China Kicks Off Homebrew Bluetooth Alternative 'Star Flash' As It Pushes Universal Remotes

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: China's Electronics Video Industry Association last week signed off on a standard for a universal remote control -- a gadget Beijing thinks locals need because they're struggling with multiple remotes, but which is also a little more significant in other ways. The standard requires remote controls to allow voice control, and to use one of three means of wireless comms: Bluetooth, infrared, and Star Flash -- more on that later. It has been hailed as a boon for consumers who apparently struggle to find the right remote control to use as they navigate between televisions and set-top boxes.

This standard reportedly detects which device a user wants to control, makes the connection, and eases the chore of directing a stream from a set-top box to a display. Device-makers have been told that televisions and set-top boxes must support the standard, and they've quickly complied: local media report that Chinese consumer electronics outfit Konka has already delivered the first Smart TV capable of handling the universal remote. Building a standard ecosystem for universal remotes has obvious benefits for consumers, who should be able to use one unit across multiple devices and won't be tied to proprietary tech. But this move has other benefits for Beijing, thanks to its requirement to use China's home-grown Bluetooth alternative, Star Flash.

Star Flash is one of the projects run by the SparkLink Alliance -- a group that lists hundreds of Chinese developers and manufacturers as members. Huawei contributes tech to the group. Chinese IoT hardware vendor Qogrisys has described it as an upgrade to both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi that incorporates ideas used in 5G networks, is capable of handling multiple simultaneous device connections, sips power sparingly so battery-powered devices go longer between recharges, and can stream lossless stereo audio. Chinese consumer electronic and automotive brands are already keen to use Star Flash, and the Alliance is promoting its use in industrial settings too. China will promote use of universal remotes in 2025 -- meaning the protocol may soon appear in millions of domestic devices, giving manufacturers scale to justify further investment.

Obligatory XKCD

[ebob9]

https://xkcd.com/927/ [xkcd.com]

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

They have the volume to make it happen though. Look at Tuya, the IoT protocol. So much supports it now, including Home Assistant, that it's become one of the major standards (along side Matter and Apple's crap).

Tuya is zigbee

[FeelGood314]

The zigbee aliance err connectivitiy standards alliance (CSA) did such a terrible job marketing and supporting zigbee I don't t think many companies admit that that's what their products are using. Unfortunately zigbee works much better than all the rest. And CSA now controls z-wave, Thread and Matter so they can drag all those down. Wait, they already started with all the bloat to Matter and screwing up the perfectly good Thread method of getting on the network. The CSA also screws any small or medium

Star Flash

[93 Escort Wagon]

Sounds like one of those fighting moves in anime where the protagonist shouts out the name of his special attack before doing it - "STAR FLASH!"

Ignorant bullshit

[drinkypoo]

Chinese IoT hardware vendor Qogrisys has described it as an upgrade to both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi that incorporates ideas used in 5G networks, is capable of handling multiple simultaneous device connections, sips power sparingly so battery-powered devices go longer between recharges, and can stream lossless stereo audio.

Ideas used in 5G networks: Like wireless?
Multiple simultaneous device connections: Bluetooth controllers can do this if you don't get the cheapest, shittiest Chinese one
Sips power: Bluetooth LE
lossless audio: Qualcomm aptX Lossless

It's an upgrade from Bluetooth because... it does the same things as Bluetooth?

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Wonder who has the ignorant bullshit...

I wonder how many times in this discussion you'll earn fifty cents, cowardly shill.

Shouldn't you be disclosing that you are paid to spread propaganda for a foreign government?

Re:

[viperidaenz]

Since when could you get lossless stereo audio over BLE?

aptX Lossles requires Qualcomm Bluetooth High Speed Link technology for increased bandwidth over standard Bluetooth.

You've listed a bunch of incompatible things. Good job.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

You can do all of those things at once from the same host. At most, you need multiple controllers, most generations of which are dirt cheap and all of which can be converged into a single package if you want.

Re:

[viperidaenz]

Or you could use a Star Flash chip, with similar power to BLE, but 10x the bandwidth of full Bluetooth at 12Mbps
That also supports a high speed mode that's faster than most WiFi at 1.2Gbps

Voice

[dohzer]

The standard requires remote controls to allow voice control

I wonder why they would want microphones in every remote.

Re: Voice

[beelsebob]

That, and what I bet theyâ(TM)re after by demanding all tvs use it, is that manufacturers start including their hauwei chip in all tvs, even ones shipped to the west. That chip of course will be backdoored to high heaven.

Re:

[GrahamJ]

No doubt modems/routers/APs will be required to have it as well

Re:

[CaptQuark]

I'm more worried about the innocent remote sitting next to my recliner, or more worrisome, sitting on the side of the boardroom with an active microphone and a brand new protocol that might or might not be connected to a 5G cellular system.

SparkLink: Oh, that constant encrypted data stream from the remote? That's just the device polling for new, active devices and searching for the least used channels for best data transfer. The constant band hopping is part of a proprietary QoS algorithm. Data is sent

Re:

[msk]

"For some reason the telescreen in the living-room was in an unusual position. Instead of being placed, as was normal, in the end wall, where it could command the whole room, it was in the longer wall, opposite the window. To one side of it there was a shallow alcove in which Winston was now sitting, and which, when the flats were built, had probably been intended to hold bookshelves. By sitting in the alcove, and keeping well back, Winston was able to remain outside the range of the telescreen, so far as s

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

You could ask Amazon, apple, Google, Nvidia, and all the other western companies that did it first.

Re:

[geekmux]

The standard requires remote controls to allow voice control

I wonder why they would want microphones in every remote.

I more wonder why no citizen in any other country ever cares about that, while ironically using hardware Made in China.

Re:

[barcarolle]

I wonder why they would want microphones in every remote.

Same reason Google, Apple, and Meta want it.

Remotes

[phantomfive]

Aren't universal remotes already a thing? I don't see anything in the feature list (better battery life?) that makes this better than existing remotes.

What am I missing?

Re:

[brunes69]

They also became obsolete once everything started being connected with HDMI. They're mostly irrelevant.

Fuck China

[TheMiddleRoad]

Honestly, why do we put up with this spying bullshit? I'd rather not have cheap useless shit than support their terror.

I have been disappointed in wireless "upgrades"

[OneOfMany07]

I agree it feels like an excuse to sneak spy tech into the home, but also I feel like wireless protocols stagnated a ton. Every few years they increase the number (Not 4, but 5! now) and pretend it matters a lot.

I'd prefer something like 'threads' has tried to do for the home automation space... something that tries to merge/meld various camps into an interoperating super group, at least until everybody makes stuff that works well together anyway.

Heck I wish devices had to publish their API so random cons