# Qwerty Remote



## kturcotte (Dec 9, 2002)

What is known about the Qwerty remote? Any release date? IR, RF, or bluetooth? And if RF or bluetooth, JUST the keyboard part, or the entire remote?
Also, will is control my A/V receiver for volume and mute, as well as turn my Tv on and off?


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

The Qwerty remote is due later this year; there is no public release date. It is supposed to use Bluetooth (a form of RF) for TiVo communication and IR for communication with other equipment.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

You might want to check out this thread:

Standard USB keyboards work with the Premiere

You can take advantage of this now. Also, this is strongly suggestive of how TiVo's QWERTY remote will be implemented (i.e., as a USB HID device).

I think it will be a dual IR/bluetooth device, with the keyboard only working over bluetooth, but IR (including TV control) working as before. But I don't know for sure.


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## kturcotte (Dec 9, 2002)

wmcbrine said:


> You might want to check out this thread:
> 
> Standard USB keyboards work with the Premiere
> 
> ...


Hoping the Tv control would be over bluetooth as well. That's mainly what I'm after.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

Eh, that's not possible. You'd have to have support built directly into the TV, or else you have to imagine the TiVo translating it via an IR blaster. And there's no support for IR blasters on the TiVo units where the QWERTY remote will work, and the IR blasters never controlled TVs even on the TiVos where they were available, only set-top boxes.

But you can buy an "IR extender" if that's what you want; it translates IR -> RF -> IR, for non-line-of-sight situations. I have a hard time imagining you don't have line-of-sight with your TV, though.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

TiVo Slide QWERTY Bluetooth remote appears on the FCC test bench


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## kturcotte (Dec 9, 2002)

The entire remote (With the exception on actual Volume and Tv power on and off) will be bluetooth right? So I could remotely control the DVR from another room? Or JUST the keyboard part itself will be bluetooth?


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## TrueTurbo (Feb 19, 2008)

kturcotte said:


> The entire remote (With the exception on actual Volume and Tv power on and off) will be bluetooth right? So I could remotely control the DVR from another room? Or JUST the keyboard part itself will be bluetooth?


If you read the manual published on the Engadget site at the link above, it suggests that once the remote is in 'Blutooth Mode', all the commands are over blutooth. Basically, if you plug in the blutooth dongle and pair the remote with it, the remote works over blutooth from that point on.


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## kturcotte (Dec 9, 2002)

TrueTurbo said:


> If you read the manual published on the Engadget site at the link above, it suggests that once the remote is in 'Blutooth Mode', all the commands are over blutooth. Basically, if you plug in the blutooth dongle and pair the remote with it, the remote works over blutooth from that point on.


NICE!!! Any idea on the range? Would it work from a 1st floor to a 2nd floor?


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## TrueTurbo (Feb 19, 2008)

kturcotte said:


> NICE!!! Any idea on the range? Would it work from a 1st floor to a 2nd floor?


Ah, based on my bluetooth experience with other gadgets, I'm afraid I'd say no! Bluetooth is a short-range wireless protocol. It's not really intended to work through walls and floors. Assuming the TiVo remote turns out to be a low power Class 2 Bluetooth device, you'll probably have to be within about 30 feet of the receiver for it to work.


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## kturcotte (Dec 9, 2002)

TrueTurbo said:


> Ah, based on my bluetooth experience with other gadgets, I'm afraid I'd say no! Bluetooth is a short-range wireless protocol. It's not really intended to work through walls and floors. Assuming the TiVo remote turns out to be a low power Class 2 Bluetooth device, you'll probably have to be within about 30 feet of the receiver for it to work.


I know nothing's actually finalized and released yet, but do you think the Premiere would take bluetooth AND IR commands from 2 different remotes (Without having to change settings or restarting)? Bluetooth right near the DVR itself, and then IR commands from a remote on a lower floor (Using an RF->IF converter)?


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## TrueTurbo (Feb 19, 2008)

kturcotte said:


> I know nothing's actually finalized and released yet, but do you think the Premiere would take bluetooth AND IR commands from 2 different remotes (Without having to change settings or restarting)? Bluetooth right near the DVR itself, and then IR commands from a remote on a lower floor (Using an RF->IF converter)?


I certainly hope you can use both IR and Bluetooth at the same time. I control everything in my living room with a Harmony One remote, including 2 TiVos. I want to continue to use the Harmony as my main remote and just have the TiVo Bluetooth remote sitting on the table for when I want to use the keyboard with the Premiere.


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## jmill (Feb 22, 2010)

kturcotte said:


> I know nothing's actually finalized and released yet, but do you think the Premiere would take bluetooth AND IR commands from 2 different remotes (Without having to change settings or restarting)? Bluetooth right near the DVR itself, and then IR commands from a remote on a lower floor (Using an RF->IF converter)?


Yes, both IR and bluetooth remotes will work at the same time.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

TrueTurbo said:


> Ah, based on my bluetooth experience with other gadgets, I'm afraid I'd say no! Bluetooth is a short-range wireless protocol. It's not really intended to work through walls and floors. Assuming the TiVo remote turns out to be a low power Class 2 Bluetooth device, you'll probably have to be within about 30 feet of the receiver for it to work.


I know my current BT products will work between a first and third floor where I'm at right now. And I get at least 30 feet horizontally out of them. Although I don't need that distance, but I was curious how far they would work so I tested them out.


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## TrueTurbo (Feb 19, 2008)

aaronwt said:


> I know my current BT products will work between a first and third floor where I'm at right now. And I get at least 30 feet horizontally out of them. Although I don't need that distance, but I was curious how far they would work so I tested them out.


Then your bluetooth products are probably high power, Class 1 devices.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

TrueTurbo said:


> Then your bluetooth products are probably high power, Class 1 devices.


How many classes of BT are there?


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## TrueTurbo (Feb 19, 2008)

aaronwt said:


> How many classes of BT are there?


According to Wikipedia, 3 classes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth

I does also say that the effective range of a Class 2 device will be extended if it connects to a Class 1 transceiver. If we're lucky, the TiVo bluetooth remote will ship with a Class 1 transceiver.


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

The press release here states:



> Its Bluetooth technology increases the remote's reliability, and range up to 30 feet away.


So I guess that means it's Class 2 after all.

I just ordered one from Amazon.com, should make remote control of my shared S3 TiVo more reliable than my current multi-room setup. My bedroom is only about 15 feet from the living room. Fingers crossed it works...


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