Hasta La Gadget!

With all the gadgets, remotes, and thingamajigs piling up on your coffee table, finding the right remote can sometimes be a real pain. But thanks to a few heroic Android developers, there are tools to consolidate some of those pesky remotes … into your Android phone. While you can’t use an Android app to turn your TV on or change the channels (because of the lack of an infrared emitter in the Android phones on the market today), the following apps let you control a home theater PC, Tivo, Squeezebox and other devices via your phone. And at the very least you can save a few bucks when it comes to media center accessories.

The following 5 apps are neat demonstrations of what you can do with a flexible, app-friendly phone like the Verizon Droid, the T-Mobile G1 or the Sprint HTC Hero.

1. RemoteDroid

This app transforms your Android into a wireless keyboard and mouse. It consists of 2 components: the RemoteDroid app on your phone and a server application for your computer. The difficulty level for set up is low; hop on a Wi-Fi network, run the server application and enter an IP address into the phone (the server app even displays it for you). Best of all, the app is free, so you’ll have that much more money towards a custom home theater PC.

2. Boxee Remote

It’s too bad you can’t call your lost, wee Apple remote when it’s disappeared and you know it’s gotta be around somewhere. But if you’re using Boxee, you’ve got a backup: The Boxee Remote app makes a great, free backup remote if you use Boxee as your primary means of streaming television and movies from your computer.

3. TivoRemote

A note to Tivo Series 3 and Tivo HD people: Forgetting to record your favorite shows on Tivo is a thing of the past. Put your medium-savvy tech hat on, dish out $1 and remotely control your Tivo from anywhere using Tivo’s Network Remote Control setting and TivoRemote. Since I don’t have a Tivo myself, I wasn’t able to personally test this application, but the reviews are positive and the community feedback are hymns of praise. One commenter on the market also found a ninja-like purpose for the pocket-sized remote, “My wife finds this highly irritating… thanks!”

4. SqueezeControl

SqueezeControl is a free app that taps into and controls your Logitech SqueezeCenter, a handy wireless network music player. We are all accustomed to lugging our phones around, so any app — like this one — that eliminates the fumbling of pockets for an additional device has a place in our world.

5. Gmote

Similar to RemoteDroid (and, like it, totally free), this app becomes a wireless keyboard and mouse for your computer or HTPC set up. It’s not too hard to set up: All you need is the phone app along with the server application on the computer you wish to use. Gmote pulls music, movies, and other media and organizes it all in convenient folders. In addition to it’s wireless keyboard/mouse functionality, it offers a remote control screen to quickly control your media.

What apps do you use to control your media? Post your suggestions in the comments below.

See Also:

• Android Version of Foursquare Combines Function and Fun
• Android Army Pumped for All-Out Attack on iPhone
• Photoshop for Android Phones Now Available
• 12 Phones Strong, Android Army Mobilizes for Explosive Growth …

Photo Credit: Roselyn Roark

October 19th may be under a month away, but that’s still an eternity in “waiting years.” Thankfully, Motorola has posted up a handy guide that spells out exactly what kind of pre-loaded software comes with the CLIQ, and we’ve got to say — the list is fairly impressive. For starters, users will get access to LastFM, an array of Google features, Yahoo! Mail (funny, real funny), Digg, Mint, Facebook, Twitter, Travel Channel, MTV and Amazon’s MP3 Store. On top of all that, Moto’s throwing in QuickOffice — a piece that demands $9.99 on the iPhone — as well as TeleNav Navigator, which has also found itself on a few other Android-based smartphones over the centuries. Hit the read link for the full list, but only if you don’t mind the tease.

[Via Phandroid]

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Motorola impresses with pre-loaded apps list for CLIQ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As must-have mobile apps go, Pandora ranks high on the books — with the proliferation of 3G and WiFi, it comes dangerously close to obsoleting the need to carry around your own 8, 16, or 32GB worth of tracks — and another big-ticket platform has now joined the compatibility short list. This time around it’s Android that’s getting hooked up, offering a home screen widget and background playback (we’d expect no less on Android) over whatever type of network connection you’ve got handy. Using Wham! as a station seed is still indefensible, but we’d say the argument for scooping up a G1, myTouch 3G, or Sprint Hero (when it’s available, anyhow) just got a bit stronger.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio

Pandora comes to Android, world’s networks that much closer to buckling originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Evidence suggests that the Android Market has a long way to go to be a profitable enterprise for would-be developers, but the good news is that Google seems to understand — and they’re doing something about it. Those in-the-wild shots of a totally rethought interface have turned out to be legit, being made official today by Android’s official dev site; the beautified UI itself isn’t really anything to write home about, but what makes it all worthwhile is the addition of screenshots and improvements to descriptions that should do a much better job of letting users know what they’re getting for their hard-earned cash. Otherwise, there are a few new app categories and Italian support, all of which should bow with the release of Android 1.6 Donut. Sholes, Morrison, you fellas can’t come soon enough. Follow the break for official video of the new Market in action.

[Via Phandroid]

Continue reading Android 1.6 makes Market refresh official, apps get screenshots at last

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Android 1.6 makes Market refresh official, apps get screenshots at last originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For every rags-to-riches story in Apple’s App Store, every amazing tale of Joe Coder in his basement turning a dead-simple idea into a few thousand dollars a day, there are… well, zero in the Android Market. At least, that’s the impression we’re getting by digging into revenue stats published this week by mobile game house Larva Labs, lamenting the stark disparity in the economics between the two mobile distribution platforms. Despite having two apps prominently featured on the Market’s home screen and racking up sales rankings of 5 and 12 overall, Larva Labs’ $4.99 RetroDefense and Battle for Mars games are grossing between about $30 and $110 a day for the company — with a scant $62 average. As they wryly note, it’s “very difficult to buy the summer home at this rate.” Sure, granted, there’s plenty of garbage in the hopelessly overcrowded App Store — stuff that’ll never earn a dime — but what’s a little shocking here is that both of these apps are Android Market superstars and they’re still not able to cover the rent.

The problem is twofold: first, the target audience is smaller. Android simply hasn’t achieved the global market penetration that the iPhone has — at least, not yet. Globally, Android sales to consumers have totaled in the seven figures — 5 million might be a reasonable guess — whereas Apple’s pushed another order of magnitude worth of devices, something on the order of 25 million iPhones, and if you tack on the iPod touch (which you should for the purpose of running these numbers) you’re totaling over 30 million. Second, Larva Labs mentions a number of systematic problems with the Market — teething problems that Google’s yet to address — including a lack of screenshots in app descriptions, a dearth of payment methods, the seemingly preferential treatment free apps receive, and a litany of miscellaneous bugs and issues (Android owners will fondly recall the inability to find updated apps a couple months back, for instance).

And now the million-dollar question, if you’ll forgive our pun: will the Market get to the point where it’s a logical business proposition for devs? In all likelihood, yes — but it’s going to take plenty of additional commitment from manufacturers, carriers, and Google itself to make the place a friendly joint for buyers and sellers alike. In the meantime, thanks to the wonders of modern capitalism, Android’s app variety is fated to place a distant second, third, or fourth.

[Via Daring Fireball]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Popular developer’s stats suggest you can’t make a living off the Android Market — yet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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