This week's application is RemotePad, a free application that allows you to use your iPhone to control the pointer on your computer screen. There are several of this type of application already, but this one beats them all because it works on every operating system: Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It is also free and OpenSource! Just the fact that it works on Linux was enough to get me excited enough to try it.

What makes this cool? Excuse me, but moving your mouse cursor from the other side of the room over Wifi? (look ma, no cables) That is just too cool. There are practical uses though too, for example giving presentations. I love giving presentations in front of large groups, and the cooler toys I have to use during the better. (early adopter of the laser pointer right here, for example) The iPhone is one of the sexiest tech devices out, and whipping that thing out to control the powerpoint slides on the wall behind me? That's just bloody awesome. Another practical use? We will see how long before my coworker realizes her computer is not actually possessed...

So here is what you do, you install the RemotePad application on your computer. This is what allows your computer to talk with the iPhone. Then you leave it running on the computer and go install it on the iPhone and run it there too. The iPhone will ask you for a name or address to connect to. The copy of RemotePad on the computer will tell you what to type in the iPhone. Once you do that they are connected and you can begin moving the mouse.

Tap and drag your finger around the black area to do basic mouse movement. To click you can use the buttons at the top of the screen or configure to allow you to tap anywhere on the screen like I have. To drag something on the computer like move a window around, tap the left moue button on the screen and drag out into the black area. It will continue to hold the mouse button down until you tap the screen button again.

The only thing I can think of to make this program better would be to allow you to bring up the on-screen keyboard on the iPhone and type on the computer with it – however the website forum suggests that the developer is currently working on that so we may see it in a future version.

Website for the RemotePad computer part, http://www.tenjin.org/RemotePad/index.html

The iPhone app itself is in the AppStore for free.

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