museum adminitrator... ;)

Compared to ViTO's other speech recognition-based program, Voice2Go 1.1 (please see this review (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=366103) on it), it's much faster to load (you don't need to wait sometimes seconds before you can actually say the command). Unfortunately, as with Voice2Go, it's still impossible to fine-tune anything, voice command-wise (for example, the maximal length of the command)

As with Voice2Go, it can work in two modes. One if the "Magic word" mode (if you switch on the Microphone icon, next to the rightmost Device chooser/manager arrow), the other in the standard, 'not-always-listening' mode. The latter may be much easier on batteries because I don't think it consumes less CPU than Voice2Go, which itself continuously consumes 20-30% CPU cycles on 520 MHz PXA-272's, meaning much shorter battery life than without actually listening for the magic word to avoid hardware button press. Fortunately, you can assign starting to listen to the voice command to a hardware button so you won't need to hunt for the (small) icon on the bottom bar every time you want to issue a voice command:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/VITORemoreController40-ButtonAssignmentWithVoice.gif.png

Incidentally, this screenshot also shows the excellent button mapping capabilities of this app. It can use any extra button on your PDA (if it has more than four), even in their Hold mode. Also, button assignment is device-specific, unlike, again, with some other. No other remote controller apps offer the same level of freedom/configurability.

Unfortunately, exactly as with Voice2Go, especially if you operate it in "Magic word" mode, the voice command mode is very slow (apart from the lack of the initial bootup time, which made the situation even worse with Voice2Go): it repeats both the magic word and, if it managed to understand it, the particular command.

Furthermore, you can only record a pre-defined command set (you can't just order a voice command to an arbitrary button/IR code, unless you re-learn that button with your hardware remote controller – this should be fixed!), depending on the type of your device. For example, with VCR's, you can only record the most basic tape/power commands (in addition to the magic word), as can be seen in the following picture:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/VITORemoreController40-VoiceRecording.gif.png

Fortunately, you can't record for example "record" on VCR's; that is, the consequences of a wrong command reconition can't cause severe problems.

Note that, when you record yoru stuff, you should wait some tens of seconds after the progress bar starts to advance and and should stop way before it gets at the end. Otherwise, your command will most likely be chopped.

I've tested its accuracy with the usual voice test stuff I use: Finnish county/province names. It worked OK, albeit not very good (didn't have problems with 'Ahvenanmaa' this time – I may have done a mistake while testing Voice2Go, regarding this word.) The recognition accuracy is around that of, you may already have guessed, Voice2Go – that is, some 80-95%. (Note tht I've tested the app in Finnish, which is a much "clearer", "open" language than most other languages. It's like Italian in this respect (but even clearer). Speakers of, say, French (which doesn't have so radically different sounds than Finnish) may find the voice recognition capabilities of this app, therefore, much worse.)

Other differences/news

The application has retained all its strengths (see above); and, unfortunately, all its problems.

First, it's just not compatible with the iPAQ 36xx. The same (shipped) control file that works on both the Pocket Loox 720 and the iPAQ 2210 refuses to do the same on the 3660. I don't know why ViTO still lists the iPAQ 36xx/37xx series as compatible on their product page.

Second, it (still) crashes at reading any color ProntoPro (for example, TSU6000) files. (Tested with the two originals and the explicitly converted (so that they can be readable by NetRemoteIR) files).

Third, its non-color (Pronto) CCF compliance is almost non-existent. Much as it can render them (to a certain degree – see below), of the six tested monochrome Pronto test files, none worked (while, they all work in NetRemoteIR and about half of them in PDAWin TV Remote Controller 5.5).

It not only seem to have serious problems with actual CCF codes, but also with rendering. CCF rendering problems are much more common than with other remote controller apps. An example of ViTO, rendering a page in one of the HS-860 test CCF's:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/VITORemoreController40-BadRendering.gif.png

And, the same, NetRemote IR on a QVGA (iPAQ 3660) device (remember, it doesn't display CCF files OK on VGA devices!):

http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/NetRemoteRendersTheSameAsVITO.gif.png

Verdict: if you're a Pronto/CCF freak (like me), get something else, as this app only seems to work in native mode. In native mode, however, it's not bad (but not outstanding either), especially now that it also includes voice support.

pivaska

10-01-2005, 04:12 PM

ipaq_wannabe

10-02-2005, 12:24 AM

hhhmmmm...

if you were given the choice - which would be better, Novii Remote or Vito???

Vito is cheaper, but i think Novii has more features (correct me on this...)

thanks!!!

Menneisyys

10-02-2005, 08:41 AM

So I have a Axim 50V that I use for work and my personal stuff but I have an old Tosh e800 laying around that I am not using. Now I think I might have found a good use for it...TV remote BUT it is still a bit confusing from this article which is the best TV remote to purchase for a Tosh e800. Any suggestions...

These apps are all quite good, with different strengths and weaknesses (see my review(s) & comparison chart). I'd say you may want to check out all the remote apps except for the two worst (Ultramote and UniversalRemoteCE). You may also want to read this thread (http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=119124). It's pretty confusing and has entirely contradicting info, but at least says that Vito Remote works flawlessly on the e800.

Menneisyys

10-02-2005, 09:08 AM

Menneisyys

10-02-2005, 09:46 AM

OK people, as promised, here's a comparison of the voice operated mode of ViTO Remote 4.0 and PdaWin TV remote controller 5.5

ViTO Remote 4.0 compared to the PdaWin TV remote controller (TVRC) 5.5, voice control-wise

TVRC offers global (non-device-specific, unlike with ViTO) a voice control recording/management dialog. This may be a bit more hard to use at first because of the higher number of available choices.

http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/PdaWinTVRC55-Voice-1.gif.png

As can be seen, it's not possible to assign a voice command to an arbitrary button (which is not much different from ViTO's approach) – except for F1, F2 and F3. The capability to assign commands to the latter buttons is a bit better than the capabilties of ViTO – then, you won't need to assign a completely unrelated function to, for example, the "Pause" button, if you want to issue "non-standard" commands on your remote controller. Unfortunately, the ability to only control three user-defined buttons is just a bit more than nothing.

After the recording, you can also check without actually using the to-be-controlled device by clicking Test. Then, just say the commands; you'll see at once whether it has been recognized, and with what confidence (the higher the number, the worse):

http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/PdaWinTVRC55-Voice-2.gif.png

TVRC is much faster at recognizing commands and, in continuous listening mode, doesn't need a "magic word". (Note that, unlike with the ViTO app, there's no "press a button and say the command"-mode in TVRC – if you want to use voice control, it must listen to the input all the time).

Another advantage of TVRC is that its CPU usage in continuous listening mode is much lower than that of the ViTO app - around 6-10% on a 520 MHz PL720 (with very rare peaks of 40-50% when there's ambient voice). On the same device, ViTO Remote 4.0 consumes between 20 and 30% CPU cycles in active, "magic word" mode. This means TVRC won't eat through your battery really quick – it's much better suited for continuous or even background (!) remote controller functionality – this means you can run another app in the foreground while TVRC still keeps listening to commands.

On the other hand, TVRC crashes on all WM2003+ devices (I've even tested this on a freshly hard reset iPAQ 2210, in addition to my Pocket Loox 720) if you try to leave its listener mode (Options/Voice commands/Stop listening). Then, just exiting the app won't help either – you won't be able to restart it until the next soft reset. It can exit the listener mode on PPC2k2 devices (tested this on my iPAQ 3660) without problems.

Verdict: the voice controller mode, aside from the WM2003+ exit bug, is definitely better on TVRC than on ViTO, particularly CPU cycle usage- and speed-wise.

Menneisyys

10-02-2005, 01:56 PM

hhhmmmm...

if you were given the choice - which would be better, Novii Remote or Vito???

Vito is cheaper, but i think Novii has more features (correct me on this...)

thanks!!!

I'll test the new Novii version today; after that, I will able to answer this question.

OK, posted the review of the new Novii Deluxe 3.1 version, comparing it to the standard 2.3 one (http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17874). It indeed has enhancements. It's another question whether they're worth the $35 price tag...

ipaq_wannabe

10-02-2005, 03:03 PM

rim

10-21-2005, 04:01 PM

Hello guys,

I hope my impression with a new Novii Remote Deluxe might be useful.

I''ve always been flustered by the fact that I have at the very least a two remote requirement in each room of the house I have a TV. Whether it''s the universal remote that came with my dish/cable not supporting all the functions of my TV or the universal remote I bought not supporting all the features on either the cable or tv -- there always seems to be a need for another remote to get everything done. NoviiRemote Deluxe changed all that. Immediately after installing it on my PDA I found a codebase for most of my devices that, already just out of the box, supported more functions than my remotes. Even better, though, I found custom-programming it was an absolute breeze, if not pleasure. I''ve since "built" my remote setups from the ground up, optimized for my own television operating needs. While one might argue there should be custom button sets and/or backgrounds, that''s only minor cosmetic matter. The only real complaint I have is that I''ve found I enjoy tweaking my remote setups more than actually watching the television programming!