It used to be that until about 2005, give or take a few, most smart phones and PDAs; incorporated an IR port.

Back then connectivity options were rather scarce, and IR "beaming" was a standard way of exchanging business cards amongst palm pilot users. Now of course nobody would consider exchanging data at the slow rates infra red provided; although it's directivity and short range allowed for quick business card exchange without pairing whilst ensuring some sort of privacy Bluetooth lacks.

I always wonder why manufacturers removed the IR port, if anything using your phone as a spare remote at home was nice, and lowering the volume of the pub's dumb box was even nicer.

As a side note my old Newton message pad's IR port works and can even operate some devices still.

Anything with dongle hanging usually doesn't seem to sell that well. This is because it looks 1. Stupid 2. It tends to get lost after you swap it with head set. 3. It doesn't fit well when you have iPhone case covering. At the end, original physical remote is still the most convenient one.