SEPTEMBER 27, 2006 – NUREMBERG, GERMANY – IOSPIRIT GmbH is proud to
announce the immediate availability of the latest version of its
award-winning solution for remote controls under Mac OS X. Using
Remote Buddy Preview 8, users can fully control any Mac using an
Apple Remote, Keyspan RF Remote for Front Row, Griffin AirClick USB,
a number of Bluetooth enabled mobile phones or a keyboard. At Mac
Expo in Paris, Remote Buddy has received the MacGeneration Award 2006
in the category “Best use of Apple Technologies” for its innovative
use of the latest technologies. To date, Mac users have downloaded
Remote Buddy more than 40.000 times.
New features in Preview 8
For the first time, Remote Buddy gives owners of Macs without inbuilt
IR receiver (that is, almost all PowerPC Macs and the Mac Pro) the
ability to use the Apple Remote with the most powerful and fastest
growing solution for remote controls on their Mac. All that is needed
on the hardware side for this (apart from the Apple Remote itself),
is an external infrared receiver that complies to the eHome 2005
standard. These are usually available for under 30 Euro (or approx.
38 US$, incl. 16% VAT).
Remote Buddy makes adding support for the Apple Remote so simple it
can be done by everyone within seconds: plug the IR receiver into
your Mac’s USB port, launch Remote Buddy and you’re ready to go. No
configuration or driver installation is required.
“We have been able to expand our repertoire of technologies by an
abstraction layer for USB devices and an IR signal recognition engine
in a very short time period and are looking into the future very
optimisticly.” said Felix Schwarz, CEO of IOSPIRIT GmbH. “Preview 8
has never been planned in that way. However, we were so enthused by
the combination of the eHome 2005 IR receiver and Remote Buddy, that
we immediately wanted to share the results of our development with
everybody. Controlling an old iBook via the Apple Remote and turning
it into a Media Center with Remote Buddy is just incredibly cool.”
Another new feature worth mentioning is the new multiscreen support.
It allows users to choose on which screen Remote Buddy should display
its menu. Apart from that, a number of bugfixes have been included in
this release.
A list of suppliers for the eHome 2005 hardware and compatibility
information are available on the Remote Buddy website at
http://www.iospirit.com/remotebuddy/supportedremotecontrols/ .
About Remote Buddy
Remote Buddy is a software, that takes the usability of remote
controls beyond a handful of applications to a level where the entire
system can be controled. Applications and system functions are
directly supported by so called Behaviours. They are automatically
selected depending on the current status of the system and map their
functions to the buttons of the remote accordingly.
A press on the menu button opens the Remote Buddy menu. The menu
allows the manual selection of another behaviour as well as the
virtual mouse and keyboard, browsing the filesystem, opening recently
opened documents, adjusting volume and ratings, quitting and starting
applications, the display of information on recorded programs, TV
channels, cover art and the current mapping of the remote control’s
buttons. The menu structure is freely configurable and can be varied
in an unlimited number of profiles, between which the user can choose
depending on the current usage scenario and its special requirements.
The mapping of the buttons is freely configurable on a global and per
Behaviour basis. Using the included Behaviour Construction Kit,
support for additional applications can usually be added in a couple
of minutes and existing Behaviours be extended with self-defined
actions. Special care has been taken in the design of the Behaviour
Construction Kit, so it is easily usable, including for those without
any programming knowledge. Developers, that want to integrate direct
support for Remote Buddy into their applications, can download the
free Remote Buddy SDK, which contains a number of Xcode example
projects. You can find a compact overview with demo videos and many
screenshots at the Remote Buddy website at:
http://www.iospirit.com/remotebuddy/ .
Availability
Remote Buddy 1.0 Preview 8 is immediately available for Mac OS X 10.4
(“Tiger”) and higher as a Universal Binary at an introductory price
of 9,99 EUR (approximately 12.70 US dollars). The price will
presumably be raised to 19,99 EUR (approximately 25.40 US dollars)
later. The prices are final prices and already include 16% VAT for
customers inside the EU. On the hardware side, a Mac with keyboard or
a remote control supported by Remote Buddy is mandatory. A list of
supported hardware is available at
http://www.iospirit.com/remotebuddy/supportedremotecontrols/ . Remote
Buddy does not include any of the controlled applications. They have
to be purchased and/or installed seperately. A trial version can be
downloaded at http://www.iospirit.com/remotebuddy/ . There are no
functional limitations during the 60 day trial period. Remote Buddy
is localized in English and German.
About IOSPIRIT GmbH
The IOSPIRIT GmbH has been founded in 2004 by Felix Schwarz with the
aim of developing high-quality software for the Mac – low-priced, so
everybody can enjoy it.
A special focus during development lies on the latest technologies in
Mac OS X, their innovative use, own innovations and industry
novelties – far away from outworn paths.
At the same time the IOSPIRIT GmbH is its own distributor. The
platform used therefore is an internal development – tailored to the
needs of the market – and therefore allows efficient and fast
processing of incoming orders and queries.