Hasta La Gadget!

Today, Apple updated its iOS Remote application to version 2.0. The free Remote app is now optimized for the iPad’s larger display and supports streaming from shared libraries over wireless networks with computers running iTunes and the new Apple TV using AirPlay.

But Apple’s vision of using your iPad — or iPhone — to play virtual DJ is just one of several competing ways of reinventing the remote control.

Earlier this week at CEDIA 2010, Sony showed off AV Receiver Remote, a similar (and similarly free) iOS universal remote application for its wide range of media appliances. While Apple’s Remote application allows you to queue up music from your library and control speaker volume, Sony’s allows you to do that and more: You can also control room lighting, and stream internet, satellite, or broadcast radio. Christopher MacManus was able to record a hands-on for Sony Insider:

Just as Apple’s remote application leverages its strength in high-end computers and media players, Sony’s app leverages its strength in home theater appliances. Apple can send a movie to your television, but it didn’t make your television (or the receiver your TV might be connected to).

And last week at IFA 2010, Samsung used its new Galaxy Tab to demonstrate its Home Watcher app for Android, which leverages the Korean tech maker’s even more ubiquitous position in home appliances.

As Vivian Kim observes, writing for Apartment Therapy Unpluggd, Samsung’s “washers and dryers, refrigerators, microwaves, ranges, and home entertainment devices” can allow them to position their phones and tablets not as Apple imitators, but as genuine home automation solutions.

You’ve never had a remote control for your refrigerator before, and maybe you didn’t even know you wanted one. But once it’s within the realm not just of the possible (it always has been, for high-end early-adopters) but reasonably attainable for Samsung’s global middle-class consumer base, something has changed.

How much will we want to do with a single remote when that remote is not an infrared box wrapped around two AA batteries, but a powerful computer with an intuitive interface?

In different ways, that’s the future towards which Apple, Sony, and Samsung are all pointing.

See Also:

• Apple Redefines Remote Control — Now, It’s Your Cellphone
• Sometimes the Remote Pushes Your Buttons, Too
• It’s Another QWERTY Keyboard, Now for TV
• IR Dongle Turns iPhone into Universal Remote
• How Google Instant Could Reinvent Channel Flipping
• Samsung Tablet to Debut on Big Four U.S. Carriers

With new offerings from Roku and Apple, and the grand impending entrance of Google TV, the crowd of little plastic boxes that all want to stream your video is getting packed. And confusing. But we’re here to help you compare. More »

A number of customers who ordered an Apple TV have bragged about receiving shipment notifications for their orders, despite last week’s rumors that the product might see delays.

Some Apple TV orders have been updated to read “Prepared for shipment” (meaning FedEx is packing the item into a box), so those who placed orders very early could get their new Apple TV as soon as this week.

Last week, some customers who requested expedited shipping received refunds from Apple, who cited a possible delay. It would appear that only new orders might take longer to ship, while the early batch of orders are on schedule for a late September delivery.

See Also:

• Hands-On With New $100 Apple TV
• How Apple Just Disrupted the Cable Guys

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Either there’s trouble at the Apple TV factory, or Apple’s “hobby” is selling so fast that it just got upgraded to a full-time job.

The new video-streaming set-top box was all set to ship in September, and Apple had already started charging credit cards of those who had pre-ordered. Now, if you head over to the Apple Store page for the Apple TV, you’ll see it will ship in two to three weeks. Apple is notorious for pushing right up to the last minute of its own deadlines, two to three weeks is as far away as the middle of October.

Another sign that all is not well come in the form of an e-mail forwarded to Apple Insider, sent to a customer informing him of a refund:

Our records indicate that when you placed your order you paid for upgraded shipping. Due to a delay, we may have not been able to meet our delivery commitment.

So, if you want an Apple TV, you’re going to have to wait, that’s certain. What’s not so sure is why they will be so late. Could it really be that, like the iPhone 4 and the iPad, Apple has simply been surprised by a huge demand? The Apple TV hasn’t seen the hype of those iDevices, so who would be buying them?

For the answer, take a look at the Airport Express. It’s a Wi-Fi–enabled receiver that lets you send music from iTunes to a remote stereo. It costs $99, the same as the Apple TV, which does this and lots more. If you want the fancy network-extending and router abilities of the Airport Express, the Apple TV isn’t for you. But if anyone was thinking of buying it just for AirPlay, then the Apple TV is an obvious upgrade.

Apple issuing refunds for Apple TV rush orders, citing delay [AppleInsider]

See Also:

• Hands-On With New $100 Apple TV
• Rumor: New $100 Apple TV Takes Aim at the Cloud
• Logitech Google TV Box Embarrasses Apple TV

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Competition is always good and the battle among streaming media players for the consumers’ living room is resulting in some new products and attractive prices.

Roku has announced three new media players that include HD streaming support of up to 1080p and improved connectivity to home entertainment systems.

The three Roku models will be the $60 Roku HD with support for 720p , the $80 Roku XD that includes wireless and 1080p HD, and the $100 Roku XDS that adds dual-band wireless technology.

“Customers can now buy an HD-capable Roku player with wireless for 40 percent less than the price of our original $100 Roku HD player,” says Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku in a statement. “Or, think of it this way: for around the price of two Blu-ray Discs, a Roku player brings you access to limitless instant streaming entertainment choices available.”

Roku’s latest line-up is a response to not just the recently launched $100 Apple TV, but also newer products that are competing for consumer attention.

As more web users turn to web video–watching Hulu, Netflix streaming movies, and episodes of their favorite TV show–companies are trying to find a way to make it easier to pipe that content from the PC to the flat screen TV. Earlier this month, a company called VeeBeam announced a $100 streaming media player that would connect your PC to the TV. Google TV, Google’s streaming media box that aggregates cable TV programming and web video, is expected to launch next month. Even Intel has started integrating streaming media software into some of its chips and laptops.

Roku’s new players will continue to offer shows from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand. It will also include sports from the MLB.TV site, music from Pandora, and photo and video sharing from Flickr and Facebook.

There are some new features. The $60 Roku HD will stream video at up to 720p and has built-in wireless and ethernet for broadband connectivity. The device is also smaller and sleeker. It is about 1 inch tall and less than 5 inches wide. It will come with composite A/V cables and an HDMI port.

The Roku XD and XDS versions will have 1080p HD support and include a feature called ‘Instant Replay’ that lets the viewer instantly skip back in 10 second increments without having to wait for a rebuffering delay.

See Also:

• Veebeam Uses Wireless USB to Stream Media From PC to TV
• Intel Touts ‘WiDi’ for Connecting PCs, TVs
• Google Introduces Google TV, New Android OS
• Google TV Likely to Launch at Best Buy on October 17
• 7 Ways to Watch Web Video Without Google TV

Photo: Roku