HAND-HELD COMPUTERS Turn a Palm into an entertainment ensemble

Downloadable software allows users to turn their Palms into remotes.
By MATTHEW FORDAHL
AP TECHNOLOGY WRITER
It was stuck in a junk drawer for most of the last 21/2 years, a perfectly good but now hopelessly obsolete Palm IIIxe hand-held computer. But I found a way to give it renewed life -- as a universal remote control that freed up precious real estate on my coffee table.
Loaded with a clever little applet from NoviiMedia, the Palm now controls our television, DVD player, VCR, stereo amplifier and TiVo digital video receiver.
It might seem odd to use a $199 gadget as a universal remote. After all, you can by one as a standalone device for as little as $15.
In my case, though, the Palm would have otherwise just sat and festered.
Plus, cheap universal remotes don't offer the versatility of the NoviiRemote software, which costs $25 for color hand-helds. It runs $15 for black-and-white models like mine.
It's the first time my Palm has been used for more than a two-week stretch. My wife gave it to me for Christmas in 1999, but I was neither organized nor patient enough to populate it and master its goofy squiggle-based text-entry system. And a wireless kit I bought so I could write stories on the Palm and file them over my cell phone never worked.
The idea
The hand-held's resurrection began with TiVo's monthly subscriber e-mail message, which noted that NoviiRemote is compatible with its recorders.
I was especially interested in replacing our badly worn TiVo remote (cheap universal remotes don't include TiVo's extra buttons).
I downloaded the software to my computer, dug out the Palm and synched it with the PC using the cable and cradle I found in a closet box full of other high-tech castoffs ranging from Ethernet cables to old hard drives.
Once installed and running, NoviiRemote can be programmed either by using a code from the pre-installed list or teaching it by pointing the old remote at it and letting infrared communication read the signals.
Our Sony TV worked fine with the database codes.
The Sony-branded TiVo was another story.
So I taught the Palm to understand the language of our TiVo remote. Some of the keys required a second training session after the first attempt didn't take.
In all, it took about 15 minutes to train, thanks to clear on-screen instructions.
NoviiRemote solved another entertainment center headache. We hated our TV's sound quality, so we wired the audio to our stereo, which sounds great but requires its own remote.
I trained NoviiRemote to use the stereo's commands when changing volume, regardless of whether I've selected the TV, TiVo, VCR or satellite categories. I also set the Palm's scroll buttons to change the volume, so I don't have to grab the stylus and tap the screen to raise or lower the sound.
Because my Palm is a dinosaur, I was stuck with a monochrome screen that offers no backlight, making it difficult to read in low light. NoviiRemote's layout is clean and tight, and a stylus is required to tap its virtual buttons. (My fingers are too big and leave too many smudges.)
The range of the infrared beam on the Palm isn't great, though it worked well in our living room. In my tests, the remote control stopped working at a distance of about 11 feet.
NoviiMedia plans to sell an SD card that can boost the signals on models with expansion slots.
Alternative software
NoviiRemote, which runs on most Palm and Pocket PC hand-helds, is not the only software that turns a hand-held into a universal remote. I also tried OmniRemote, which sells for $25.
But unlike NoviiRemote, the trial version limits users to operating just one category of entertainment device, and there's no discount for those of us with old black-and-white hand-helds.
The remote control programs gave me a new appreciation for my Palm, and I've been checking out some other software that's been developed since mine slipped into the junk drawer.
I've enjoyed more than a few games on the hand-held -- especially now that we're well into the summer rerun season.