Remote controls are tricky things. If you have too many you can never find the one you need, and run the very real risk of accidentally chucking one out in a pizza box. Universal remote controls are the way forward, but we’re in favour of cutting out even that middleman and using your iPhone as a remote instead. The hardware to convert an iPhone or iPod touch into a remote has been around for a while, but it has been clunky and expensive.
Rejoice, then, at the launch of the RedEye Mini – a snip at just £32 ($49), this handy little 3.5mm infra-red (IR) adapter and free app will transform your iPhone into a remote control for pretty much any IR-receiving device. So that’s most DVD players, Blu-ray players, TVs, Hi-fis… the list goes on. It can handle near limitless IR commands so you can set it up with as many terminals as you want. The app isn’t just a dumb controller either, you can create one-touch commands and use multi-touch and the accelerometer to programme gestural controls too. In addition, you can browse TV schedules on the handset while watching the TV.
The RedEye mini is compatible with any iPhone 3G, iPod Touch or iPad running OS 3.2 and supports “virtually all home entertainment devices with infrared capabilities”. It will be available this spring from ThinkFlood.com (which does ship to the UK, hurrah!).
[via Engadget]
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