I like the idea of iTunes controllers, but a lot of the apps I try are too CPU intensive or just plain feature-bloated, so I just live with some AppleScripts set to hotkeys. I discovered Bowtie a little while ago, though, and it's a perfect fit for my needs. It's tiny, unobtrusive and its look (and even functionality) is extremely customizable. It provides system-wide hotkeys for skip forward, skip back and play/pause. Depending on the theme you have loaded, the interface can provide cover art and song info, star rating controls and clickable buttons for basic playback control.

If have some web design knowledge, Bowtie can be themed with a little CSS and Javascript. There is a starter pack available at MacThemes (several themes from the pack are pictured above); the download is in the first post of a running thread from which tips and tricks for customization can be gleaned.

Bowtie has been out as a beta for a while, and I'm uncertain what its current development status is. I really haven't run into any show-stopping bugs, though, which is impressive for such an early beta. Of course, it's a fairly simple machine with a focus on doing a few things well and looking great in the process. What's not to love?

While you're geeking out with your techie friends building battle bots or pumpkin cannons, why not give your dog a little love at the same time?

TUAW reader Stephen Myers sent us a link about a fun little project he worked on. He wants to be able to check on his dog's well-being and reward the dog with treats from anywhere he can use his iPhone. Stephen found out about ioBridge, a company that develops electronic monitoring and control modules that connect to any Ethernet network and can be controlled via an encrypted web front end.

Myers used an I/O module and servo smart board from ioBridge, a servo, an old CD spindle case, some cardboard and wood scraps, a large syringe plunger, and a webcam to build his device, and then used the ioBridge web interface to create a widget that controlled the device. No programming was required. The system generated javascript that was then embedded into a web page optimized for the iPhone screen, and now Myers can check up on Cooper, his dog, and give Cooper some treats.

Myers has many more details about the system in his blog entry, and he will be writing future posts about how he's using ioBridge and X10 controllers to turn lights on and off in his home -- from his iPhone.

Be sure to check out the YouTube video below!

iTunesVolume definitely takes the Steve Jobs "one button is good enough for everything" approach. The slider controls everything -- you can move it to control volume in iTunes or hold the button down to get a pop-up menu with extra options.

iTunesVolume is a free 2 MB download from the developer's website.

I'm a big fan of CoverSutra, Sophia Teutschler's sexy and incredibly useful iTunes controller. It gives you global keyboard shortcuts to skip and pause songs, display album artwork in a jewel case in popup notifications or permanently on your desktop, and it can even interact with the Last.fm music community to share the list of songs you're listening to.

CoverSutra is easily a good deal for its standard $20 price tag, but for today only, software discount outlet MacZOT is selling it for just $9.95. Get it while it's hot.

Last year we pointed out GimmeSomeTune by Eternal Storms Software. It's an enhancement application for iTunes that lets you download lyrics and album cover art, displays track info in a floating window (much like Growl) and lyrics in a lyrics window. You can manage all of this (and more) with user-defined hotkeys or the built-in mini controller.

Today, Eternal Storms announces the availability of version 3.6. Changes include:

• Save the album cover art in the song's ID3 tag or in the song's folder, saving disk space.
• Lyrics-fetching is improved
• Cover art retreival extended to all Amazon stores (com, co.uk, de, ca, fr, jp).
• Various other bug fixes and improvements

GimmeSomeTune requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher, iTunes 6 or better and is Universal and free.

These days, there is absolutely no shortage of apps that let you control iTunes in one way or another. You can use your PSP, tiny menubar controllers, countless iTunes widgets and now - CoverSutra. Featuring a stylish bezel with loads of control feedback and album art display, CoverSutra aims to give you complete control over iTunes without invading your space. It can even work with the Apple Remote, offering visual feedback without the need to enter something like Front Row.

A 10-day demo of CoverSutra is available, and it sells for just under $13 USD (€9.95). While CoverSutra is a brand new 1.0 app, the developer is promising "plenty of new things in [the works] for you," and upgrades are free until version 2.0. If other controllers such as the über-everything Quicksilver don't quite float yer boat, CoverSutra looks like a great solution for controlling iTunes without interrupting your flow.

Those searching for something a little more unique in realm of iPod accessories need look no further than the iBrella, certainly one of the most ingenious iPod remotes I've ever seen. With the power of an accelerometer, a hall-effect sensor, a gyroscope and a PIC microcontroller, this clever iPod hacker was able to turn his umbrella (in stylish white, of course) into an iPod controller, complete with movements for volume adjustment, track selection, play/pause and even a mode switch. I wonder if Griffin is trying to get in touch with this guy as you read this.

Check out Proto-typen.org for more details on the what and how.

[via Engadget]

I don't own an XBox 360, but I hear that it is the best thing to come out of Redmond for a long, long time. Now, if you are a Mac user and an Xbox 360 owner you might be keen to hook up your XBox's controller to your Mac for some Mac gaming fun. Sadly, you have been out of luck in that regard, that is until Colin Munro whipped up some OS X drivers for it. Now you can gleefully kill things on your Mac and not have to get used to another control (it even supports force feed back).

Thanks, Harrison.