|
Software
The main piece of software you'll be interfacing with is the ATi Remote Control software. We mentioned earlier that there are a number of programmable buttons on the remote, and it's the software that is used to map buttons to various Windows commands. You can also set it up to launch various applications, but you'll need specific plug-ins for the app you wish to configure.
Previously, one of the most annoying aspects of the Remote Wonder was the horrible mouse response time. Navigating from one point on the screen to another was an exercise in frustration, and the only way to fix it was to speed up your Windows mouse speed. This wasn't exactly my solution of choice, as I'm sure not many people were keen on this. The current version of the Remote Control software addresses this issue by allowing mouse speed (via the remote) to be independently adjusted outside of Windows.
There isn't any way to benchmark a remote with synthetic tests, so I figure the best way to test the remote was to subject it to a series of real-world scenarios.
Application Testing
Naturally, being a remote, I wanted to test the Remote Wonder's ability to run and navigate through a variety of multimedia applications. I do have the ATi Multimedia Center (MMC) installed on the PC, but the goal is to test 3rd party applications, rather than ATi's own.
The first thing we tested is the latest version of Cyberlink's PowerDVD. After , and setting it up in the application, the remote successfully started the DVD software. I was able to skip chapters, pause, play, etc.
Sticking with video players, we then tried to get the latest versions of Quicktime and Windows Media player to cooperate with the Remote Wonder. Given the inability to find any plug-ins, I wasn't able to get this to work. This , but the version supported is for the older WMP.
Next up was Winamp, which worked pretty good, but you'll have to make sure you grab the proper . Originally, nothing worked right since the default drivers for the remote was for Winamp 2.x support, and I was using v3.
Using the remote as a mouse worked fine for the most part. MS PowerPoint with the mouse is great for changing slides, but the truth is, for Windows, the remote will never be a true substitute for a keyboard and mouse combination. Gaming was forgettable, and surfing the net is easy enough, but you'll still need a keyboard for entering URLs and such. Even using the remote as a mouse replacement is a bit awkward if you're actually sitting at your desk, as it'll be easier to just use a mouse.
Unfortunately, I do not have a TV-tuner outside of the AiW 8500DV and AiW VE, so it was impossible for me to test for hardware compatibility, but since the keys can be mapped to shortcuts via the Remote Control software, I doubt if any issues will come up. I would go into more detail about the testing with the AiW products, but all I have to say is that it works fine, as the ATi MMC takes control of all the ATi products via the remote.
Girder Support
Girder is a freeware program that can be programmed to accept a series of macros from a keyboard or remote control, and can convert them into actions that your PC can understand. You can get . This support is not included with the Remote Wonder by default, but you can .
Previous Page - Introduction
Next Page - Software & Application Testing
|
