Comments for Surprise! New remote

Surprise! New remote

2009-10-20T18:28:21Z

I'm not exactly sure how excited I am about this, but Apple also unveiled a new remote.

It's $19. That part is fine.

There isn't even a dedicated page about it on apple.com, just a page in the Apple store.

"Control your Mac, iPod, or iPhone from afar with the sleek aluminum Apple Remote. Play, pause, adjust volume, move forward and back, and access menus while playing music and video."

Personally, and I have a feeling this isn't just me, I really don't want to control my iPhone with a remote. What I do want is a great remote app that controls my Mac. And while Apple's remote app is good, there's so much more it's capable of.

I'd happily pay $19 for an app if it could do it all.

Maybe that's coming next Tuesday :-)

Let me know what you think of the new Apple remote in the comments or on Twitter.

Thanks for calling.

Comment from SidricTheViking on 2009-10-20

2009-10-20T19:16:17Z

Magic mouse and a new remote are very cute but what about the new real estate from Cupertino! 27" desktop as a basic model! Is it just me or is this incredible? I was just getting used to drooling over the 24" model at my local PC World and now this...
By the way, it leaves a very tantalising situation here? They have 2.2", 3.5", 13.3", 15", 17", 21.5" & 27" screens (did I miss any?). Notice a big yawning gap in there? It seems obvious that they MUST fill the gap between 3.5" and 13.3", right?

Comment from Scott Kleinberg on 2009-10-20

2009-10-20T19:36:37Z

Yep. You missed 24" - I have that at home and I love it. I'm sure 27 is wonderful!!

Comment from Ryan Kiefer on 2009-10-22

2009-10-22T16:31:53Z

Hey, I'm an owner of the previous Mac Remote that used to come standard with all new iMacs back when they had the all-white model, and I have to say the remote is actually pretty damn useful for laptops. For example, at nights in my room at home I have a whole basic media center setup for my laptop which required only my set of existing speakers and that remote. Just hit the menu button on the remote and Front Row pops up, granting me instant access to my entire iTunes and iPhoto library, videos and all. In addition, of course, to any DVDs in the drive and online iTunes content. Basically it turns my laptop into an Apple TV with a DVD player. Very, very useful, and if they added TV tuning, and god forbid Blu-ray, it would be a very strong competitor to Media Center over on the PC side.

Not to mention the remote works very well with outside programs such as XBMC and Boxee so you can access features that Front Row doesn't have. You could feasibly make a whole Media Center setup with just a Mac mini and one of these little remotes, TV and all.

I, however, don't understand the purpose of the remote for the iPod touch/iPhone. The screen's too small to do any useful browsing from a distance, and since they only export video to a TV screen when connected via the dock it's pointless to use it for that.

As for the new remote, I'm not a fan of the redesign. I liked it better when the center button was also the play/pause button. It's easier on the fingers and more intuitive. So I'm going to be holding on to my white remote until the thing dies.

Comment from Ryan Kiefer on 2009-10-22

2009-10-22T16:33:15Z

Also (somewhat related) I would look into Air Mouse for the iPhone. For about $5 you get a touchscreen that can control your Mac from afar. Provided you have a strong Wifi connection in your house this program is 99% reliable and 100% useful. Check it out.

Comment from Steph on 2009-10-22

2009-10-22T17:36:30Z

What a slick looking remote!