Filed under: Odds and ends, Freeware, Developer, iPhone
iPhone as a touchpad
Telekinesis is still awesome, but this app basically turns your iPhone into a remote for your whole computer. Anything you can do by moving and clicking a mouse around, you can do with this. Very neat. It is too bad that it requires Installer.app, and that it has to be done unofficially, but the official SDK is still (hopefully) just around the corner. I remain amazed at how much programmers like Jahanzeb and the vnsea guys (and anyone else working on the iPhone) are able to do unofficially.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
matthew said 1:06PM on 2-21-2008
Very nice work.
I need one of these touchscreens that's the same size as the Apple Wireless keyboard, with an iPhone-like keypad and mouse instructions to go along with my AppleTV and SafariHD, etc.
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zebrum said 1:17PM on 2-21-2008
Why are you dissing Installer.app are you craaazy?
A two finger gesture could send the mouse wheel move, that would be awesome.
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mdk said 1:20PM on 2-21-2008
Seems like we'll all have wireless Multi-Touch trackpads soon.
No need for MBA, yay!
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ThePete said 1:50PM on 2-21-2008
When I see it on a Mac, I'll believe it works on a Mac.
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Tuco said 1:57PM on 2-21-2008
VNSea works on Macs as well...You need to install a VNC server app on your Mac (I used Vine Server). You should see the look on family members' faces when you log in remotely and take control of the Mac (i.e., open the Notes widget and type out a message telling your kid to stop screwing around in MySpace and finish their homework!)
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Alvin said 2:05PM on 2-21-2008
I use Remote Buddy, it's a little expensive, but gives you a lot of options for controlling your MAC with either the IR remote, a Bluetooth Device, or your Touch or iPhone.
http://www.iospirit.com/
AL
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Optomic said 2:07PM on 2-21-2008
I don't think this is THAT amazing. It's vnsea without video streaming to your iphone. I'm sorry, but I'm not impressed.
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JGO said 4:09PM on 2-21-2008
I tried it on my MBP using Vine Server, and it is awesome. I can see my desktop on my iPhone screen, and am able to navigate my computer with ease. The demo video doesn't do justice to the program, it's actually a lot better than what is shown.
Shawin said 2:10PM on 2-21-2008
I mentioned this idea before on tuaw, ilounge or digg (can't remember).
I'm glad someone finally made it.
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onefoot17 said 9:18AM on 2-22-2008
so what's the difference betn Touchpad and VNsea? not tryin to diss the guy's obv l33t skillz but does it run better faster than VNsea? 'cos VNsea is (was, i upgraded to 1.1.3) one of my fav iPhone apps and it worked pretty well.
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DerekF said 3:18PM on 2-21-2008
Why do you need to install Vine Server on the Mac to run it? Just turn on Apple Remote Desktop in the Sharing Preference panel.
Was just trying this out - works great on Mac, XP & Ubuntu. It's perfect for PowerPoint presentations - no need to buy a remote pointer or anything. Just tap-tap-tap on the screen and zip through your slides.
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Randall said 3:28PM on 2-21-2008
so its like salling clicker.
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brian said 4:01PM on 2-21-2008
Funny how he keeps pointing the phone at the screen, as if it were an IR remote. :-)
I've said it before and I'll say it again: we can't yet imagine how revolutionary the iPhone/iPod touch will prove to be in the long run. Just wait 18-24 months, when used first-gen devices are being sold for less than $100. (A refurb Touch is already just $249 from Apple.) Music playing aside, it is an awesome web tablet, and between web-interfaces on devices and apps like this, it will truly become the ultimate universal remote.
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Kyle said 5:45PM on 2-21-2008
This is very nice! But I don't have any knowledge on how to set it up. Can anyone describe an brief walk through?
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Vendetta said 7:36PM on 2-21-2008
OLD NEWS! Remote Buddy has done that and much, much more for a couple of months now! And unlike Telekinesis (an abandoned project btw), which never really worked for me, it really gives you FULL control over your Mac!
Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV-zJ9wsigQ
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Sam said 2:36AM on 3-19-2008
Want more than that? Check out PC2me.net or myf2p.com. Much more accessibility and easy to install.
Bryan said 8:12PM on 2-21-2008
VNSea does the same thing with video. To be honest I think mainly what this guy did was take away the video feature of VNC, if you watch him when he opens the app its the EXACT same interface as VNSea, even the buttons at the bottom are the same. I don't see anything special about this prog, VNSea has been out since 1.0.2.
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Jay said 10:21PM on 2-21-2008
Who cares... just use a goddamned mouse.
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Derrick said 10:29AM on 3-25-2008
This will work anywhere you can VNC. I've got it working perfectly with Ubuntu.
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Peppaz said 4:36AM on 2-24-2008
This works incredibly well om both my XP pc and my eeePC with Xandros. I use a 32" tv as a monitor and this saved me from buying a media remote that works with both. Heres a quick demo and pics of this working in linux http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=16797
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