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Rumors: Apple working on iTunes controller for iPhone


An anonymous tipster tells TUAW that according to code found in the latest firmware release, Apple is working on a new iPhone application called iControl. Like Apple TV and other remote controllers, it would allow the iPhone to connect wirelessly to local iTunes libraries and browse through and play media from those sources.

TUAW is told that a media navigator will allow you to view videos, play podcasts, listen to music and even support shuffle playback. The screenshot shown here shows some of the localizable strings for the iPhone-based application. There's obviously no timeline for release, but since the SDK event back in February, it's been rumored that Apple would release some official iPhone apps of their own, and iControl might be the first.

Update: The data is so thin on the ground that it's hard to respond to readers who have asked whether this will be a "Back to my iTunes" application. Just having local Bonjour support wouldn't be all that useful. Apparently a screenshot of the bundle (not apparently a real application) here



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iPod Family Rumors iPhone

An anonymous tipster tells TUAW that according to code found in the latest firmware release, Apple is working on a new iPhone...
 

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Dan Woods

The Killer App for an iPod Touch would have to be AirTunes; why bother trying to remote control a computer, which is sending remote audio to an AirPort Express, when you could send music direct from your iPhone to the Airport Express Wirelessly.

Remote Control for AppleTV would come a close second.
Now someone needs to invent a WiFi to iR converter to enable remote control of a Legacy iR Receivers and TVs.

June 26 2008 at 11:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
maybesew

@ecobore:

The reality of it is, the apple store employees don't know anything more than the reads of these rumor sites. If one of them said it was coming, and it does come out, it was just a coincidence.

April 27 2008 at 8:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ecobore

yeah, an apple store employee suggested that this was coming when I complained that there was no easy way to remote control iTunes around the house. He said it would be compatible with the iPod touch too (makes sense...)

April 27 2008 at 7:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kevin

Simplify Media allows this, even if you are not in the same LAN. They have a native iphone app too!

April 27 2008 at 4:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Realitista

About time, this is such an obvious thing for them to do and it should have been done years ago. And I should be able to pipe my ipod through any apple tv or mac that I want too.

April 27 2008 at 4:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
.max

iControl info is highly innacurate. Have a look at my screenshot here: http://www.iphones.ru/iNotes/3066/
The only thing inside iControl app bundle is a single localization text file. THere is no executable. And its copyright info is dated 2007.

April 27 2008 at 3:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ST

Honestly, I was hoping they would let me access my Mac's dashboard from the iPhone. Not that I'm complaining about a full iTunes controller, but a dashboard viewer would work well for that.

Apple would do well to provide me a single window interface to my desktop applications via the iPhone. It might be impractical for most purposes, but being able to steal my porn collections finder folder with iPhone and launch a video to a full screen VLC would be great. Not to mention the controls.

April 27 2008 at 3:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
KarlW

the iPhone is a device with a permanent Internet connection, so let us use it remotely (like back-to-my-mac), and the iPhone has near unlimited storage space

April 27 2008 at 12:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to KarlW's comment
Adrian Fogge

Except that you forget one simple fact...
Currently, iTunes sharing operates via Bonjour which is a broadcast-segment protocol.

By that, I mean that it only operates in the same network segment (a Layer 2 environment).

One could always set up a VPN to enter that network segment (something that I seriously doubt that most end-users will do) or use the global bonjour support, however that requires connecting to a OS X Server.

The odds of a solution that will allow for cellular access to your music collection is very unlikely.

It is definitely a possibility that someone will add that kind of application via the SDK and an additional application that you would load onto your computer though. Apple is much too likely to rely on their existing frameworks rather than implementing an entirely new system for iControl.

But, this is all speculation based on what I have seen in the past and the information publicly available in this article. It is not based on any information that I have seen through access to any information that may have been gathered through access to the SDK.

~Adrian

April 27 2008 at 1:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Colin

They're not looking at that URL. The doctype URL specifies the structure of the document, not the document itself.

April 27 2008 at 12:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Totolafrite

Well,

I'm sorry but when I'n connecting to this URL:
http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd

I don't see the same thing like you.

source : http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd























April 27 2008 at 11:27 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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