User talk:Darsh

From IDRC Mobile Wiki

This page is about the findings of my current research on open source apps or softwares which can be useful in communication between mobile phone and PC/Laptop via Bluetooth and/or WiFI interface. There are two types of apps which can be helpful.

1. Remote client on phone to view files on computer using FTP. Any FTP apps are available. Mostly works on WiFi.
2. Control of Mouse and Keyboard from phone. Mostly works on WiFi and Bluetooth.

The above two applications can help in understanding the basic framework for the new app.

Over the weekend, while searching for some similar apps, i found some other interesting applications in which the core functionality we are trying to do is achieved. Our goal is to make a Tekla compatible app which can control slides on the PC via WiFi, Bluetooth or 3G. The core foundation is to hook up the phone and PC via some network.Eg, in case of WiFi, we can create TCP or UDP connection between the PC and phone and data can be exchanged over the connection. Our app is simplex, which means that only phone can send data and not the PC. So, once the connection is established and handshaking done, it is simple to transmit data over the connection.

Hence various apps can be used to understand different designs of connection between PC and phone. Some types of apps which may be useful are:

1. Remote Printing: Print the document in phone via a WiFi enable printer or send to a PC and print on the printer attached to PC.
2. Remote Desktop: View the desktop on phone. See the screen of the PC on the phone and phone acts as a remote client.
3. Notification: I found a app which sends all the notifications and activities which happen on phone to the PC.
4. Remote Control of PC via phone.

Controlling the phone via PC is also an interesting application. The phone will receive commands from PC. Here also, the fundamental network connection is to be established for the working of this kind of app.

I have added some apps in the table below based upon the points discussed above. There are lots of other apps available which have the above mentioned features, but i have listed only few of them.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Details 2.1 Gmote 2.1.1 Functionality 2.1.2 Pros 2.1.3 Cons 2.1.4 Improvements/Comments 2.2 PPT Remote 2.2.1 Functionality 2.2.2 Pros 2.2.3 Cons 2.2.4 Improvements/Comments 2.3 mkRemoke 2.3.1 Functionality 2.3.2 Pros 2.3.3 Cons 2.3.4 Improvements/Comments 2.4 Unified Remote 2.5 PPT Controller 2.5.1 Functionality 2.5.2 Pros 2.5.3 Cons 2.5.4 Improvements/Comments 2.6 Free PowerPoint OpenOffice Remote 2.6.1 Functionality 2.6.2 Pros 2.6.3 Cons 2.6.4 Improvements/Comments 3 Plan for the week (28th March - 3rd April) 4 Plan for the week (4th April - 10th April) 5 Plan for the week (11th April - 17th April) 6 Plan for the week (18th April - 24th April) 7 Plan for the week (25th April - 1st May)

Summary

App	Source / License (important!)	Notes	Review
Gmote	Open Source / Apache	(see details below)	done
RemoteDroid	Free version and Paid version	Mouse control via phone. Works over WiFi network
PRemoteDroid	Open / GPL3	It has features like secure connection, screen capture and mouse and keyboard control on phone. Works over WiFi and Bluetooth network.
v.:mote	Open Source	vmote can be used as a gamepad, mouse or keyboard. Website not currently accessible. Works over Bluetooth and WiFi
mkRemoke	Free version and Paid version	The website suggests that it can be used for controlling slides. Mouse and Keyboard control on phone. Works on WiFi and Bluetooth.	Done.
PaDroid	Open Source	Cannot find the proper website. Video of app [Youtube link]. Works over WiFi.
Free PowerPoint OpenOffice Remote	Open source	Control presentations on Openoffice as well as Powerpoint. Works over WiFi.	Done.
GRemote	Free version and Paid version	Website mentions that it can control any application on PC. Demo is available for free on its website. Works over WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G.
myRemote	Open Source	Windows Media Center can be controlled by it. Special features are Snapshots and Voice Input. Works over WiFi.
PPT Remote	Open Source	Specially for controlling Power point presentations. Works on Bluetooth and WiFi.	Done.
PPT Controller	Open Source GNU gpl v2	Works with PowerPoint 2007 only. Works over Bluetooth and WiFi.	Done
Remote Mouse	Open Source	Wireless Mouse/Trackpad and Keyboard. Works over WiFi and 3G
Unified Remote	Free and Paid version	Advanced Slide presenter(PowerPoint) along with other features. Mouse and keyboard control available. Works over WiFi	Done
Swiftp	Open Source	Not Maintained now. Basically used for file sharing over FTP.
Google TV		Interesting app: makes your android/iphone work as a remote control for the Google TV. Works over WiFi
Phone Mouse	Open Source	You can control only the mouse. Works over Bluetooth and WiFi.
PcRemote Andvance	Open Source	You can control mouse, keyboard and also can control slides. Best feature is that it can map android phone's sensors to the Windows 7 system. Works over WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G.
i-Clickr PowerPoint Remote	Open Source	Slide presenter supporting PowerPoint 2010, OpenOffice on Windows and Office Mac also. Works over Bluetooth and WiFi.
RemoteSMS	Free version and Paid version	Sends and receives text from PC instead of phone. Works over Bluetooth, WiFi and USB.
android-notifier	Open Source	Sends notifications to PC when certain events happen on an Android device Works over Bluetooth, WiFi and USB(under development).
PrinterShare	Open Source	Print documents using phone by printer on nearby WiFi enabled printer or a remote printer via internet. Works over WiFi and Internet.
androidscreencast	Open Source	Desktop app to control an android device remotely using mouse and keyboard. Works through USB.

Details

Gmote

Gmote is an application developed for android phone which is used for controlling the Laptop/PC via WiFi interface. The necessity for this app to work is that the phone and the computer are connected to the same network. Although its website suggests that Gmote can work over 3G networks with some modifications.

Functionality

A Gmote application(software not app ! i.e. a server application) is to be downloaded for the computer and is to be installed. After that it has to be run and this acts as a server. The app on the phone acts as a client and searches for the server on the network. Once the server is found, they are paired and the commands from phone are sent to the computer. The website doesn't mention any underlying working of Gmote but i assume that it creates a TCP connection and then data is sent to server. The server then gives the received commands to the system calls and the OS handles the rest of the execution.

We can even control mouse and keyboard from our phone in addition to playing music and movies. Since WiFi range is more, i tested the application by using my phone in one room and the laptop in another and it still worked. Hence line of sight(LOS) is not necessary for this to work and so it is a cool feature of the application (IR remote requires LOS).

Pros

Using WiFi. Hence long range. Controlling of mouse and using keyboard. No line of sight (LOS) issues.

Cons

Both phone and computer need to be on same network. Data is not encrypted when sent over WiFi (According to the website). Hence passwords should not be entered using keyboard on the phone. Limited functionality.

More points will be added later after further testing.

Improvements/Comments

What i feel lacking in the application is that it is not hands free. Hands free as in operated by voice. For example, android has inbuilt application for voice recognition but requires internet. And suppose the Laptop is connected to the network which also allows internet access. Hence some mechanism should be there which will allow access to internet on phone and thus the voice recognition can work. Another approach may be using phone's WiFi for Gmote and phone's 3G for internet access. Voice enabled application is crucial as it makes the product more accessible to the visually impaired (in some cases) or to people who have physical disability. Tekla is trying to bridge this gap and hence the Tekla shield can be useful to control the phone without touch if voice input is not possible.

PPT Remote

I have installed the PPT Remote (free version) app. Used WiFi for testing and used PowerPoint 2007 in my Computer.

Functionality

It is used to control the slide show on the PC. When connected to the server via WiFi, it gives prompts on phone whenever any powerpoint is loaded. The phone can start the slideshow on PC. The phone also displays notes and titles of the individual slides. The free version only allows to go forward and backward. When I selected the option to go to a particular slide it asked to buy the premium version. The free version works with PPT which has less than 13 slides. For starting a new presentation, it works fine. Just open a presentation, it will auto detect and run. A mouse functionality is also emulated and we can press the mouse left click button but pressing for long time on the screen.

Pros

Easy to connect. Very basic GUI. Easy interface to use.

Cons

Cannot handle the Macros if they are present in the slides when starting the slide show. Got hanged in between sometimes. Runs only in slide show view. Sometimes clumsy.

Improvements/Comments

As i used free version, i was not accessible to all the features of the app. But, the app can be made a bit faster. It is sometimes slow. Hence, we can take inspiration from this app to design our app, but as the app is not opensource, we cannot use its source code.

mkRemoke

I have installed mkRemote (free version) app. Used WiFi for testing and used PowerPoint 2007 in my Computer.

Functionality

It is basically a remote mouse and keyboard. No GUI of the sever application. Sits in icon tray. The virtual keyboard is awesome. Shows the whole qwerty keyboard. Can navigate through the file system on the PC and can open anything on PC via phone. The main screen of the app is the mouse trackpad. Two buttons are there on top which makes it look like buttons on mouse. Pretty responsive. We can operate the slideshow as the phone can be used as mouse.

Pros

The virtual keyboard is awesome. Shows the whole qwerty keyboard. Password protected. Pretty responsive.

Cons

Cannot find sever even though I created it. Then I manually connected by putting my ip address in the phone. Couldn’t understand the use of macros which is given in menu of the app. Powerpoint slide presenter not built in although was mentioned on the website (may be it is available in paid version).

Improvements/Comments

As i used free version, i was not accessible to all the features of the app. The macros usage is not well defined. Cannot find automatic server so it can improve in that area. Hence, we can take inspiration from this app to design our app, but as the app is not opensource, we cannot use its source code.

Unified Remote

1. Free version has an option for PPT control.
2. Works on .NET Framework4 and hence Windows only.
3. Preferred to work on same network.
4. Didn’t work in my PC. Exception occurred and was automatically shut down.

Hence didn't do any testing and analysis on that app.

PPT Controller

PPT controller is an app which is the most relevant(till now) app which we are aiming to build. This app is an open source app under GNU gpl v2. Unlike Gmote, which is a remote control and controls the music player and can also be used as remote mouse and keyboard, PPT Controller's main and only functionality is to control PowerPoint presentations and it does that very gracefully. Hence, I am going to explain about this app in detail along with screenshots.

Functionality

I will explain the working and the utility of this app with help of the screenshots of the apps taken from my phone.

1. The first screen encountered is

1. The app has two options for us to connect to the PC.
   1. Using WiFi
   2. Using Bluetooth

1. 1. WiFi
      1. For using the wifi mode, the server on the PC must host the network.
         

The button is Start Network Server and we get an IP address.

1. 1. 1. Put this IP address in the app on the phone
         

1. 1. Bluetooth
      1. Start the Bluetooth server on the PC
         
      2. Click on Bluetooth icon and search for devices. Connect to the PC.
         
         

1. 1. After connection using the either two, the following screen appears:
      

Pressing the green button starts the presentation from the first slide. Pressing the red(stop button), brings back the window to the current slide shown in the slideshow view. The arrow keys change the slides in their respective direction.

1. 1. Pressing the middle button, we go this view:
      

The white box displays the notes if any in the presentation. Even the previous screen can display notes. Eg:

Pros

1. Open source. Licensed under GNU gpl v2.
2. Runs in non slide show view
3. Very fast and responsive
4. It detects any presentation which is opened after the app is working and it can be used with that presentation.
5. Slideshow and close slideshow button. Notes available on phone.

Cons

1. Works on .NET framework.
2. Can’t deal with Macros. (I had to manually disable it) But this case arises if and only if we want to view the slides in the slideshow view.
3. Cannot work in landscape mode.

Improvements/Comments

The best part of this application is the very simple and easy GUI. Hence, very user-friendly. The user doesn’t have to type anything in the PC to make the connection. The IP address and Bluetooth network selection is done from phone itself once the server on PC side has started. So the interaction of the user is with the phone only. Hence, this app may be very useful for future work.

Free PowerPoint OpenOffice Remote

Free PowerPoint OpenOffice Remote is an android app made by a student using Java. This app works on Linux, Windows and Mac. Basically can run on any platform where Java Virtual Machine can be ported.

Functionality

1. It downloads the presentation to the mobile phone. Screen shots are below.
2. The mobile phone will specify the IP address. We have to put that address in the application on the PC.
3. Works in 2 modes.

1. 1. First mode is where we want to see the notes along with presentation.
      1. Hence you select which presentation you want to see and it starts the presentation.
      2. Works only in slideshow view.

1. 1. Second mode
      1. We have to specify the no. of slides manually and open any presentation.
      2. It will automatically connects and download the slides.

1. The (green) buttons can change slide very fast and work irrespective of the mode.

Pros

1. Macros were easily dealt with as when the slides were downloaded, the macro was automatically stopped.
2. Slides can be seen on the phone.

Cons

1. Sometimes, the performance is snappy.
2. The user has to interact with the PC and then the setup is done. This requires the user to physically configure the PC which may not be a good design.
3. Downloading the slides takes some time.

Improvements/Comments

1. The app is very good but the licensing is a issue. The app has nice features and some can be incorporated in the new app.

Plan for the week (28th March - 3rd April)

1. Understand Gmote completely, find its API and try to understand it. *I found its code gmote source and will work on it in coming week.
2. Understand the functionality and working of the current Tekla app. *I downloaded the app but still left to go through the code.
3. Swiftp working. * Unmaintained after June, 2010. Hence will look at other apps instead of SwiFTP.
4. Install all apps above and test them. * Almost all the apps have been installed by me but testing has not yet started. Still i am searching for some more apps which provides the basic networking functionality.
5. Add app reviews to Table above. * Work going on.

Plan for the week (4th April - 10th April)

1. Continue looking for some more apps as discussed above.
2. Study the Gmote code. PPT Controller is an open source app whose main and only functionality is to control PPT slides. Hence its understanding will be more beneficial then Gmote.
3. Testing some of the apps. * Going on.

Plan for the week (11th April - 17th April)

1. Continue looking for some more apps as discussed above.
2. Testing some of the apps.
3. Understnding PPT Controller working.

Plan for the week (18th April - 24th April)

1. Continue looking for some more apps as discussed above.
2. Testing some of the apps.

Plan for the week (25th April - 1st May)

1. GSoC results out. Discussion with the mentor and community regarding the work done till now and the next step forward.

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-- --Darsh 17:24, 13 April 2011 (UTC)