Hasta La Gadget!

The idea of using an iPhone or iPod touch as a universal remote has been tossed around for years, but it’s always required either a finicky external dongle or an extravagantly expensive home automation rig. Instead, we’ve been treated to a host of single-device remote apps for everything from FiOS, DirecTV, Comcast, and Dish Network DVRs to the Apple TV to the Boxee Box to… well, you name it. A little company called Peel has a dramatically different idea, though — it’s launching the Peel Universal Control system, which is designed to take your iPhone or iPod touch head-to-head with universal remote heavyweights like Logitech’s Harmony system.

The company is made up of a bunch of former Apple engineers, and their solution is extremely novel: instead of attaching a dongle to the iPhone itself, they’re controlling your A/V rack using a pear-sized (and Yves Behar-designed) wireless IR blaster that’s supposed to live quietly on your coffee table. The blaster (called the Peel Fruit) connects over ZigBee to a tiny network adapter (the Peel Cable, also designed by Behar) that attaches directly to an open Ethernet port on your WiFi router — a two-part hardware setup that seems fussy, but is designed to obviate the need for software configuration during installation, and allows the IR blaster to run for nine months on a single C battery.

Continue reading Peel turns your iPhone into a universal remote — using a wireless external IR blaster

Peel turns your iPhone into a universal remote — using a wireless external IR blaster originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Peel  | Email this | Comments

After going through some rough times with its RedEye mini dongle and doing right by replacing them, ThinkFlood appears to be running full beam ahead once more. Specifically, the company has announced that RedEye owners will soon have the ability to setup and control their remote systems straight from their PC or mobile browser. On the mobile front, apparently the web app will even work on Android and BlackBerry devices, despite being optimized for Safari on iOS — hinting that non iPhone owners could possibly let their phones control more than their social lives soon. Setup wise, the web version also allows users to automatically align and move multiple buttons at once, plus assign commands to over 70+ keyboard shortcuts. Combined with the ability to make adjustments using a mouse on a computer’s larger screen, tweaking custom RedEye remote layouts just got infinitely easier — you hear that Harmony? The iOS app 2.0 update is also now available as a free ‘Plus’ download in the iTunes store, and finally supports the iPad’s lovely screen in either orientation. In a sense, it’s further substantiating the tablet’s new career path as a jumbo-buttoned geezer remote of the future, but hey — no gripes here.

Continue reading ThinkFlood’s RedEye universal remote control becomes web compatible, leaves past woes in the dust

ThinkFlood’s RedEye universal remote control becomes web compatible, leaves past woes in the dust originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Marketwire  |  RedEye  | Email this | Comments

Not so keen on plopping down a Benjamin for Movea’s Air Mouse? A full two years after the introduction of that very product, there’s now an acceptable, bargain-bin alternative: the Air Mouse. Er, the Air Mouse app for iPod touch / iPhone. This here nugget of code, which is selling for just $1.99 in the App Store, taps into your iDevice’s inbuilt gyroscopes as well as the company’s own MotionSense technology in order to convert your handheld into a mouse. No need to fish for a surface, though — simply wave your iPhone around in order to take advantage of in-air cursor control and gesture recognition. It’s a dream come true for HTPC owners (Macs and PCs are supported), though critics are suggesting that Mobile Mouse may actually be superior. If you’ve already parted ways with your buck-ninety-nine, let us know how things are panning out in comments below.

Continue reading Movea turns your iPod touch or iPhone into an Air Mouse for just $2

Movea turns your iPod touch or iPhone into an Air Mouse for just $2 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Slashgear  |  Movea, iTunes  | Email this | Comments

Can’t wait for a Verizon iPhone? No problem—you can get one now. Cheaper than AT&T’s borked handset, too. Yeah, we’re being creative with the term “iPhone,” but who cares. It works. More »

TomTom was quick off the mark with multitasking in its iPhone app — and it’s hard to think of an app other than Pandora that benefits more from its inclusion — but TomTom isn’t stopping there. The new 1.5 version adds enhanced graphics to match the new iPhone 4 screen resolution, along with “faster, more-responsive navigation” on that handset. Not good enough for you? Try the new navigate-to-photo feature, a not-a-gimmick-at-all addition that allows you to select a geotagged photo as your destination instead of messing around with pesky addresses and facts. The update is free for existing users, newcomers will have to shell out $50 for the US version.

TomTom App for iPhone hits version 1.5, adds further iPhone 4 support and ‘navigate-to-photo’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TUAW  |  TomTom for iPhone (App Store)  | Email this | Comments