UniveralRemote
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Peel iOS remote raises $16 million in funding
We've posted about the Peel universal IR remote before. It's an interesting setup using a third-party unit that looks almost like a pear, designed to fit right into your living room wirelessly. It connects to an iOS app and turns your iDevice into a universal remote for any other units you might happen to have. In addition to the slick design, there's a nice bit of TV browsing functionality included. It's a remote designed not only to help you control your TV, but also give you an idea of what you actually want to do with it. It's that kind of overall thinking that got the unit into Apple Stores, and now the hard work has paid off. Peel has picked up a round of funding to the tune of over US$16 million. There have been a few other ways to connect the iPhone up to IR remotes (the Redeye has been another popular solution), but this is the biggest vote of confidence we've seen in such a device yet. Peel certainly isn't quite a mainstream device, but this funding is definitely a leg up. There's been a trend toward using smartphones to interact with and control other devices, and Peel looks to be in exactly the right place to take advantage. If nothing else, hopefully this will help Peel get some units out the door; Amazon currently lists the product as shipping "within 1 to 2 months." $16 million should help out with that.
TUAW Hands-on: POWER A turns your iPhone into a universal remote
There are a few options for turning your iPhone into a home entertainment remote control, but I recently got a chance to try out the POWER A, and it's become my current favorite. The hardware portion of the POWER A package has been available for a while now, but the iPhone App that accompanies it has a new version due out any time now. It was submitted to the App Store on Monday, but I got a chance to try it out with a review unit and put it through its paces. The hardware portion, which works with the iPhone 3G and 3GS, is great: it's a low-profile, hard plastic case that fits around the iPhone. Unlike other solutions which leave a dongle sticking out of the iPhone, it gives you a smooth, solid body with nothing to break off. It uses next to no battery power, and the increase in the phone's form factor is minimal. The case comes in two halves which slide onto either side of the phone, connecting in the middle. It even comes with an additional, non-IR half, just in case you like the case so much that you want to use it even when it's not functioning as your universal remote. The IR blaster is positioned on the dock end of the iPhone, and the resulting upside-down-factor is compensated for in the software by auto-rotating your screen when it launches. Despite the appearance of frailty that might be perceived in its translucent plastic, it's been a very sturdy piece of hardware that has held up quite well to my clumsiness (and my dogs' curiosity). While vital to the package, the hardware is nothing but pretty without the software ... %Gallery-95461%
