IR in smartphones.

[Tw1]

I'm looking into getting a new smartphone. I'd like some opinions in how useful having one with an IR blaster would be.

Do you guys have any thoughts on if this technology is going to go anywhere interesting in the future, or will I not be missing much if I go for one that does not have this feature?

(The two phones I'm tossing up between are the Galaxy S5, and the Xperia Z3 compact)

[kenbobo]

My iPhone doesn't have an IR blaster and its just fine so...

[Starwhip]

You can mess with public televisions, that's always fun.

(I don't. I don't even have a smartphone, let alone one with an IR blaster. But my friend's tablet does.)

[mrmcp1]

I personally own an Xperia Z3 compact and it is a great phone and I have never been in a situation when I wished it had an IR blaster. I don't think you will be missing much in not having an IR blaster.

[Tw1]

You can mess with public televisions, that's always fun.

(I don't. I don't even have a smartphone, let alone one with an IR blaster. But my friend's tablet does.)

That could be fun, if done in moderation. I can imagine being in a hotel or conference center with an aironditioner that we just can't turn down, and downloading its details, and being able to fix it. Plus, there's the small matter of not having to move one meter to grab the actual remote control for things. There is the possibility to use it to remotely control my camera, but I'm also looking into getting an Eye-fi chip, and may be able to do the same over wi-fi.

I do love to play around with gadgets, but I'm leaning towards the Xperia. It's smaller, similarly capable, and looks so much better.

[Camacha]

I do not consider IR to be a real feature. It is at best a toy to goof around with, but you will never miss it if you do not have it.

[Fel]

Seriously? IrDA is OLD technology, long in the "real" smartphones and abandoned because bluetooth was "hip."

You can make a transmitter out of a headphone jack for dirt cheap, if they're jacking up the price because they're putting it back in...

/

Can you even use it for data transfer? Or interfacing with the few dozen infrared devices that still work on ebay? Or is it just "$10 to interface with the TV brand you selected"

[Camacha]

Seriously? IrDA is OLD technology, long in the "real" smartphones and abandoned because bluetooth was "hip."

Even back in the day that it was state of the art for phones it was a pretty useless feature. It was the best way of spending two hours trying to connect phones that would never properly communicate

[Fel]

Even back in the day that it was state of the art for phones it was a pretty useless feature. It was the best way of spending two hours trying to connect phones that would never properly communicate

Well... yeah...

But the powerdrain of IrDA is near zero (it's just an led and a photoresistor, I think). Bluetooth requires a much more active transmission upto 33 feet was it?

Though, RFID and NFC are taking that side now-a-days... bringing IR back just seems like a stunt. (And Camacha isn't kidding about the issues of phones having that photo sensor in the wrong place (and sometimes even then), getting the things to transfer is quite the pain)

Edited May 31, 2015 by Fel

[lajoswinkler]

"IR blaster"? You mean IrDA? I had two mobile phones with such port. Smartphones don't have that one because Bluetooth is a better way for transfering data. IrDA used to be such a painful way to transfer stuff. I remember how annoying it was to transfer MIDI ringtones and 320x240 px photos because it's a spatially directional transfer.

Reimplementing IrDA back would be useful as a curiosity, just like there's a compass and accelerometer module. I'd be ok with that. You could write a program to emulate TV remote controls.

[steve_v]

Those that I have seen aren't actually IrDA, as they have no receiver. Universal remote in your phone is all they're good for. Handy for some perhaps, but not exactly a killer feature.