Alongside new iMacs, MacBooks and other major hardware releases, Apple has quietly introduced a new system remote. The device is primarily meant for Macs, allowing users to bring up the Front Row interface for music, photo, video and DVD playback. It can also be used in a limited fashion with iPods and iPhones, controlling music, slideshows and video.
Apple has invested serious attention in the possibility of a 3D motion-control remote for the Apple TV, a newly-published patent application reveals. Backing up a later filing, the application once again describes a remote which would let users navigate an interface by pointing to objects, as well as making specific gestures. The remote would communicate with an Apple TV using IR, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
An Apple patent application, just published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, depicts a new 3D remote technology. Similar in basic concept to the controller for Nintendo's Wii console, the remote would have a photosensor, accelerometer or gyroscope, and detect absolute and/or relative position to an image. Distinguishing it would be the ability to zoom in on part of an image at will by pushing a button.
Aside from its PPS2, USBfever has added two other products to its lineup for Apple portables. The first of these is an infrared remote (right), which operates at distances of up to 32.8 feet, and controls basic iPhone/iPod functions such as play/pause, skipping forward and backward, and adjusting volume. To work, users must plug the remote's included dongle into a player's dock connector; supported devices include everything from the third generation iPod onwards, with the exception of Shuffles and the first-generation Nano. The remote package costs $20.
