There are numerous satellite channels that I like to watch but I can't always remember the channel number (National Geographic is channel 526 for example).

Instead of entering channel numbers on the remote, I would sometimes prefer to enter the actual name of the channel.

This system would have to be implemented by the satellite company (e.g. Sky) and it could well be baked in other countries, but I couldn't find anything.

Using the T9 predictive text feature used in mobile phones (see link), enter the name of the channel as you would when creating a text message (Sky remotes already have "abc" on the "2" button and so on).

The green button could be programmed by Sky to swap between the three input modes - Numerical, T9 and Basic Text.

As the characters are entered, the most likely channel name is displayed. Press the down or up arrows to display other similarly named channels. When the desired channel is displayed, press Select. Lovely.
-- jtp, Aug 18 2007

T9 Predictive Text http://en.wikipedia...9_(predictive_text)
[jtp, Aug 18 2007]

They need this for digital cable. I have 719 channels available (I actually get about 600 of them, rest are PPV) and this would help ALOT when it comes to remembering what channel is what.

The search menu on my Cable box lets me search by actor, title, time, and more, just not by channel...

Have a bun.
-- wolstech, Aug 19 2007



random, halfbakery