Like many of the others at TUAW who really wanted to see this remote, I got my new Apple Remote a few days ago, and here are some of my impressions.

TouchPad [iTunes Link] is my new best friend. It allows you to control the mouse and keyboard on your Mac through your iPhone, as well as Front Row. It is currently on sale in the App Store for $1.99 (50% off) for a "limited time" so you may want to grab it while you can.

At the end of most days, I settle into bed to watch a little TV on my iMac through EyeTV. Last night I was all snuggled under the covers when I realized that I had left the mouse pointer over the video window. EyeTV kept thinking that I wanted to move the "time scrubber" and so it kept popping up the on-screen overlay.

Most of the time I keep an Apple Wireless Keyboard on my nightstand in case I need to control my iMac from bed (don't you judge me!) but the batteries had run out. I pulled myself out of bed, went to the kitchen where the batteries had recharged, put them into my keyboard... and they still didn't work. So I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out why before I finally gave up.

All I really needed to do was move the mouse off-screen. If I had TouchPad, I could have done that.

When I viewed the webpage and iTunes listing for TouchPad, I wasn't clear how it worked. Turns out it is very simple.

By default, TouchPad works like a touchpad on a Mac laptop. Drag your finger around the iPhone screen and watch the mouse move across your Mac (yes, it supports multiple monitors).

Tap the keyboard icon and the usual iPhone keyboard will appear with the addition of several special keys: escape, tab, shift, control, option, and the classic Mac "cloverleaf" command key. These special control keys are used when you want to access keyboard shortcut such as cmd+space to bring up Spotlight.

Tape the "Play/Pause" icon and you will be presented with what looks like a regular Apple remote control; however, it will only control Front Row. Click "Start" and Front Row will launch on your Mac, and then you can use the TouchPad controls to navigate. Press Quit to exit Front Row.

I was disappointed to see there are no Function keys, making it impossible to change the brightness, or use the play/pause, fast-forward, rewind media keys, or even trigger Exposé or the Dashboard. You can adjust the volume settings if you have it in the menu bar, but that would be a pretty precise "hit" from across the room. It would be a good addition to add a third icon up near the existing two in the top-left (keyboard and Front Row remote) to add the "fn" key plus F1-14 and an eject button.

That said, for $2 this app is a steal. It works quickly, the setup instructions are very straightforward. You can easily control multiple Macs. It supports Leopard and Snow Leopard using Screen Sharing, and it also supports Tiger using Apple Remote Desktop settings.

A quick search of "VNC" in the App Store results in about 25 applications, including Jasdu VNC which appears to be a full VNC client which will put your computer screen on your iPhone (see its website for more information). Very cool, but a costly $25 far more than I would spend without being able to try it out first. (Dear Apple: please give developers a way to offer time-limited demos so we can "try it before we buy it!")

I have not tried all of these VNC applications (I'm sure TUAW readers will let us know in the comments which ones we should check out) but TouchPad is going on the home page of my iPhone, and my Apple Wireless Keyboard has lost its spot on my nightstand. (Another TUAW favorite is HippoRemote which you'll be hearing more about soon. You might want to check it out too!)

There are some applications out there that never cease to amaze me. We're always looking for shortcuts and ways to make our lives (and our computer use) much easier. Iced Cocoa's new Keymote [iTunes Link] for iPhone and iPod touch is sure to do just that!

With Keymote, you'll never again have to remember a shortcut. Keymote creates single buttons out of complicated shortcuts and groups them by application, speeding up your productivity and boosting your workflow. Basically, Keymote acts as a remote for your Mac and can control almost any application.

The developer notes that you can "Easily control Front Row from across the room, refresh your Twitter stream wirelessly, or play a song from iTunes without even touching your computer, the possibilities are endless."

Some highlights of Keymote include:

• Simple and intuitive user interface that makes using Keymote easy and fun.
• Easy to connect and operate over a Wi-Fi connection.
• Organizes your keystrokes, keeping the ones you use close at hand.
• Highly customizable with different key colors, the ability to add tactile feedback with vibrations and more.
• Built-in store for purchasing keystroke sets for almost any Mac application. Don't worry, most of these are free.
• Customize and share your keystrokes and layouts with other users easily.

I found the Keymote interface to be simple to use, and the commands are snappy, happening almost instantly. The in-app store is great too; I was able to download keystroke sets for Tweetie, Coda, iTunes, Safari, Firefox, Photoshop and so much more. I'm also a sucker for a beautiful user interface and Keymote certainly has that. The menus are easy to use and the keystroke pages are downright gorgeous.

The application is available in the iTunes App Store for $3.99 and is well worth the price. In addition to the app, you'll need to head over to Iced Cocoa's website, download the free Keymote receiver, and then pair your iPhone or iPod touch with the receiver application on your Mac.

Here are a few shots of the application in action:

Way back in what we called "the 80s," my father bought a VCR. Its magic let us record TV shows for later viewing, and we loved it. In fact, VCRs did 4 things:

1. Record the show you were watching
2. Record a show that was airing on a channel other than the one you were watching
3. Watch videos previously recorded (your own or commercial movies)
4. Record shows all on its own

Number 4 required a Tarot deck, eye of newt and a Harry Potter Time-Turner. The VCR had two "clocks" on its face. You set Clock A to your show's starting time, and Clock B to its end. Next, a series of switches that were developed by 14 or 15 blind and drunken NASA rejects required precise manipulation. At last you finished only to realize that your show had begun 11 minutes earlier.

Eventually we upgraded to a model with a wired remote control that was the size of a baby manatee and had more buttons than a scientific calculator. Twenty-eight years later, the DVR has made recording easier but remotes (or "clickers" as we call them) are still stuck in the 80s. To the max.

Apple has quietly pushed out software updates for both the Apple TV and the Remote application for the iPhone and iPod touch. The update, identified as version 2.4 for the Apple TV, and version 1.3 (24) for the Remote app, adds gesture support for controlling Apple TV from your iPhone or iPod.

Our in-house Apple TV geeks, Megan Lavey and Christina Warren, both installed the updates and gave them a try. Megan indicated the gestures were quick and responsive, and coupled with the ability to use the iPhone/iPod keyboard to search for shows, the new versions made it much less tedious to navigate through your shows.

Boxee users may wish to hold off on updating, however, as it seems that you may not be able to reinstall Boxee after completing the update. Also worth noting is that the new Remote app requires the 3.0 software update to be installed on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

When word about the Pogoplug hit TUAW central, we debated to see who would luck out and and cover the device. Apart from a few cuts and bruises, nearly all of which will mend in a matter of weeks if the doctors are to be believed, I won. The past few days, I've had the pleasure of road testing a unit. And it's awesome.

The Pogoplug offers a USB NAS adapter, i.e. a network-attached storage system, that gives you network access to your data from home and on the road. With NAS you can use common protocols like AFP and SMB to connect to a remote disk. And you can do so easily. That's a big win, because choosing and setting up these remote devices has been a deal killer for many otherwise interested people. As Brad Dietrich, Pogoplug's CTO, told TUAW, "[Until now], the state of home networking has been too complicated and geeky for most people." Pogoplug provides a simple solution.

What Pogoplug brings to the party is a remarkable ease of use that crosses past any issues of firewalls and port setup and delivers remote storage to normal (i.e. read "non-geek") humans. It transforms remote file access into a consumer device. And best of all, it provides this for just $99.

It's impossible not to love a blog post that begins, "I found a way to remote control my R2D2 with an iPhone."

The video above shows the author, ggpipe, using the iPhone's accelerometer to control R2's dome. Pretty cool. In the future, he plans to use the phone to send text to R2's logic displays. We love it and can't wait to see a fully assembled, iPhone-powered R2D2!

It's great to see people extending the iPhone's capabilities, and homegrown remotes are a cool choice. A couple of weeks ago, we posted a story about a guy who turned his iPhone into an R/C aircraft controller, and last year we saw Delphi's Wireless Vehicle Access software that lets you control many of your car's functions. Keep up the good work, everyone!

[Via Rick Yaeger]

Stutsman Software has released version 2 of DVR Remote, an app we covered a while back that lets you use your iPhone or iPod touch as a remote control for your TiVo Series 3 via WiFi.

One user, however, is reporting an issue with a Now Playing list that never ends -- that is, its contents are repeated over and over again -- but Derek Stutsman, the developer, is working on it. On the product's page in iTunes (link opens iTunes), Stutsman suggests you may want to wait until he releases a fix before upgrading from 1.x.

New in this version is improved keyboard support, rewritten networking support to handle transfer interruptions, and a faster "Now Playing" list. Also included is support for skins. You can select from one of many attractive themes for your remote, or create one yourself. Pictured here is the "Starry Night" theme.

DVR Remote is available in the App Store for $2.99.

Thanks, Derek!

We've made no secret of our love for the Boxee media center. Its lovable interface works great from 2ft. to 20ft. and covers just about everything an HTPC should on both the Apple TV and Mac mini. Now, after weeks of being in review, the folks over at the Boxee blog have finally announced the availability of the Boxee remote app (iTunes link). It's extremely affordable for everything it does (it's Free) and is available immediately. If you've lost your Apple remote, or for whatever reason don't have (or want) one, Boxee's remote app is a pure gem. Check it out now and then give Boxee some suggestions on how they can improve it.

Our good friends at Download Squad found a great app on the App Store called Air Photo that will let you wirelessly print pictures directly from your iPhone or iPod touch. Just install the app (for $1.99, cheap if you print your iPhone's photos often) on your mobile device, put the server on your Mac (or PC, if you swing that way), and then you can snap and print at will. Connecting to the server from your device opens up a Bonjour window, where you can crop or adjust the picture and then print whatever you like.

While the technology itself won't be that helpful for everyone (who really prints pictures any more, especially iPhone pictures?), it is interesting to see this done so easily and well with a wireless connection. Sure, there's apps like Remote and the Keynote controllers, but it seems like the iPhone-as-wireless-accessory idea is still relatively untapped on the App Store.

Mac OS X users and faithful readers of TUAW know that there is great power found in the command-line, but one of the greatest advantages of OS X's UNIX heritage is the secure shell (SSH) client and server. From the Apple Matters article on SSH tunnels for the common man: "SSH is a network protocol that provides secure communication between two computers." Its power comes from the ability to create an encrypted tunnel through which a client can send many types of internet traffic.

The Lifehacker article on setting up an SSH server covers the steps necessary to roll your own SSH server whether you are running Windows or OS X. Parts one and two of the Apple Matters series on SSH tunnels provide a lot of useful information on SSH as well as creating an SSH tunnel for encrypting traffic. One such use that has not yet been covered is how it is possible to stream your iTunes library across the internet while using software that is either built-in or available for free.

This tutorial will get pretty technical and assumes that you already have an SSH server and you know how to access it from a remote location (e.g. from work). If you are already past the point of just setting up an SSH server and are asking yourself "what now?" then read on to find out how you too can listen to your tunes at work even though they are trapped at home.

Following the newly updated Remote application from Apple, there's now a new remote application (iTunes Link) that allows you to control your XBMC Media Center with the iPhone. Obviously to use it you'll have to have a computer (or Xbox) running XBMC, which is available in versions for Xbox, Mac, Linux, and Windows. Features include:

• Play, queue and shuffle the media on XBMC
• View cover art for albums, TV Shows and movies
• View artist and album reviews and information
• 'Standard' remote mode. Control XBMC with standard remote buttons

I have seen reports that it will work with the Mac-only XBMC fork Plex (though perhaps without images). It basically looks like it does for XBMC what Apple's Remote app does for the Apple TV.

XBMC is available from iTunes for $4.99.

[via Gizmodo]

Apple just dropped an update for the Remote application for iPhone/iPod touch. Remote.app allows you to control any iTunes library (or Apple TV) over a local WiFi connection. According to the release notes, you will now be able to create a Genius playlist, and create/edit playlists in iTunes.

This application (and its update) is a free download from the iTunes App Store. Take a look at our gallery of screenshots below. And be sure to sound off in the comments if you notice anything different in this version!

iPhone Atlas is reporting that Apple has a way to blacklist and remotely remove applications from your iPhone. According to the post, the iPhone will remotely "phone home" and check a posted blacklist of bad applications. These speculations are based on a URL found on Apple's site with references for a blacklisting mechanism:

https://iphone-services.apple.com/clbl/unauthorizedApps

Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone hacker, says nothing has been blacklisted as of yet. However, the mechanism is there, and the iPhone could call in on occasion to see what has been blacklisted. Zdziarski says that Apple could have the ability to shut down applications you've purchased from the App Store.

While this may sound like a privacy violation, our sources tell us that Apple has put this tool into place as a security measure to shut down rogue apps if needed, and it could simply be a proof of concept that hasn't yet been implemented for actual takedowns. We're not convinced that this is new, considering that the only entry in the unauthorizedApps list is dated "2004" and is clearly a test entry.

[via Engadget & Macrumors]

Jugaari's iPhone debut, Teleport (iTunes link), is a new VNC client for mobile remote control of a Mac or PC (not the super-awesome pseudo-KVM app). It's a $24.99 investment, and I don't know many people who are going to dish out twenty five clams for an iPhone utility, but I know plenty who are curious about it and frustrated about the App Store's lack of any "try before you buy" mechanism. Here's a "look before you buy," either to help you make a decision or just to satisfy a curiosity.

Teleport is naturally subject to all the things that are intrinsically annoying about any VNC connection, which are then compounded by a (relatively) small screen and less-than-ideal network speeds; it's not the ideal way to access a remote machine. The options allow you to set the speed of the refresh rate, but "fast" is slow, even on a local wireless network. Those annoyances are obstacles to be overcome, though, and I think that Teleport makes a valiant effort to provide a usable interface in light of these hurdles.

Check out the gallery for a mini-tour, and see the rest of this post for more impressions of Teleport.