Pages

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Splashtop Remote - not free, but very useful (and awesome)


Home

I usually discuss free resources on this site, but occasionally mention some things that cost money. Today is one of those days.

In July, I purchased an HP TouchPad as my first tablet (mainly because I have had a webOS smartphone for a while). It's a great tablet and does some great things. However, I just got a new app that changes everything. (I also installed it on my Android smartphone - very cool to control and use a computer on your smartphone).

Splashtop Remote is an app that allows you to connect your device to another computer through the internet. I was able to see my laptop's desktop, access all of my files and all of the software on it. I was even able to watch a DVD that was in the laptop's DVD player on my tablet. I was even using Chrome to browse the web. It is a really useful app. Your device truly becomes a new device. You can use it to access Flash based websites on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad also.



It is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, and webOS. You can access any Windows or Mac computer that has the free Streamer application installed. The computer you are accessing has to be turned on, or have a wake-on-LAN feature.

This means that you can access any of your files or software from your mobile device which is extremely useful for teachers and students. It also means that you could use your mobile device to control your computer. Your mobile device now became a remote control for your computer, presentation, etc.

The apps vary in price ($2 - $5) based on what device you are purchasing them for.

Splashtop also has some other great products, including the two listed below.

Splashtop OS - quick loading, web browser OS that works great on Netbooks. It's free and I use it on my netbook and love it. It basically turns your laptop or netbook into a Chromium book.

Splashtop TouchPad - remote control your computer using your iPhone or iPod touch.





Note - I did not receive any compensation for this article. I just really like the app and wanted to share it.