Nokia 5800 XBMC Remote
#1
Thumbs Up 
Hi all,

I'm new to XBMC since the Dharma relase and was quite disappointed that there is no remote controll app for the Nokia 5800 and similar Nokia devices. So I wrote this one (using code snippets from here and the library from here and the background image and logo from here):

Image
Image

Here are all files.
Instructions:
- First, install python 2.0, if you don't have it already. I think new phones are already shipped with python preinstalled, but I'm not sure.
- Secondly, install the xbmc_remote_5800_v1_0_0.sis, it will appear in your programs list.
- Third, save the screenshot/background image to e:\python\xbmc_default.jpg. But if you are connected to your wifi, it should automatically do that for you.
Feel free to ask questions or make feature requests here.

Features at the moment:

- basic functionality of the android remote (now working with udp instead of http --> much faster, much more responsive, you can also hold buttons pressed to keep scrolling, etc)
- additional buttons for volume up/down/mute; playlist add/remove/display; subtitles on/off/next; language switch
- in the 5800 button to the upper right:
-- Text input (for searches etc).
-- IP list with names
-- (de)activate tilt input (tilt phone left/right: in/decrease volume, tilt forward: pause; also works when the phone is locked)
-- mousepad (also much more responsive that in the earlier version)
-- update notifier with automatic update download
-- works for: Nokia E7, N8, E7, C7, C6, E7, C5-03, X6, C6-01, 5800 XpressMusic, N97, 5530 XpressMusic, X6 8GB, N97 mini, X6 16GB, 5800 Navigation Edition, X7-00
-- in future releases: playlist editor etc (hopefully).

Known bugs:
problems with setting up the internet connection. Better make sure that you are connected to the wifi from the beginning. If the background image doesn't show, load it from the screenshot above to e:\python\xbmc_default.jpg . But in the newest version it should actually work.

Cheers, have fun

Thomas

PS. Edit in September 2012: if you feel like it, bitcoin donations are appreciated :o) 1AyDMbbZWt4UDLvEffvLVGCk3E5qUGRxfG
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#2
Smile 
Very very nice work thkoe002! I have been waiting for this for quite some time. Then a while back a Symbian 3rd ed. remote was presented but it did not really work on my 5800.

I just played around with both you python script and your sis program and they both work fine. At first I typed the wrong port and could not find a graphical way of changing it, but after a quick look at the code I realized I just had to correct it in the txt file :-)

I think you made some nice choices with the available buttons even though they are different from e.g. the Android app. At first I wanted to get rid of the buttons in the bottom (five way key and options and exit) but I guess there would be no exit button then. Should these keys work for anything? (other than exit). I think it would be nice to have the up/down/left/right/select buttons further down towards the bottom of the screen in order to better be able to reach these most used buttons.

I like very much you have the "more" button as this is used quite often in the xbmc menu but I am missing the "menu" button in e.g. movies for adding subtitles or changing sound track. Also I am not sure I understand the use of both "back" and "<-" button as they do almost the same. A nice addition would also be to have the "vol-" and "vol+" mapped to the volume rocker on the 5800.

Is there a way to add a graphical re-setup of IP and port e.g. under options? This would be nice.

Ok perhaps I should stop here before I start to seem to bitchy :-) I do really like what you already have done. I will probably also have a look at the python code myself as it does not seem too complicated.

Keep up the good work!
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#3
Oh and one more thing. It seems that the program leaves wifi fully on while open. Perhaps there is a way to have it sleep or something as it drains the battery quite quickly?
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#4
Hm I already wrote this yesterday, but somehow my post didn't appear here.

First of all thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated, the more the better!

There is a new version online (same links as the first post: here is the script and here the .sis; here are all files together)

New features/removed bugs:

- removed d-pad in bottom half
- graphical list with ip : port adresses
- mouse support:
a) the small black strip under the buttons, "select" to click
b) press "mouse" to get a bigger touch area with left and right mouse button and jog-shuttle (doesn't work very good...)
- gui button
- osd button (movie menu)
- replaced "<-" with "..", it (now) just goes back one folder; the back button also closes dialogs and goes directly to the main menu, etc
- buttons highlight when pressed - if they highlight too long, there are connection problems
- xbmc icon for the .sis version (took the on from the iphone (bsd license), looks much better!)
- update notification Smile

Unfortunately, accessing the volume rocker is to my knowledge not supported with pys60, so this will not be possible (or at least difficult).
About the wifi, I'm not sure how to deal with this - for now, at least the program connects automatically when you start it (if the wifi has a higher priority than the gsm connection in the connection manager).

Anyways, have fun, cheers

Thomas
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#5
Smile 
Very very nice upgrade.

Especially nice with the removed d-pad and the added setup of IP and port. Also very nice with the button highlighting, the icon and the update function. The mouse function is a funny addition but does not work all that well and thud not very usefull Smile

I still think it would be nice if the d-pad functionality was moved closer to the bottom of the screen as it is easier to reach the bottom part of the screen and the d-pad is by far the most used. Perhaps similar to what is done in the Android version (http://www.eurodroid.com/pics/xbmc_android_app_1.png).

I also like the layout of the Android version of the remote as it is a direct copy of the original xbox1 dvd-remote. This was the remote first used to control xbmc back when I started using xbmc on xbox1 and have become a little bit of a xbmc standard. With its d-pad and the four buttons around it (title, info, back and menu) you can pretty much control everything in xbmc.
Your info button does the same as its 'info' button, except it also exits the info screen on e.g. movies. The 'back' button is somewhere between your 'back' and '..' button. It exits pop-up menues and goes one level back in normal menues. The 'menu' button is somewhere between your 'back' and 'osd' buttons. It goes back to the main menu in xbmx or it brings up the osd in movies. The 'title' button I guess is similar to your 'more' button.

I do think you could reduce your five buttons (info, back, .., osd, more) to four buttons still keeping the same functionality by mimicing the xbox1 dvd remote layout. You still need the '(un)pause' and the 'stop' buttons and the 'vol-' and 'vol+' bottons are also nice.

Are you a Symbian programmer by the way? Or do you just know Python? Have you had a look at Qt that can be used for Symbian programming (Symbian 5th. ed. and Symbian^3 and up)? It should be very easy to get started with and as I understand it you can do a lot more that Python, both functionally and visually. If I knew more about programming I would have a look at that. Anyway it was just a suggestion.

No matter what I really appreciate the work you have done and I will be using it even if you should stop working on it (which I hope you do not). With at little more work I think you could submit it to the OVI store :-) And I hope you do that. Symbian deserves more attention from hobby projects like this. This would also help the Symbian platform in general and I think it deserves that.

Once gain - keep up the good work.
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#6
really nice app.
but something is just not right, here. when i run the app, it displays the text, it works fine, but the background image doesn't load.
what could that be?
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#7
Hi,

thanks for the info, it should work now. If not, download the screenshot from my first post to e:\python\ .

By the way, major update released, check the first post! Everything works/looks different compared to the original version. I think peter's idea of staying with the android defaults (thanks again for the feedback!) makes sense, so the new version should work identically.

Cheers

Thomas

edit: right now, the .py and the .sis are not identical, I will clean that up later this evening. But if you are already connected to the wifi and if the background file is there, everything should work fine either way.
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#8
Nice Thomas - very very nice!

One would almost think I was paying you for the development, but I'm not :-)

I can't wait to get home and try this tonight.

Have you given any thought to submitting this to the OVI store?
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#9
Hehe no payment required, I write this mainly for my own benefit, but if others can use it too, all the better. Also, until now all the new features were easy to implement and made the program much nicer to use.

Submitting to the Ovi store is not easy I think, at least I didn't find a single success story about someone submitting a pys60 app... also, don't I actually need a (expensive) certificate for the .sis? I was astonished that it simply runs without a warning on non-hacked phones...
But when I have some time I think I might try looking into that, having an app on the Ovi store sounds nice.

Cheers

Thomas
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#10
it works perfectly in my 5530. amazing project, man.
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#11
Thanks Smile And actually, it should also work on all Nokia touchscreen phones with 360x640 resolution, so according to gsmarena.com that means that (hello google Smile ) this xbmc remote works with Nokia E7, N8, E7, C7, C6, E7, C5-03, X6, C6-01, 5800 XpressMusic, N97, 5530 XpressMusic, X6 8GB, N97 mini, X6 16GB, 5800 Navigation Edition, X7-00.
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#12
Thumbs Up 
Hi all,

new version, new feature: Tilt input. If it's activated (it is by default, you can deactivate it in the menu), tilting the phone to the left and right de- and increases the volume, and tilting it forward (holding with the top pointing down) pauses the video. This also works when the phone is locked.

I was annoyed yesterday at a movie which switched from low to high volume all the time, and the time to unlock the phone and hit the volume button was too long in most cases. Also, the instant pause function is nice if, for example, you get a phonecall during a movie.

The tilting has to be at about 60-90 degree in all three cases (left, right, down), so you'll surely never "accidentally" use that function.

Oh, and also, I finally got around to compile the .sis, so now both versions (.py and .sis) are again identical.

Have fun, cheers

Thomas
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#13
Hi again, new update: Text input (for searches etc). You can now enter a search string on our phone and send it over to xbmc, much better than the soft keyboard on the TV.

Also, tilt input is deactivated by default.

And I removed the "edit playlist" thing, it was not implemented anyways.

Cheers

Thomas
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#14
Must say thank you,and hope that you continue your development!
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#15
thkoe002 Wrote:Thanks Smile And actually, it should also work on all Nokia touchscreen phones with 360x640 resolution, so according to gsmarena.com that means that (hello google Smile ) this xbmc remote works with Nokia N8, C7, C6, E7, X6, 5230, 5800, C5-03, C6-01, 5233, 5530, N97, 5250, X6, N97 mini, X6, 5235, 5800, X7-00.

Some of those phones, like 5230, don't have wifi, only 3G and bluetooth, so no luck with those i think?
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