Setting Up ConnectedTV

Sign Up for ConnectedTV on the Web
ConnectedTV Setup pages on the Palm
TV Tuner Settings
Guide Settings
ConnectedTV Infrared Control
Train with your Remote Controls
Train Remote Control Buttons
Controlling your TV system
User Settings
Tips for current users of PDAs

Supported television lineups include all U.S. broadcast and cable TV systems as well as DirecTV™ and DISH Network™ satellite systems.

Once you have set up your account you can download your personalized TV listings, named ConnectedTVSchedule.pdb, and HotSync it into your Palm. Be sure the Palm User Name on your Account matches the User name for your device.

Your TV schedule file size may be between 300K and 3M bytes, depending on how many channels and how many days of listings you keep.

If you prefer to keep your TV schedule on a removable memory card such as a Secure Digital / Multimedia card or Memory Stick, use the ConnectedTVSchedule.bin file instead, following the instructions on pages 29 thru 31 of this User Guide. Be sure to launch the ConnectedTV application on your Palm at least once before attempting to HotSync this schedule file onto a removable memory device.

When you have installed the Palm application ConnectedTV.prc and the TV schedule file, you're ready to run ConnectedTV.

After you've signed up and downloaded the ConnectedTV application and your schedule, Launch it on your PDA and tap the Setup item on ConnectedTV's Home page.

Start at the top of the Setup page with Guide Setup and briefly visit each of the four Setup screens.

Set Update Guide __ Minutes Ahead to the number of minutes before the ½ hour you'd like the Guide Time to update. With the default value of 5 minutes, ConnectedTV presents the 7:30 guide starting at 7:25

The 'Starting' If Began __ Minutes Ago or Less setting determines whether the guide will indicate the show is Starting, with a triangular indicator in the upper left corner of the Title. With the default value of 10 minutes, the title will show a Starting indicator if it started less than 10 minutes before the current Guide Time.

The Digit Delay is the time ConnectedTV waits between sending the digits of the channel, expressed in milliseconds. Some tuners need at least 150 ms (1/6 second) but once you have it working well, you may be able to lower this value as low as 25 for instant channel changing.

Send 'Enter' After Last Digit
Sending Enter right after digits tunes the channel without waiting for more digits. If your tuner waits for additional digits, checking this can make tuning faster. But if your TV tuner instantly tunes a channel upon receiving the expected number of digits, don't check this. That way if a digit is missed, ConnectedTV won't tune to the wrong channel.

Send 'Cancel' Before First Digit
This cancels any previous partially entered channel number before sending a new one.

If you tune channels in rapid succession, the options to automatically send 'Enter' or 'Cancel' can keep your TV tuner from interpreting long digit sequences as one long channel number, depending on how your tuner works.

Send '100+ Before 2 Digits
If your TV tuner uses a 100+ button or equivalent, check the corresponding box.

If you check any of these, be sure you have Trained the corresponding Enter, Cancel, or 100+ button from your remote control.

Hardware Buttons as Training Shortcuts
In the Training screen, the Palm Powered hardware buttons directly below

Done Config Learn Test

all perform the same function as the on-screen button above it, and the hardware vertical scrolling buttons step up and down to the previous or next button in the list.

So you can Train ConnectedTV by pressing the hardware buttons to step up and down or Learn and Test with your fingers, without ever needing a stylus.

 
Set Up your Remote Control for Training
When you train ConnectedTV, make sure the PDA's and the remote control's batteries are well charged. Note where the infrared emitter window is on your PDA, and be sure it is not blocked by a protective cover or your finger. Most Visor™ models have their infrared window on the side.

It's simplest if you can set down the remote control and the Palm with their IR windows facing each other. Point the remote control at the infrared 'beaming' window on your PDA, about two inches away.

Set Remote Control Frequency with Config
Before you train the buttons for a new remote control, press Config to set up the infrared frequency that remote control uses. Unless you already know that frequency, press Auto Detect, point your remote control at your PDA's infrared window, and hold or repeatedly press a button on your remote control. ConnectedTV is often able to detect the right frequency. If it does not detect it in five seconds, you may have to try different frequencies to see which works best. Press OK to end Config and begin training buttons.

• Scroll to the desired button by stepping up or down the list with scrolling or screen buttons.
• Tap Learn or press the To Do List button. A Train Remote Control Button screen will appear, providing instructions and showing the button name.
• Tap That Button Once on the remote control, with the remote pointed directly at the PDA's infrared window. Don't hold the button down! (If the Palm gets multiple commands, training may fail or you may get a needlessly long recording.) After a moment, the PDA responds by exiting Train Remote Control Button.
• Tap Test or press the Memo button, with the PDA infrared window pointing at the TV device. Check the response of the TV device to make sure ConnectedTV has been trained correctly.

To use ConnectedTV for Touch Tuning: Config it for your tuning remote control; Then train for the remote control's digit keys: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and 0.

You may also train the buttons Enter, Cancel, and Last for more robust channel changing (see TV Tuner Setup below), and the "100+" button if your tuner uses one.

The ten digits and other buttons let ConnectedTV change channels automatically when you select a show. Later you'll visit the Guide Setup and TV Tuner Setup screens to make sure the guide indicates shows at the right times and sends the right number of digits.

Be sure to Test each button a few times after training the digits, to make sure they all work reliably. Use the Test button, or go to the TV page for this testing. Return to the Train with Remote setup page if a digit is unreliable and needs to be trained again.

Train ConnectedTV for channel changing
To use ConnectedTV for Touch Tuning: Config it for your tuning remote control; Then train for the remote control's digit keys: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and 0.

You may also train the buttons Enter, Cancel, and Last for more robust channel changing (see TV Tuner Setup below), and the "100+" button if your tuner uses one.

The ten digits and other buttons let ConnectedTV change channels automatically when you select a show. Later you'll visit the Guide Setup and TV Tuner Setup screens to make sure the guide indicates shows at the right times and sends the right number of digits.

Be sure to Test each button a few times after training the digits, to make sure they all work reliably. Use the Test button, or go to the TV page for this testing. Return to the Train with Remote setup page if a digit is unreliable and needs to be trained again.

Train ConnectedTV for Power and Volume
It's also good to train ConnectedTV to control volume and power on your TV. You may want to do so before leaving Train with Remote. First, Config for the TV remote control that you use to control Power, Mute, and Volume. Be sure to Test each button to make sure it works reliably.

Once your ConnectedTV has been trained, and you leave Train with Remotes, you can access the power and volume functions using the right hand hardware buttons that ordinarily support Memo, To Do, and Up/Down on your Palm Powered device. To access the standard Personal Information Management functions usually provided by these functions, exit ConnectedTV first using the App menu or the button on the Home page.

Train Other Remote Control Buttons
You can also train ConnectedTV to control more TV, set-top Box, VCR and DVR functions.

Manufacturers use various button-naming conventions that are different from one another and from ConnectedTV. The table below maps ConnectedTV button names to corresponding buttons names you might find on your remote controls serving that function.

The training for the + and - buttons determines what the corresponding buttons on the Box, VCR and DVR pages will do. Typically you can train for Page + and Page - or Channel + and Channel - functions.

Click Done when you're done training ConnectedTV with your remotes controls. You can return to train more buttons any time.

The Minimum Stroke Distance is the number of pixels you must drag your finger on the screen, to make a stroke other than a tap, such as a DownStroke or UpStroke. Set this lower if you want it to be easier to make strokes, or higher if you find yourself making them accidentally.

When you're looking at some other Time or Day in the Guide, ConnectedTV will eventually switch back to the current time if you leave it alone for Idle Secs to Guide Reset seconds.

If Hide Bad Shows is checked, shows that you have added to your personal Bad list using the My Rating button (see below) will not be included in your main TV listing pages.