iPhone as music server remote control

First, for those not familiar with this type of remote functionality:
these remote apps (at this point) are for playback of music. they are not full function input devices for a music server/pc.

I posted a few comments in another AG thread but it seems more apropos here:

...I have set up my iPod Touch (with WiFi) to also act as a handheld remote for my music server using an application on my Apple G5: Alloysoft's Signal (www.alloysoft.com/ ) Using the iPod Touch or iPhone's Safari browser you are able to access your server's iTunes albums, playlists, etc. Even cover art is displayed on the touch screen. Signal's UI is well done. This shareware application provides basic play, pause, RR, FF, and volume controls of iTunes. Comparing the two remote approaches I would say that Signal is convenient where NetTunes on a Mac laptop is powerful.

Of those listed in other posts above, Signal is the closest to the native UI of the iPod Touch/iPhone: very similar button graphics and location, similar heirarchal structure, etc. It only lacks the Cover Flow feature (flipping through the album art images to select what you want to listen to) I originally used RemoteBuddy which appears a bit more like a Windows app than one from Apple. I prefer Signal over Remote Buddy at this point, mainly because navigation is faster and smoother. Though RB is able to wirelessly control many applications on the main computer (eg iPhoto, Adobe Acrobat, Quicktime, NeoOffice) and now RB is able to manage the various Airport Express connections, which is not currenly available on Signal. I have a AE network for secondary speakers but don't have the need to switch them on or off remotely.

Why it's so great: Grabbing the super sleek, shiny and smooth Touch from your pocket or side table to repeat your favorite song that is nearly finished playing or to be reminded of the song title if you happen to be playing iTunes in Shuffle mode.

I agree it is likely that Apple with integrate the remote functionality into the touch devices in the near future.

Thanks T-bone,
I appreciate your doing all the groundwork with the itouch. I will get one when i get back on my feet after this remodel!

Apple has a patent for the iPhone/iTouch to this effect:
"Make them work as remote controls for audio-visual servers".
Wouldn't surprise me a bit if we have that capability soon
via a software update.

As to the what else... it has wifi connectivity and the Safari browser (you could theoretically control your complete iTunes implementation on the iPod Touch if you downloaded directly over the wifi connection and did not have a PC but space is limited to 16GB for the moment). Like the more recent iPods it has video, photo, and music capability with a big screen. It also has a few other apps and there are a bunch more which are downloadable (some games, some mini apps) and given what is supposed to become a more open architecture, I expect more out of it going forward.

And the touchscreen is about the coolest thing going...

Playback is on the iPod Touch. If you want to record, make new playlists, or otherwise manipulate iTunes, you would need a keyboard (and something to see what you were manipulating presumably).

The iPod Touch is really cool. I got one over the weekend and finished setting it up last night. It is great. As an ipod, it is very ergonomic, and the screen (combined with the zoom-in and zoom-out touchscreen "push-pull" technology) makes it easy to deal with things like webpages (and my web-based email).

I will try to manipulate iTunes on the Mac when I have a free moment later this week.

Tbone,
The palm is definately not 1/2 as cool as the itouch. The itouch looks sooo much better than an old crappy palm pilot.

I geuss i'm a litlle confused. Say, if you want to play your playlists, you can't just grab your itouch and control itunes? You need a seperate keyboard monitor?

What is the itouch for then? Also, what else can you do with the itouch?

Streetdaddy,
yes you need bluetooth for the macmini/itouch connection. iTouch as a remote for playback works BUT getting the music on the server, manipulating the music, iTunes, etc requires a monitor and keyboard. A cheaper version of the same thing would be to buy an old Palm Pilot and get Salling Clicker software.

My solution to this will likely be iTouch for remote (because I can use it elsewhere too), and unplugging the MacMini from the stereo and plugging it in elsewhere to deal with the rest when the need arises (either that or grab one of those great-looking new Appple wireless keyboards and and a DVI/HDMI adaptor and plug it into the TV.

Would it matter which mac mini you bought if you were going to hook up external hard drives? I might pick one up cheap{ and no tax} on ebay. You don't need bluetooth or anything special to use the itouch do you?

Sidssp,
Your first link looks just what i am talking about. Has anyone seen the itouches? Boy, they are georgeous!

Dshapiro turned me on to something like this. My understanding was you could buy a itouch {$299} from appla and install nettunes and use it as a remote. Are these other software programs better than nettunes? I have no experience.
I want to buy a mac mini and have a wireless remote controller to run itunes from my chair. What would be the smoothest way to do this?

Good link. I didn't know about this one.

Here are some remote control softwares that I found

http://www.alloysoft.com/

http://www.deadendsw.com/Products/webRemote.html

http://www.mindola.com/patiotunes/

I also built one myself using JavaScript, PHP, and AppleScript. I did that because well, 1)I enjoy the challenge and 2)I can make it work the way I like. I am using an iPhone to remote control a Mac Mini which connects to a Benchmark DAC-1 using USB. The Mac Mini has no keyboard, no mouse, no monitor and very quiet. The whole setup works really well.

BTW, I don't know why the three links I posted all show up as www.alloysoft.com but they are actually three different links. When you click on them, they will bring you to different sites.