NEC's New TV Remote Uses No Batteries

It will be some time before it reaches couch potatos' hands, but NEC's new TV remote prototype promises eternal power and no battery changes. Ever. How so? It doesn't use any. How is this sorcery possible? More »

New iMac Finally Gets Matching Apple Remote

New iMacs come with a long overdue (optional) Apple Remote that befits their design—gray and black rather than shiny white. It's $19 whether you buy the iMac or not. Now, about those black iPhone earbuds... [Apple Store]

Unmanned Car Uses iPhone, Cameras, and Lasers to Travel, Kill Grannies

Sometimes in this magic land of the intarwerbs, fantasy becomes reality. Apparently, this is one of them: A team at the Freie University in Berlin have actually rigged a car so it can be fully controlled with an iPhone. More »

This No-Name HTPC Remote Has a Keyboard, Can Work With Game Consoles?

If this $40 remote actually does what it says it does, then it might be one of the most useful HTPC remotes out there. It looks like a Motorola Q, but communicates over RF to its USB receiver. More »

CRISTAL: Control Your Living Room By Dragging, Dropping, Swiping a Surface Table

CRISTAL is a research project that moves the universal remote to a Microsoft Surface-type table with incredibly intuitive gestures. Want to watch a movie? Drag the cover to your TV. It even lets you trace a path for your Roomba. More »

Firefighters Extinguish Blaze With TV Remote

Firefighters in Zurich were able to avert disaster last week when they were called on by an elderly woman to extinguish a flaming television. Fortunately, the crisis was resolved with the push of a button. More »

UK's Sky TV Makes Upside-Down Remote For Australians

In honor of some sport nobody here cares about, British satellite company is releasing upside-down remotes for Australians—because the two are playing each other in said sporting match. [Forever Geek via Technabob]

iPhone Remote App Now Supports Apple TV Controlling With Gestures

The iPhone 3.0 version of the Remote app now supports Apple TV controls with gesturing, which should give you a lot more flexibility than the standard little Apple Remote you already have. More »

Car Controlling App Is Fake, But Fun Anyway

I'm glad this dumb—and fake—car controlling iPhone applications are not real, but this one is particularly well done and it's fun to watch. [Thanks Michael]

Laptop Burglar Caught After Owner Mocks Him Remotely

Newsweek's Joshua Alston got his laptop stolen when he was in the shower. Sounds like the beginning of a porn movie, but it's one about detectives. Cyberdetectives that mock their suspects before sending the police. More »

Now US Sony Rolly Users Can Remotely Control Too

US users now get six-month-old Bluetooth remote Japanese technology. Just by updating the firmware in your Rolly to 2.0! Get excited! Gojirra! [Sony via Sony Insider]

Logitech Adapter Lets You Use Any Harmony Remote with PS3

Logitech just spilled an upcoming adapter that'll let you use any Harmony remote with the PS3. Not many details (price/date), but it'll do the usual Harmony magic and won't swallow a USB port. [Blogitech]

iTunes 8.1 Lets Your Friends Pick Your Music with iTunes DJ

Having a party and want to let your guests (or at least your guests with iPhones with Remote installed) have a say in the music that plays? New iTunes DJ lets you do just that. More »

Largest TV Remote Ever Controls Windows Media Center

Behold the MEGAREMOTE! Actually, roll onto it, because you can't hold it: It's made with two flexible Dance Dance Revolution mats for the PlayStation 2, hacked to control Windows Media Center with your feet. More »

DVR Remote Is Another, Better Way to Control TiVo With Your iPhone

Not long after we saw the App Store's first TiVo remote for the iPhone, we see its second, DVR Remote. More »

Game|Shadow Dongle/App Adds PS3 Control and Text Input To BlackBerry

Game|Shadow is a $40 dongle and software app made by Unify4Life that turns a BlackBerry into a PlayStation 3 remote, including keyboard support. More »

RCA Voice Control Remote: It Talks to You, You Talk to It

While universal remotes can be hard to program, each being a bit of their own beast, theRCA Voice Control Remote will talk you through the process. And you can talk right back. More »

If Only Sony Made Such a Clever PS3 Remote

There's nothing wrong with Sony's Blu-ray remote for the PS3, but there's nothing especially right about it either. And as unwieldy as it may be, this generic 3-in-1 solution looks much better.

Ripsaw MS1 Remote Gun Tank Races at 60MPH

After drones took over the skies, bots are now taking control over land. And looking at the Ripsaw MS1 gun tank running at 60MPH, it looks like war is going to get fierier, scarier, and more convenient than ever.

Marantz Dock Does Wireless Bluetooth Streaming From Your iPod

This IS301 dock system from Marantz looks pretty swish, particularly as the dock part can be rotated for wall-mounting, but it's a little confusing. It adds Bluetooth remote streaming to your hi-fi, which is nice, can charge iPods (including touch, but not iPhone) when it's powered up, and it allows for direct control of Marantz receivers, but what's up with the S-video out on the base station? More »

Android Hacked to be a Garage Door Remote

Brad Fitzpatrick has hacked his HTC G1 Android smartphone to use it as a secure remote which can open his home's garage door as he gets close to it. Using Wi-Fi, the cellphone automatically fires up an HTTP request to his home server as soon as it's near enough, which triggers the opening as well as other functions in the house. More »

Griffin Adds Microphone and Controls to TuneBuds For the iPhone, iPods

Griffin has announced updated versions of their TuneBuds Mobile and SmartTalk products for both versions of the iPhone, the iPod nano 4G, iPod touch 2G, and iPod classic (120 GB). TuneBuds are intended to be an alternative to Apple's upcoming premium in-ear headphones—both offer a built-in microphone and remote for answering calls and controlling playback, although Griffin's version costs considerably less at $40 (but that is without the dual drivers). Or, if you prefer, Griffin's updated SmartTalk accessory will give you the microphone and remote functionality with your current earbuds for only $20. More »

Make a Grown Nerd Cry with the BSODomizer

The high-lariously named BSODomizer is a little gadget that interfaces between a computer and monitor to display an image at either random intervals or when triggered by an IR remote control. The best use of this kind of toy, of course, is reminding Windows devotees like myself that the nerld-famous (nerd world) BSOD is always lurking around the corner, along with a Mac user who's waiting to screech "Get a Mac! Get a Mac!" like the most annoying parrot ever. More »

iPhone's Remote.app Updated With Genius Capability And Playlist Creator/Editor

Apple updated its Remote.app program, which lets you control iTunes via iPhone/iPod touch, adding the ability to create and maintain both normal and Genius playlists. TUAW hasn't been able to dig up much else in their exploration of the app, but its a nice little feature update. [Apple via TUAW]

Philips Makes Pronto Home Control Mega-Remote More Mega: TSU9800

It's been a long while since we mentioned Philips range of Pronto home-control remote systems, but Philips hasn't forgotten them: it's been making the mega-remotes even more mega with the upcoming TSU9800. With a bigger touchscreen (6.4-inches, folks), and an dock that also does ambient lighting, it can also be mounted on the wall of your swanky Wi-Fi-enabled remote-controlled house to let you switch on "audio/video servers" for which it gives "feedback information such as album/DVD art and song information." Philips has also updated the software used to program the remote through a PC, and now ProntoEdit Professional 2.0 lets you drag and drop design your configurations and user interfaces for the 9800. Swish indeed: which is why it's due to cost $2,400 when it's out in September. Press release below. More »

MythTV's MyMote iPhone Remote App

The idea of controlling your DVR via your iPhone is nothing new, but this MythTV iPhone remote allows Linux DVR users to get in on the fun of using their phones as visual remotes. It's got a real-time program guide so you can easily set recordings, plus the standard channel and volume buttons to flip around channels with. The only thing we have to complain about is that the UI is fairly ugly and not refined at all, but it's bearable. Unfortunately all of us here use either TiVo or Media Center or the cheap set-top-box provided from our Cable company, so we can't test it out. Let us know how it works for you. [eHomeUpgrade]

Hack Your Point-and-Shoot into a Time Lapse Camera

CamTim is a hack that'll let you use any digital camera with a remote control for time-lapse photography. It's not super-easy, but it won't make you cry (probably). It's basically a board you program to buzz the camera's remote button at whatever interval you want. Using a ZigBee module, you can also set it up to run wirelessly, which is pretty handy for long-term spying... on birds. [ZigGrid via MAKE]

Apple TV 2.1 Update Adds Remote App and Mobile Me Support

Apple TV 2.1 is out via Software Update. It adds two things: Support for the Remote app for the iPhone and iPod touch (awesome), and support for MobileMe. Hoo. Ray. [iLounge]