IRDA was using for serial communications and the frequency are not compatible with TV remotes. the IPAQ pocket pc had wider range of frequency but most phones would not allow you to control your tv

Funnily enough, I can control my TV with my N900.

But you can't send and receive files with it. The N900 has consumer IR and not IRDA, indeed.

That's right.

I'm still not convinced that you couldn't drive an IRDA diode with TV remote data and have it work, though, at least on consumer units running at 870nm.

I for one sure am not holding my breath on that one. You have any idea how much faster the batteries in your remote would die? And it'd never work, because you'd always have to re-pair it.

Wiimotes don't always have to be re-paired with the Wii.

They re-pair after you press a button, and their password is always 1234. It's not secure at all.

They connect when you press a button, but pairing is a more involved operation.

I would never complain about the security of my TV remote, so I still don't see that as an issue.

What if your neighbor ducked right outside your window and constantly set your TV to <undesirable TV network here>? Then you might care. With IR, the signal would be iffy and probably not work at all from the window outside and your neighbor would have to have line-of-sight with the sensor on your TV which means popping the remote up from under his hiding place. With Bluetooth, neighbor-interference is much less complex.

In the case of the Wii, your remote has to be paired with the Wii. You accomplish this by setting the Wii to pairing mode (press the red button inside the Wii) and set the remote to pair (red button under the battery cover of the Wiimode). Other remotes do nothing to a Wii unless paired. So really, the possibility of neighbor-interference with Bluetooth would be much less.