Infrared in the 90s, other uses?

[Chr$]

My Pentium 1 Laptop has an infrared port on one side. I do have distant memories of infrared connections in the past, with certain mobile phones and of course use as a serial port for sending data to a printer etc.

But are there any other uses for it that might be fun today, e.g. is there any software or is it even possible to use a laptop infrared interface as a TV remove control?

 

[NeXT]

Laptops and PC's in the 90's with Infrared were typically for the IrDA standard and couldn't be reprogrammed to control other devices over IR.
I think the most novelty thing you can with it now is sync a PDA but in comparison to a serial port cradle it's very slow.

 

[krebizfan]

Have you checked out the LIRC project? It claims to be able to program IrDA devices to be useful in a number of ways. Finding a stable version old enough to run on your laptop may be a challenge.
https://www.lirc.org/ and https://winlirc.sourceforge.net/

 

[Chuck(G)]

See my posts on the IBM iPoint keyboard. Software on github. I've got six of the things.

 

[MrImprovement]

IRDA was used a great deal in Japan, up to the 2010s as I understand it, for banking and other purposes; I recall a case where if your phone had IRDA, when you went home but still were talking, the IRDA sensor would communicate with your desk phone and you could transfer the call to your home phone without ending the call. Maximum data rate was 4Mbps.

 

[Svenska]

Yes, you can use (at least some) IrDA ports as a remote control. However, I remember them as not particularly strong when transmitting, so it may not be very reliable. Still worth trying for fun. Later IrDA standards can outspeed the regular serial port, but I always synced my PDA using its cradle. (And yes, I could turn it into a remote control as well.)

 

[Chr$]

Thanks for the replies. What software did you use Svenska (and with win 9x I assume)?

I'll checkout the LIRC project.

 

[Svenska]

Most likely LIRC on Linux...