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iPhone as TV remote coming to CES
It's kind of a shame the iPhone didn't include an IR port at all. While it's not a necessity (certainly the device has sold plenty of units without one), I have quite a few devices in my house that still require an old school IR remote to control -- it's 2010, but my TV still isn't hooked up to Bluetooth or WiFi. That's why this accessory looks interesting -- it's an IR transmitter that plugs into the iPhone's port and turns the device into a touchscreen-based universal remote. It's made by a company called L5 Technology, and they'll show it off at CES later this week. Previous systems have required you to connect up your television (or other device) to expensive controllers so the iPhone can access them via WiFi, but this seems like a much more sensible solution. They're asking $50 for it, which sounded expensive at first, but that's relatively cheap when it comes to high-end universal remotes. Assuming that the accompanying app is well-designed and full-featured enough to compare to some of the other offerings out there, it might end up being a nice solution for combining all of your various remotes into just your iPhone or iPod touch. [via Cult of Mac]
