Autonomic Enhances 2-Way Apple TV Control

Autonomic Controls adds on-screen navigation and on-the-fly Genius playlists to Apple TV module for Crestron, AMX, other controllers

image

Click the Genius swirl to build playlists on the fly—regardless of the source of music that is currently playing, as long as there is metadata

By Julie Jacobson
February 26, 2010
Autonomic Controls, arguably the first company to deliver two-way Apple TV control over IP, has enhanced its Apple TV control module for Crestron, AMX, Universal Remote Control, Remote Technologies Inc. (RTI) and other control systems.

Most importantly, the update enables control of Apple TV’s on-screen display (OSD).

When Autonomic developed the original module in May 2009, the OSD commands (d-pad, up, down, left, right, enter, menu) were not in the Apple TV protocol, according to Autonomic’s Michael de Nigris.

“This meant that while our dealers could integrate media browsing and album art on touchpanels over Ethernet, they still needed to run an IR blaster to the Apple TV to enable on-screen navigation,” he says.

image
IP interface with Apple TV remote emulator: no more IR blasters

Then Apple added commands to support on-screen navigation in the protocol when Apple TV firmware version 3.0 was released late last year.

And now Autonomic has implemented the functionality. “No more requirement to run an IR blaster to the device,” de Nigris says.

In addition, Autonomic added a button that lets users start a new Genius playlist based on the currently playing song — similar to the company’s Pandora functionality in its flagship Mirage MCS software.

With Mirage, users can create a new Pandora station on the fly, based on the song that is currently playing -- regardless of where the song is coming from, as long as there is metadata.

The new Apple TV module also supports Apple’s new automatic Genius Mixes added in iTunes version 9.

Currently, Autonomic's software is not available for Control4 automation systems, but the UK's Extra Vegetables offers two-way Apple TV (including on-screen navigation) for that platform.

image
Also controls Air Tunes

http://www.autonomiccontrols.com

image
Learn more in the Digital Media track at EHX Spring. | http://www.ehxweb.com
Electronic House Expo Spring 2010: The New Opportunities Show, March 25-27, 2010, Orlando, Fla.
Smart Energy | Commercial | Home Health Tech | Recurring Revenue | Digital Content | Retrofit



Return to full story:
http://www.cepro.com/article/autonomic_enhances_2-way_apple_tv_control/