This is my first review for UsingWindowsHomeServer.com and I thought I would start by reviewing a Remote Control Media Center App called VMCMOTE. Yes, I did say App so that means that this review is more for the owners of the Iphone or Itouch who own Vista Media Center running 32 bit, it will not work with the 64 bit version. VMCMOTE has two functions, the first is being able to access your media center music library and play any album, song or playlist instead of using a Media Center remote, let’s be clear, this does not stream music to your Iphone/Itouch but remotely controls your media center. After synching VMCMOTE to your music library you can easily scroll through your library searching by Album, Artist, Genre or custom search. Once you choose your music to play the album art and info and timeline will be displayed as well as some basic functions like play and pause. You also have the capability to add more songs to a queue or create and play a playlist and view your queue. Keep in mind that this is all done over your wireless network so line of site is not an issue. The second function in VMCMOTE is a remote touchpad that replaces the clunky media center remote and has all the normal functions as well as a keyboard. A couple things I would like to see is have the Iphone/Itouch be able to act like a gyration remote using the built in accelerometer, a volume control on the now playing screen, also the remote function does not work with the Netflix app.
VMCMOTE comes in two flavors, the lite version (demo version) is free and is limited to synching only 100 tracks from your library and the remote does not include some functions. The full version is $7.99/5,99€, while this might seem a little pricey for a web app just think of what it would cost you for a touch screen remote that has this type of functionality? I went ahead and bought the full version, one so that I could do a full review and two because I like the idea of not having to buy a special remote to get this functionality, plus who needs another remote to add to their collection? Installation is very easy, besides downloading the app from Itunes you also have to download a media center addin from the authors website and follow the basic instructions and make sure you have .net framework 3.5 installed.
If you are interested in VMCMOTE I suggest you try the lite version first, for more info and a ton of more screenshots plus the media center addin and instructions please visit Thomas Mangel’s site at http://vmcmote.blogspot.com/.
Update: I upgraded my test Vista Media Center box to Windows 7 Media Center (RTM, 32 bit) today and VMCMOTE works perfect with it.
Geo Webb
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