terminaldisclaimer Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Any chance anyone would be interesting in creating a driver for SimpleControl? They released an API last week: https://www.simplecontrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/HTTPCommandInterface.pdf That would be huge in filling in any gaps for IP device control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroyGarner Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 To me it seems like another layer of controlling some control interface, why not just use Control4 to communicate directly with the devices? Drivers already rely on enough things (device firmware not changing any commands, etc...), this would be adding reliance on the API staying the same, and for things that don't need to rely on network infrastructure, it would be best to avoid that traffic too I think. Let's see what others say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminaldisclaimer Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 I see your point, but I guess I look at it as a stop gap when drivers are not available. SimpleControl's business is to control the newest devices as quickly as possible. Their market is very competitive, so they need to stay on top of their game, and continually develop drivers for the latest greatest in HA. I would see myself using it when a new device is not yet supported by Control4. Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 https://www.simplecontrol.com/check-compatibility/ Sure I did not look up every TV, AVR and Blu Ray player model, but in general, what on there is not controlled already by Control4? And I bet 99% of those TV's, AVRs and Blu Ray are supported by Control4 or a driver can be written rather quickly by a dealer. NestCam may be the only device I see on there not in C4 but that said, SimpleControl just gives you a snapshot, not a live video feed, so rather pointless anyways. just my $.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminaldisclaimer Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 It's not really about that. They typically support things before Control4, even if I can't point to anything right now. But if you are looking for an example, how about SamsungTV IP control... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 1 hour ago, terminaldisclaimer said: how about SamsungTV IP control... Which is useless as Samsung TV's don't keep their LAN awake and don't respond to WoL - meaning you need an IR anyway - which means it makes more sense to have serial drivers. I doubt there's much interest in developing a driver - as I doubt there is much interest for people to have one. Thus market is scarce for what would be a HUGE amount of work to create but more importantly maintain. So very high cost for a very small market. Unless of course you'd want to take that on yourself? Even NestCam - if it's all snapshot, it could likely be done in C4 already using the generic snapshot driver...SimpleControl rarely has things all that much faster available, it's just more transparent in WHAT it has available (which I'm sure will draw comments considering recent posts....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminaldisclaimer Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 Well you can also use HDMI-CEC to turn on Samsung TV's, which is another thing people have done with SimpleControl. But, I appreciate that it is a small market. So I threw it out there, apparently there is not much interest. No big deal, maybe I will try to develop a driver. I think integrating SimpleControl with Control4 would be pretty cool, especially if one could get SimpleControl to control Control4. The EPG capabilities alone would be killer. Look, in my opinion, Simple Control is one of the best control products out on the market. In fact, when combined with something like OpenHAB or Vera, etc, it comes damn close to Control4. It even has remote access. That said, the lack of a hardbutton remote is a problem. Of course, with the API, I'm sure someone will figure out a way to hook a Harmony up to it or something or even Control4 like I mentioned above. Coincidentally, this was posted on CEPro yesterday: http://www.cepro.com/article/roomie_remote_simple_control_could_be_home_automations_next_big_thing_iot?utm_source=CEPWeekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=content# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 CEC control has and can be done with C4 as well if you'd truly want it. Yes, I read that article too. [sarcasm] Julie is a stellar predictor of the future [/sarcasm]. Note that I'm not saying it isn't a neat product at all, indeed I think quite the opposite - but as is so often the case, the people in that 'article' are those that have a vested interest in claiming all sorts of things - and most of it isn't true ('only we can do it' is one obvious one, there are about 3 articles just this year on products that do exactly that, BY Julie). Nobody's stopping anyone from creating integration in one direction or the other - but there needs to be either a vested personal interest, or a market before either would happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 don't use CEC, you will regret it. It doesn't play well with automation systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminaldisclaimer Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 2 hours ago, msgreenf said: don't use CEC, you will regret it. It doesn't play well with automation systems. Yea. I know. I've had varied success. Generally speaking though, as long as you only have it turned on for one component (e.g., a tv) it works pretty well for turning the TV on/off. It's when you want to do other things that it becomes pretty unreliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 3 minutes ago, terminaldisclaimer said: Yea. I know. I've had varied success. Generally speaking though, as long as you only have it turned on for one component (e.g., a tv) it works pretty well for turning the TV on/off. It's when you want to do other things that it becomes pretty unreliable. and if you throw in a receiver, control4 and CEC, life becomes like a box of chocolates, never know what input your gonna get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 2 hours ago, msgreenf said: and if you throw in a receiver, control4 and CEC, life becomes like a box of chocolates, never know what input your gonna get. LOL. CEC has to be completely isolated for it to work properly. Hydraconnect, as well as JAP can do it, but that's because CEC is intercepted by those setups at the source/sink level and handled directly by them instead. The advantages are so minimal however, that in general CEC just needs to be avoided. It's concept is nice, and it works OK in a simple one-room setup (especially without a receiver) but it's a bit of a failed experiment at this point if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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