photo1A few months ago I bought myself a new toy, a 42 inch LCD TV. I’d been saving up for over a year and I was so excited to get it. The main reason I really wanted this TV was so I could connect my computer and watch Hulu or Netflix on a big screen. Since we don’t have cable, I watch almost all my TV on the computer.

Once getting the TV, I could immediately take advantage of Netflix over the computer and it was great. The only problem I would run into is when when the show ended or I needed to pause of a bathroom break. It was like the old days before remotes. I’d have to get up and press pause or select the next show. I know, we’ve become a lazy generation. 🙂

So, a friend told me that there were several apps for the iPhone that let you control your computer remotely. Seriously, I love the times we live in more and more every day. So I downloaded the cheapest version of HippoRemote. It got good reviews and it only cost a dollar (I think).

You can use it to fully control your computer, type emails and do anything you would normally do, but that wouldn’t really be convenient. It’s best use as a remote to hit play, pause, next, turn up the volume and all the other basics. However, if I need to search for another movie on Netflix, it’s pretty convenient on the iPhone. You can even program in macros. I haven’t taken the time to do this, but I’m pretty sure you can set it up to start programs and perform certain actions with a push of a button. Pretty cool, huh?

I’m totally satisfied with my cheap version, but I’m sure the more expensive apps are even better. Setup on the mac was the easiest thing in the world. I had to click on little button (VNC sharing) in my preferences and it worked. I started to set it up on my wife’s PC but lost interest after the 7th or 8th step. I don’t think it’s hard, I just didn’t have much reason to connect to her laptop.

My friend Jonathan Cliff sent me this link about a variety of screen control apps for the iPhone. If you need something like this, I definitely suggest checking this out.

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