Motorola IMfree as a Wireless iTunes Remote
by Kcahon
About a year ago Motorola put out a product called the IMfree (Motorola MX240a).
It was a wireless instant messenger that connected to a base station on a regular PC. The station communicated with the device over radio frequencies, which gave it a range of about 50 yards.
At the time it looked like a good buy and I purchased it for $100. I quickly realized that I had little use for it, as I had access to a machine with AIM on it anyway.
Many people must have felt the same way and the price plummeted to around $30. It sat around for awhile until I had an epiphany. Wouldn't this make a perfect iTunes remote?
Several people were already hacking it and I found some message boards that were dedicated to its development.
One such forum, teknikill.net/bbs, was especially enlightening. This site had appeared on Hackaday.com and I would occasionally check in to see what was going on. There awaited me the thread "imfree and winamp" which had been posted by a user named Jason.
In there it described an ingenious way of having the IMfree communicate with Winamp. The "event" feature in Trillian Pro (a popular IM client) enables a program or action to be executed from any screen name remotely with just a plaintext message. This set off fireworks in my mind.
The next day I opened up iTunes and it hit me.
Millions of people use iTunes and rely on it for music. Would I be able to integrate the IMfree with iTunes so that it could play a song, skip to the next song, and do a whole universe of functions? All wirelessly? It was within my grasp.
The following are instructions are on how to set up your IMfree to interact wirelessly with iTunes.
Note that these commands could also be sent via a cell phone or any other mobile device. The possibilities are enormous. This tutorial is meticulous and is intended to make sure that all of it will work properly. If it seems like novice material at times, I apologize. The result is well worth the effort.
1.) Create two AIM screen names. If you already have two that is perfectly fine. Designate one to be the receiver on the host PC and one to be logged in on the IMfree.
2.) Go to Maximized Scripts for iTunes to download the iTunes scripts that will be executed remotely through AIM. Since the original Winamp plan needed a command line interface, I figured out that these scripts could be executed as well to control iTunes. The scripts were written in VBScript and are automatically installed in the iTunes directory with an EXE file.
3.) Download and install the Trillian software. Get a 15-day trial to test out the advanced functions that are needed in this test. Go to Trillian, upgrade to Trillian Pro, and request an evaluation version. Login with the password given through the email and reboot Trillian.
4.) Launch Trillian Pro and go to "Trillian -> Trillian Preferences", and click on "Plugins". Click on "AIM/ICQ" and go to "Trillian Preferences" again and on the right-hand side click on "Add a New IM Connection". Configure all of your login information for the AIM screen name that will be receiving the data from the IMfree. Login with this screen name on Trillian. For further explanation later on, my fictitious screen name will be called ItunesRemote.
5.) Now for the fun stuff. I must give credit to Jason over at www.teknikill.net/bbs for giving me the idea and the foundation for the rest of this article. His instructions worked when I tried them, so I am only adapting them a bit to match our iTunes experiment criteria.
6.) Go to "Trillian -> Trillian Preferences" and then click on "Advanced Preferences".
7.) Click on "Automation" in the left-hand menu.
8.) Click "Add -> Word Matching".
9.) In the "Add Word Match Entry" box enter the word "launch" in the word text box, check "Match Whole Word" and check "Generate Event", then enter something for the event type (just use "launch" again).
10.) Click on "Add Event".
11.) Next to "Action Type" change "Sound to Execute Program". (You probably see where this is leading to by now. If not, keep reading anyway.)
12.) Browse to the location of your iTunes EXE file and select it as the program that you wish to execute. It will most likely be in C:\Program Files\iTunes. Click "Set Event".
13.) This will take you back to the "Match Word Entry" menu. Make sure that everything is right and that the word is "launch". Also make sure that the entry type is called "launch". Click "Save".
It's now time to cook the shish kebob.
Login with your IMfree screen name and IM your other screen name (ItunesRemote) with just the word "launch". Voilà, iTunes launches!
If your firewall is blocking iTunes from launching, just check "Remember This Setting" and "Allow if you run on Zonealarm".
Do likewise if you have a different firewall. All that you need to do to play a song, skip a song, etc. is to repeat steps 6-13 by replacing the location of the iTunes EXE file with one of the iTunes scripts that was installed originally.
For instance, if you wanted to play a song you would have Trillian execute the script called Play.vbs in C:\Program Files\iTunes\Scripts, if that's where you put it.
Also, remember to type in the word that Trillian will match with the program as Play.vbs, so that when you send the message of Play to ItunesRemote, it will execute the script and play the song.
Trillian Pro does not seem to have a limit on the number of commands that it can execute on the host PC. I have about five commands running, including the ability to change the volume, all on my IMfree.
The possibilities for this application are limitless. Any application or program for that matter can be launched or executed half a world away with a cell phone. The only setback is that Trillian Pro has a price tag of $25. At least test it out with the trial version and prepare to be amazed.
The IMfree can be bought on eBay for about $10 and on Amazon for $30, making this wireless iTunes remote cost between $35-$55.
Imagine queueing up the song I'll Be Home For Christmas on your PC in America while sitting in the Tokyo airport with nothing but your cell phone.
Please, let the imagination run wild.
