Control your electronics with an app
With the iRule app, anyone can use their iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android smartphone or Android tablet to control any remote controlled object in the home or office from theater electronics to sound equipment, curtains, tv, dvd player and the like.
The company says it is simple to set up and maintain through the online application, iRule Builder which helps customize your remote and configure your devices, including custom images, and the sharing of devices with other users. There is a large device database to support most IR (infrared) based consumer electronics equipment. Most systems will require a hardware gateway to control consumer electronics devices that don’t support direct network control.
iRule’s roots
iRule is based in Detroit and was recently named the top Value Added Reseller (VAR) by Global Cache, the leading independent manufacturer of IP and WiFi connectivity products for the control and automation market. The company seeks to save consumers money, sometimes hundreds over traditional universal remote systems, while offering custom menus.
Led by founder Itai Ben-Gal, iRule has grown from a small basement startup to completing their Round A financing and moving to downtown Detroit to take advantage of the city’s creative and IT community, receiving funding from Compuware Ventures LLC to help grow the company.
User reviews
In the Android Market and in iTunes, most reviewers give the app top ratings. One said, “It takes time… a lot of it. But it can produce tremendous results when you are finished. I would easily have spent 200 on the builder alone for what it accomplished in my house. Integrated multiple ir and ip devices in a remote room for distribution all throughout the house. Has more features than you can imagine.”
Another reviewer noted, “This is a wonderful app for anybody who wants to remove the clutter of remotes from your drawing room. The online builder tool is very easy to use to make customizable UIs for all of your entertainment systems. Once downloaded to my Atrix within minutes I was able to connect and control all my devices with the help of my GC12 gateway. The most interesting features are multiple commands on single button click for different devices and feedback’s.Navigation of the App UI is centralized to a menu. No need to search around, changing UI screens are a little slow if you have lot of controls on a screen.Response on device controls work as same as that of a hardware remote. Another great feature is the backup and restore of your connection settings. This saves a lot of reconfiguration time and errors if your are playing with the app for the first time and also can be used as a safe backup of your config for future phones and tablets.”
Lastly, constructive notes come from one reviewer who said, “This is a great remote and I was eagerly waiting waiting for it to hit the Android platform. The Online builder is good enough, a bit clunky at times, overall pretty good. The biggest down fall is when your device goes to sleep and the screen turns off. It causes the connections to your gateways(devices) to turn off until you unlock your android device. It would be Ok if it reconnected very quickly, but it doesn’t. Imagine wanting to skip forward, pause, change volume, or change the lights, and you have to wait 15 seconds to do anything. It has an option to use a wakelock (override system lock) but the screen is WAY too bright in a dark room. This problem makes the app pretty much unusable, Im hoping an update comes very soon. Until then it makes the “Builder license fee hard to swallow.”
