# Is this possible? (Android as a remote)



## feeshta (Oct 2, 2011)

Okay guys, I am in the process of building a new system for my car, a 2000 BMW 540i. I have an idea of what I want to do, but I can't seem to figure out how to execute it.

I am going to be using an audison bit 10D processor, which allows me to use the car's factory sound for radio etc, but what I am really interested in is the possibility of using the aux toslink input and connecting it to a large capacity media server full of all my music at high encoding levels. Is there a way to do such a thing and be able to control it from the driver's seat of the car without major modification? I live in baltimore and don't want to risk becoming a target for thieves, so I want a factory dash if possible. 

The idea I had was to use a WDTV Live Hub media center, which has a toslink output and plenty of storage capacity, but I can't figure out a way to control it properly with my phone. There are programs out there that allow control of the device via android phone, but you need to be able to see the on-screen display to know what you are doing, all it shows on the phone's screen is play, stop, etc, there is no ability to see the playlist and choose music. 

What I really want is something with good storage size, that I can control with my android phone, just for song selection etc, where I can see and select from a playlist on the phone's screen, and which has a toslink output, or at a minimum rca stereo outs. 

Any ideas guys?


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## Salad Fingers (Jun 14, 2009)

A first gen Apple TV with 160 gig HD and an iPod Touch with the Remote app on it. That will give you full control from the front seat without the need of having to see the screen and an optical output.

I thought about the WDTV as well. Bought it and brought it home, plugged in my hard drive and after 30 minutes it still had not loaded all of my music . I returned it the same day.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

you could remote into any computer with an android, theirs an app out their that can do it several in fact by now im sure. the ability is their, something tht explicidly controls media and media funtions, i don't know. perhaps you could wonder over to an android developer forum and see if you can contract somebody to mod an app for you.


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## feeshta (Oct 2, 2011)

Salad Fingers said:


> A first gen Apple TV with 160 gig HD and an iPod Touch with the Remote app on it. That will give you full control from the front seat without the need of having to see the screen and an optical output.
> 
> I thought about the WDTV as well. Bought it and brought it home, plugged in my hard drive and after 30 minutes it still had not loaded all of my music . I returned it the same day.



That's an idea that would not have crossed my mind. Although I am not really keen on buying an ipod touch just to control my tunes, in looking at this I think I might not even need to. The Apple TV is DLNA capable, and so is Android. It might not be a perfect interface, but I think it would work. I know there are a couple apps on the market that say they will control the apple tv, and I think the built in DLNA controller will probably work as well.

Edit: I am guessing if the interface is better with an apple device, I could just swicth to an iphone next time I need a new phone. 

Any concerns I should be aware of as far as running the Apple TV in the car? by that I mean what would be required for it's care and feeding electrically? Just wondering if I need to get an inverter or something for it. 

Incidentally, I am in the process of returning my WDTV right now. It will not cooperate with my home network, and then it bricked when I tried to install the most recent firmware. Not exactly a ringing endorsment. 

@ stephen, I am guessing you were asking salad fingers about pics, is that correct?


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

There are quite a few apps that allow you to use Android as a PC remote. They all seem to center around use for multimedia (no surprise) but I have found some that will allow keyboard and mouse features and some claim to offer multitouch.

As am I starting to put together my car PC right now, I have looked at many options. I want to limit the equipment, so integration of devices is important. I also do not care for the premium price of small touch screens, and I don't want to spend $130 on front end software. I have a feeling that when Win8 comes out, it will render most front end software obsolete in any case.

So, I looked at trackballs, multitouch track pads, and some track pads with mini qwerty. Most of the track pads are limited in multitouch function. So again, I couldn't find myself spending $30-$90 for something that might not work the way I want.

So I started looking at Android apps.

I am not going to use Win7, as it has not been designed with touch screen as a primary focus. Win7 is a bit clunky with touch. So I am going to mess around with the latest Ubuntu distro because of the Unity interface (It is very much a touch orientated interface). 

I will try to post links of the apps when I get time.

Oh, one more thing: Some of the apps work over wifi, some over bluetooth and some that claim to use either.


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## feeshta (Oct 2, 2011)

Thanks for the input. Personally I really don't want or need any more functionality out of my setup than the ability to play all my music from the front seat. Anything else I wish is really already available to me on the Droid.

The key for me is being able to control a music source from the front seat without any need for modification to the car. 

It really seems like there should be bluetooth functional devices designed for just this purpose on the market, with storage being so inexpensive these days. I guess maybe manufacturers are thinking nobody would buy enough of them, since most people don't really give a crap about SQ and are happy plugging their iphone into the aux jack so they can listen to crappy mp3 rips. To me though, such a system would be awesome. You could easily move it to a new vehicle, it gives good sound and effectively unlimited storage space since you could always just upgrade a new drive. 



Orion525iT said:


> There are quite a few apps that allow you to use Android as a PC remote. They all seem to center around use for multimedia (no surprise) but I have found some that will allow keyboard and mouse features and some claim to offer multitouch.
> 
> As am I starting to put together my car PC right now, I have looked at many options. I want to limit the equipment, so integration of devices is important. I also do not care for the premium price of small touch screens, and I don't want to spend $130 on front end software.
> 
> ...


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

Ok, I had to re-read the original post, sorry I misunderstood a bit I think. But it seems the answer is the same.

So what you are looking for is more of a remote desktop?

GMOTE?

"GMote

This App is similar to RemoteDroid. The setup is easy. All you need to do is to install the phone app, plus the server application that resides on the computer that you will use. After it is set up, it becomes a wireless mouse and keyboard for your computer. *GMote has organizational capabilities. After it gets music, movies, and other media, it arranges it all in easy to use folders*. It also offers a remote control screen, which can control your media."


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## Gas Is Expensive (Aug 26, 2008)

Unified Remote


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