It’s not really fair. My TV (and every other piece of home electronics) is a slave to a remote. But because the remote only barks out orders and never asks questions, or listens, it’s a cause for frustration.

We have a Logitech Harmony remote, and it’s a great thing. But because the communication is one-way it’s often as frustrating an experience using it as trying to find the right one of the half dozen remotes scattered around the living room.

Now, imagine a world where every TV, Xbox, Squeezebox, and amplifier had a Bluetooth (BT) or other wireless chip in and as well as listening for orders they can communicate their status both between devices and to their controller.

Couple that with a smartphone (or a dedicated smart remote control) and you have a real universal remote that can be task driven (I want to watch Cable or play a DVD on the Xbox or listen to music), query the relevant devices (to confirm what state it thinks they are in) and then make intelligent decisions about they need to do (on or off, change source, adjust volume levels) – including powering on or off devices in the correct sequence.

Today’s IrDA based devices don’t offer that sort of flexibility or control – the communication isn’t two way, the protocols defined in the 1970’s don’t really have the flexibility or richness and the limitation of line of sight control starts to interfere with talking to multiple devices concurrently anyway.

In this solution there would be no more line of sight problems (can even talk to equipment in a cabinet). No more getting out of sync with the source channel on the TV (because it's cyclical rather than direct access). No more pop from the speakers when the TV turns off before the amplifier (they can communicate... if the TV "knows" it's using the speakers - or the remote does - part of the shut-down process could be to mute the speakers, shut them off and then shut down the TV, or if changing over to the Squeezebox then mute them, change source, start Squeezebox, turn off TV, un-mute speakers returning them to the default volume and EQ for listening to music as opposed to for TV)

The problem today is that while BT to IrDA devices exist that's only half the solution... The back channel to the remote doesn't exist. For this to work the Bluetooth, ZigBee or WiFi SIGs would need to be more aggressive in promoting the value of something like this to the hardware manufacturers. Bluetooth and WiFi are already supported in most smartphones, but ZigBee with its lower power requirements would be an interesting solution if it has the living room range.

For it to work there needs to be one standard that can be rolled out cost effectively. Who is going to step up and lead the charge from the three incumbent wireless technologies (or will we see a new player emerge to eclipse them?)

I hate passwords. I love the security they bring but having to remember them, manage them and above all type them in on some of the devices I use drives me to distraction.

While it’s not a perfect solution I have found one tool that allows me to use my Windows Mobile phone as a secure physical token to control access to my PC.

The Rohos Logon Key is one of the best sorts of utilities. It’s almost invisible once you set it up!

It allows you to store a “key” that you can use to unlock your PC on a USB Flash key, a memory card, a YubiKey or best of all (if your PC has Bluetooth support) a bluetooth equipped Windows Mobile phone or other smartphone.

When you have installed the utility and defined a key simply making it available to the machine will log you in – so by plugging in a USB key and entering the PIN, or placing the Mobile Phone in proximity so the ID can be read.

No more typing, fumbling and cursing!

You still need to update your password on a regular basis (as it can still be used to log in without the device) but it means you can choose longer, more complex and hard to guess ones without having to learn to type them every time.

It doesn’t help with things like syncing the changed password to your phone (for instance if you need it to access your Exchange server for Outlook Mobile via ActiveSync) or if you need to type passwords into web or network logins… maybe one day.

Oh, and the USB support does also include provision of an encrypted partition for you to store files on so even if you lose the key your data is still protected.

One of the problems with using most smartphones or UMPCs is that while the form factor is ideally suited to portability they are not exactly the best form factor for composing an essay on.

A while ago I ordered a USB roll up keyboard for the Q1U but it was too big and the keypad layout was weird (and the action was terrible). The backlight was the coolest thing about it (but it made a buzzing noise). Needless to say it wasn’t a hit (and as the Q1U only has 2 USB sockets it was a bit of a nuisance).

I’d asked around a bit and folks said great things about the iGo Stowaway keyboard but sadly while it is still available it’s been discontinued – mainly because developing new drivers wasn’t cost effective for iGo. While that meant I could get one today and it would probably work with any of my phones and my Vista / WinXP machines there was no guarantee it would stay current as new devices and operating systems appeared on the horizon.

So I went hunting again and found a great little bluetooth keyboard from Freedom (the same folks who make my current GPS dongle). It supports both HID and SPP profiles which means it can be paired with Windows PCs, Windows Mobile smartphones and professional (touch) devices as well as Blackberry, Nokia and Palm phones.

Installation on the PC was easy – like pairing with any other device (though typing in the pass key “blind” was funny!). Pairing on the phone was a little harder as it requires downloading a driver and then generating an unlock key (I understand that they do that to ensure people only use their drivers with keyboards from Freedom but the process wasn’t fool-proof for me… I’d like the driver to include the smarts to negotiate the connection and guide me through verification) – but it works perfectly.

The keyboard, although folding, has a great layout (apart from the /? key being to the right of the shift, and the spacebar being in two parts), great action on the keys but having 5 rows (including a full number row), Windows key, function key (Fn+number) and a physical on/off switch (toggles on, HID or SPP profiles) makes this a great option for both UMPC or smartphone users fed up with cramped (or missing) keyboards.

It’s not tiny. Folded it’s about the size of two SGH-i780s side by side (see here for comparisons) but it’s lightweight, and takes standard AA batteries. Unfolded and locked it’s stable and feels solid. It even includes an integrated stand for your phone – can double as a notes holder.

The only thing I’d like to see is a pointing-stick style mouse to avoid reaching for the stylus or having to tap the screen on the Q1U but even that omission doesn’t distract from using this (as any bluetooth mouse could also be paired to complement the setup)

And yes. I wrote this review on my UMPC using the Freedom keyboard. I would have used my i780 but I don’t have a blogging app on there that I really like.