Running PowerPoint (and everything else) with your iPhone

Tim — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:11:31 +0000

Instead of throwing something at the guy working your projector when you need to change PowerPoint slides, you could use your iPhone or your iPod touch as your remote. With a swipe of your thumb, your next slide appears majestically on the screen. And what if you also had a view of your slide and its associated notes in your palm too?

Even if nobody got what you were trying to say, they would at least be in awe of your wizardry.

There are three iPhone Apps that can help you achieve this. All of these rely on a wireless network to connect your iPhone to your computer. Each also needs their own program installed on the computer to make the link. If you don’t have access to a network in the place you will give the presentation, then you can create an Ad-Hoc computer-iPhone network and all three apps will work with this.

So now for the Apps…

1. i-Clickr

With i-Clickr you can control your presentation from your iPhone or iPod touch with your thumb and have in front of you a preview of the slide or the notes attached. The best thing about this app is that it now supports OpenOffice as well as PowerPoint.

Using it as your note aid is fine if you have passed the vision test for astronauts, but it is a good attempt. This is probably the simplest to use of the three, but then it only controls your presentation. It is also far from perfect – room for improvement or for somebody to better it. The other Apps below also let you take control of every other app on your PC or MAC.

2. Air Mouse

If you want to control other programs like your media player or your song projection software, then i-Clickr isn’t much help, great though it is. What you need is your mouse and keyboard in the palm of your hand with a few custom shortcuts to favourite key strokes. This is what AirMouse dose and very well.

It works like your trackpad or mouse but also has a mode that uses the iPhone accelerometers to respond to movement. This takes a bit of getting used to, but it tries to turn tour iPhone into a pointing device, not unlike a WII remote. You are able to create custom profiles for your favourite PC or MAC software and so you can tailor it to work the way you want to. This app has far wider application than just presentations.

3. Hippo Remote Pro

Like AirMouse, HippoRemotePro turns your iPhone into a wireless trackpad and keyboard. Like with airMouse you can have different profiles for each of the programs you want to control and all works fine. It also throws in some other so-called social networking bits that seem to make it all just a bit too complicated. It works well, but I just think AirMouse is the slicker option.

Conclusion

If all you need to do is run PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress, then i-Clickr is all you need. But you might as well have AirMouse too, you will find an infinite number of uses for it.

Finger Painting like David Hockney on your iPhone

Tim — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:38:30 +0000

They say that trying to be creative in a different media is good for your creativity. The Brushes app on my iPod touch (an iPhone without the phone bit for those who don’t know), is one of my favourite apps. Instead of carrying a bag of your favourite colour pencils or paints, your iPhone and your finger can create beautiful paintings on the go. It seems that even David Hockney rates this as an artist’s tool. You can view his creations here, but here are a couple of mine. It brings a whole new meaning to the concept of finger painting.

Your only limitation is the 320×420 pixel canvas. Otherwise the Brushes app equips you with different brush styles, a palette full of colour and a slick user interface to get to work. You can also upload your images to your PC over a WiFi connection to share with the world.

Oh, and there is a rather large flickr group for sharing your work.