Zeemote – right now, the best Bluetooth game controller – on WinMo / iPhone soon?

[Guest Menneisyys]

At MWC, I’ve played quite a bit with the Zeemote controller; the controller that, currently, is probably the best external game controller solution for gamers on both Symbian S60 and the Blackberry. If we’re lucky, we’ll see Windows Mobile support later this year – and, most importantly, iPhone support when Apple, at last, opens up their Bluetooth API.

I’ve used the Bluetooth gaming and multimedia controller designed for Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 devices, the Chainpus (now out of business) BGP100 Bluetooth Game Pad so I had something to compare the Zeemote one to.

The Zeemote gaming controller, which is a brand new product (see for example this August 2008 report on its release) compared to the Chainpus BGP100, is a completely different animal. First, it’s a separate module and, as it doesn’t “enclose” the phone (PDA), you’ll hardly be able to control your handset as your PSP, Nintendo or any other handheld gaming console – unlike with the Chainpus. (Of course, one needs to add that you can’t put most Windows Mobile PDA’s or phones into the Chainpus controller in Landscape mode; this alone makes it impossible to use the controller to control these kinds of games.)

However, when the phone is connected to a TV set (assuming it does have a TV output – most Symbian N-series phones do), it becomes pretty nice to control your games with. Furthermore, if you don’t mind keeping your phone in one hand and the controller in another (unlike with “real” handheld gaming), you’ll pretty much like Zeemote.

Nevertheless, currently, it does have some disadvantages – at least for users without a Symbian / Blackberry / SE handset or planning to buy it right away unbundled (you’ll need to wait a bit in order to purchase it unbundled). Note that I don’t list its design as either an advantage or a disadvantage – if the phone is used as a gaming console connected to an external TV set, it is advantageous to have such a design; otherwise, it isn’t.

First, it’s Symbian S60 and BlackBerry only. It also works on S-E feature (non-Symbian) phones. This is definitely bad news for Windows Mobile and iPhone users. (More on this later.)

Second, it’s only sold bundled with phones and can’t be purchased separately. It’s currently available only in few countries (Sweden, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico, Spain) and with few phone models (N79, N85, N95 and N95 8GB, N96, 5320). This means that if you’re living for example in the U.K., you won’t be able to purchase it – you’ll need to stick with the Chainpus controller. As Chainpus is out of business now, you’ll have a ard time finding it anew, though. As of now, not all of the listed models are offered in the listed countries. For example, the, in my opinion, best of the bunch, the N95 is only available with the controller in Germany.

However, they plan to introduce it as a separately purchasable item in Europe for quite a low price: 39.99 euros. The planned release date is Q2 of 2009.

Windows Mobile / iPhone plans

Fortunately, the Zeemote folks are pretty open to release drivers for other mobile platforms. They stated the Windows Mobile version will be released this year. The Windows Mobile version, like the Symbian one, will support everything, meaning native Windows Mobile games and apps too. Nevertheless, as the Windows Mobile gaming scene is pretty much dead now (there hasn’t been any really important game release for the platform for at least two or three months – see THIS if you don’t believe) and very few models supporting hardware TV output support, I can only hope the Zeemote folks will indeed try it very hard to come up with decent Windows Mobile support. iPhone support will come as soon as Apple opens up their API.

They also mentioned support for the BlackBerry. This, given that it’s very easy to port Java games on the Java-based BB platform, is pretty much self-evident. Nevertheless, the BB has never been a strong gaming platform, even when some titles (for example, Civilization IV) were released for the BB first and only later for other platforms (with Civ IV, Windows Mobile). In addition, not any of the BB models have TV out. Note that the built-in trackball in most BB models is pretty usable for gaming in titles where analogue controls are preferred (like the built-in wallbricker title) but severely fails with for example jump’n run / action ones. With these titles, an external gaming controller like the JS1 can become very useful.

And, of course, the iPhone, which is, currently, without doubt the best “serious” gaming platform with all the goodies: 3D hardware acceleration, HVGA (320*480) resolution (as opposed to QVGA, 240*320 – the resolution still only supported by most Nokia N-Gage games) and TV output by default (via a specific cable / cradle, though). (I use the term “serious” to refer to not just plain PSP’s. Of course, there are still much more excellent PSP games than for the iPhone, but, given that there is a constant flow of quality iPhone games, I think the difference will decrease in the future.) The biggest problem with the iPhone is, of course, the closed Bluetooth API, which, currently, makes it impossible to release anything for it. One can only hope the Bluetooth hack projects become successful if Apple goes on refusing to open the API.

For one of the demos, the Zeemote used a non-hardware accelerated Nokia S60 phone (the N85) with Asphalt Racing 3. Of course, it was really pixelizated (and still slow). I would definitely have gone for a 3D accelerated title like Global Race or the System Rush demo running on the (compatible and 3D hadware accelerated) N95 instead. Upon talking to their rep, they stated all kinds of games work with the controller – even the (unfortunately, very rare) 3D accelerated ones.

Currently, the Zeemote controller has an analogue stick. The zeemote folks stated they’d switch to a digital one sometime. Nevertheless, I couldn’t spot the traditional disadvantages of the analogue stick in Asphalt 3 and a top-down scrolling shooter, Space Impact. Probably there would have been a much bigger difference in for example jump’n run games where digital joysticks are a must. Other folks, however, enjoyed Sonic when played with the controller.

Unfortunately, according to them, they don’t really take advantage of the analogue stick either in applications like remote desktop controllers. (There, an analogue controller can make it much easier and faster to move the cursor around.) They stated this is because the (third-party) developers of these kinds of apps. Nevertheless, an analogue controller on touchscreen-less, pre-5th edition S60 models (or, for that matter, the touchscreen-less Windows Mobile Standard [MS Smartphone] devices like the HTC s7x0 models), this control schema would be just great and would greatly help for example remote terminal access, drawing/sketching programs or ones that heavily rely on cursor usage and where any analogue form of cursor moving would be highly advantageous, compared to the D-pad-based digital one. Think of, for example, the ScummVM emulator for the MS Smartphone platform: an analogue joystick would make it possible to speed up the cursor when it’s away from your target and slow it down when you’re nearing it. The same stands for “hacked” MS Smartphone programs (originally written for the touchscreen-enabled Pocket PC only) using an external cursor emulator app.

The lag, which can’t really be fought in Bluetooth, is pretty well controlled. There is some lag but it’s not really detrimental to gaming. They stated they’ve developed their own protocol over the Bluetooth link to make lag as small as possible.

Finally, they’ve made their module compatible with desktop Windows too. Unfortunately, this isn’t available to individual users, only corporate or bulk customers. Using such a controller can be advantageous for, for example, one-handed mouse emulation when keeping presentations.

Other, related articles

Hands On With Zeemote JS1 Bluetooth Controller

Pictures: Zeemote JS1 Controller (with video)

How the Zeemote JS1 turns your mobile into a mini-console (with video)

The Zeemote Solution?

Zeemote’s press release HERE or HERE; it links to some additional videos

Zeemote Exclusive: Standalone price and BlackBerry demo (note that this is in no way a pocketgamer.biz exclusive – the Zeemote folks did tell everyone at MWC, including me, the planned price and release date of the device. Also, anyone could play Asphalt3 there – I did too.)

Zeemote JS1 Mobile Joystick (Wired’s review; a bit outdate but still worth checking out)

Zeemote JS1 To Be Sold Individually, Finally

CES 2009: Zeemote for BlackBerry (with video)

MWC / ShowStoppers booth shots (click the images for larger versions):

[Guest bitbank]

I've got one on order and I should have it by the end of next week. I'm confident I'll be able to write software to talk to it. I plan on integrating support into SmartGear and allowing SmartGear to output keypresses to drive other programs. I can also see using it as a wireless mouse for Desktop PC. Any other ideas?

L.B.

[Guest Menneisyys]

I've got one on order and I should have it by the end of next week. I'm confident I'll be able to write software to talk to it. I plan on integrating support into SmartGear and allowing SmartGear to output keypresses to drive other programs. I can also see using it as a wireless mouse for Desktop PC. Any other ideas?

L.B.

As you aready know how it works, any plans to publish a hack / driver for the iPhone as well? :) Of course, even a Cydia-based one would be great.

[Guest PolloLoco]

I've got one on order and I should have it by the end of next week. I'm confident I'll be able to write software to talk to it. I plan on integrating support into SmartGear and allowing SmartGear to output keypresses to drive other programs. I can also see using it as a wireless mouse for Desktop PC. Any other ideas?

L.B.

If you could open up general access to other emulators - like Finalburn - besides your smartgear, that would be fantastic. Perhaps like the Chainpus gamepad - a piece of software running in the background to make the zeemote imitate a direction pad, and/or a keyboard.

Of course, I can see other users wanting software written for Android - I eventually plan to get an Android phone as well.

[Guest bitbank]

If you could open up general access to other emulators - like Finalburn - besides your smartgear, that would be fantastic. Perhaps like the Chainpus gamepad - a piece of software running in the background to make the zeemote imitate a direction pad, and/or a keyboard.

Of course, I can see other users wanting software written for Android - I eventually plan to get an Android phone as well.

I received my Zeemote and got it working! Reverse engineering the protocol was pretty straightforward, but the bluetooth communication is a problem. The device registers a unique service ID (not SPP/RFCOMM). I got it to work on the Microsoft bluetooth stack because it allows you to connect a socket as long as you have a destination address, but I'm not sure how to do it on Widcomm. Anyone know how to connect to an unsupported service with the Widcomm API?

L.B.

[Guest bitbank]

I'm still stumped with the Widcomm stuff so far, but I've got 2-player simultaneous working on the Microsoft BT stack! I'm also going to write a ZeeMouse utility for Desktop Windows to use it like a wireless presentation mouse control.

L.B.

[Guest bitbank]

I played a bit more with the BGP100 and Zeemote. The Zeemote definitely responds faster. They both have a slight lag to them, but with the Zeemote, it's less noticeable. Unfortunately they're not really available in the US, so I bought them from 2 different places to see how they would fare. One I purchased from BestBuy's website and it cost a little more because of the shipping and tax ($48). It came in the original box with the manual, batteries and the free game code (not useful for Windows Mobile yet). The second I bought through a reseller on ebay from Hong Kong. It arrived relatively quickly, but had no box, manual or batteries and cost $40 total. Neither option is very pleasant for what you get. I believe this device could have some chance at success if it was available through US retailers for a price closer to $20.

Besides integrating support into SmartGear, I created a Desktop PC app which uses the Zeemote as a wireless presenter including support for the mouse wheel. I'll try to get these both cleaned up and ready for download over the next couple of days.

L.B.

[Guest PolloLoco]

I played a bit more with the BGP100 and Zeemote. The Zeemote definitely responds faster. They both have a slight lag to them, but with the Zeemote, it's less noticeable. Unfortunately they're not really available in the US, so I bought them from 2 different places to see how they would fare. One I purchased from BestBuy's website and it cost a little more because of the shipping and tax ($48). It came in the original box with the manual, batteries and the free game code (not useful for Windows Mobile yet). The second I bought through a reseller on ebay from Hong Kong. It arrived relatively quickly, but had no box, manual or batteries and cost $40 total. Neither option is very pleasant for what you get. I believe this device could have some chance at success if it was available through US retailers for a price closer to $20.

Besides integrating support into SmartGear, I created a Desktop PC app which uses the Zeemote as a wireless presenter including support for the mouse wheel. I'll try to get these both cleaned up and ready for download over the next couple of days.

L.B.

Very interesting Larry. I bought the BGP100 a couple of years ago, but almost never use it. Lag annoyed the heck out of me.

Do you think it would be possible to use the Zeemote on other Windows Mobile apps - or just Smartgear? I'm tempted to pick one up, because I have a $50 gift card to best buy . . . but it wouldn't be worth it if only Smartgear were supported. Ideally, it would be sweet if it could be used as a bluetooth mouse - to manipulate touchscreen buttons. I have a bluetooth mouse that already works with Windows Mobile.

I also eventually expect to go to an Android phone - and haven't seen any reports of the Zeemote software being ported.

[Guest bitbank]

Very interesting Larry. I bought the BGP100 a couple of years ago, but almost never use it. Lag annoyed the heck out of me.

Do you think it would be possible to use the Zeemote on other Windows Mobile apps - or just Smartgear? I'm tempted to pick one up, because I have a $50 gift card to best buy . . . but it wouldn't be worth it if only Smartgear were supported. Ideally, it would be sweet if it could be used as a bluetooth mouse - to manipulate touchscreen buttons. I have a bluetooth mouse that already works with Windows Mobile.

I also eventually expect to go to an Android phone - and haven't seen any reports of the Zeemote software being ported.

The code I'm currently wrapping up will allow SmartGear to use the BGP100 and Zeemote internally for playing games and also act as a "driver" sending key presses to the system so that other apps can use the controllers. Here are the current steps to do this:

1) Pair your phone with the bluetooth gamepad(s).

2) Run SmartGear

3) Configure the controllers (if you want to use them for internal gaming)

4) Options->Devices->Connect to make the bluetooth connection

5) Options->Device Mode->Driver to make SmartGear send keyboard events to the system

You can switch between Game/Driver mode dynamically without having to disconnect/reconnect.

The "driver" feature will only be available for registered users of SmartGear, but the game controllers can be tested on the free version.

L.B.

[Guest PolloLoco]

The code I'm currently wrapping up will allow SmartGear to use the BGP100 and Zeemote internally for playing games and also act as a "driver" sending key presses to the system so that other apps can use the controllers. Here are the current steps to do this:

1) Pair your phone with the bluetooth gamepad(s).

2) Run SmartGear

3) Configure the controllers (if you want to use them for internal gaming)

4) Options->Devices->Connect to make the bluetooth connection

5) Options->Device Mode->Driver to make SmartGear send keyboard events to the system

You can switch between Game/Driver mode dynamically without having to disconnect/reconnect.

The "driver" feature will only be available for registered users of SmartGear, but the game controllers can be tested on the free version.

L.B.

OK - so let me get this straight, to allow the zeemote to work for other software, we'd need to run Smartgear - set it to driver mode, then leave it running in the background? Won't that be resource intensive for a phone - limiting what you could run the Zeemote with?

[Guest bitbank]

OK - so let me get this straight, to allow the zeemote to work for other software, we'd need to run Smartgear - set it to driver mode, then leave it running in the background? Won't that be resource intensive for a phone - limiting what you could run the Zeemote with?

The only resource that will be used is RAM. The reason I want to do it this way is to give SG more "value add" and to not have to support another application. There shouldn't be any problem running other apps while SG sits in the background. SG has 3 threads running (1 for the GUI, and 1 each for the BT controllers). They will all be blocked waiting for data, so there is basically no performance hit.

L.B.

[Guest PolloLoco]

The only resource that will be used is RAM. The reason I want to do it this way is to give SG more "value add" and to not have to support another application. There shouldn't be any problem running other apps while SG sits in the background. SG has 3 threads running (1 for the GUI, and 1 each for the BT controllers). They will all be blocked waiting for data, so there is basically no performance hit.

L.B.

I'm definitely interested Larry! Please keep us updated. There would definitely be value added with my touch pro using TV Out. That said, I'm looking forward to your proposed speed upgrades for VGA and WVGA devices - right now Turbographics and Genesis games are slightly jittery. I'm hoping your speed improvements will fix that.

[Guest bitbank]

I'm definitely interested Larry! Please keep us updated. There would definitely be value added with my touch pro using TV Out. That said, I'm looking forward to your proposed speed upgrades for VGA and WVGA devices - right now Turbographics and Genesis games are slightly jittery. I'm hoping your speed improvements will fix that.

It gets even better. I took the logical next step and added support for using another WM phone as Player 2 controller input. It works perfectly with no lag at all. I'll try my best to get a beta build out to you late tonight.

L.B.