Control your smartphone with a single click

Billed as the smart remote that does it all, the brushed aluminum device is small enough to slip on a keyring yet powerful enough to take full control of most of your smartphone's features.

The-Qmote-is-small-enough-to-fit-on-a-keyring-and-can-control-up-to-10-smartphone-functions-Photo-AFP

Billed as the smart remote that does it all, the brushed aluminum device is small enough to slip on a keyring yet powerful enough to take full control of most of your smartphone's features.

Created by Qblinks, the idea behind Qmote, which started a 40-day Kickstarter campaign on Monday, is to make finding and launching apps simple. The remote can be programmed to perform up to 10 separate actions such as dropping or taking a phone call or activating an alarm's snooze feature by clicking its single button in a predefined pattern.

'It is estimated that in today's society, each person pulls their phone out of their pocket at least 150 times per day. We use so many apps and are always digging around for when we need to just do one simple thing like make a phone call,' said Samson Chen, co-founder of Qblinks. 'With Qmote, you can create your own sequence that makes interactions with your smartphone and smart home more convenient, ensuring that you're easily accessing what matters the most to you.'

The Qmote could cost less than $25 when it goes into mass production. And it's that price point that could prove the ley to its success.

Rather than program one Qmote to do lots of different things, owners could, for instance have a dedicated Qmote on the bedside table for silencing the smartphone's alarm and another stuck to the car dashboard that will automatically launch the handset's navigation app. Or, because it's water-resistant, there can be one in the bathroom for launching, skipping and pausing songs.

The Qmote connects to a device via Bluetooth, is powered by a replaceable coin cell battery (good for one year's use) and comes with its own app, meaning that it's not limited to smartphones. It can be set up to work with the Nest thermostat for instance and with Belkin's WeMo smart power sockets and other Internet of Things devices.
Qmote's creators have already hit their funding target though some special deals on multi-packs remain available.