App Update and Giveaway – Air Mouse
By 
It wasn’t long ago that Mike took a new look at Air Mouse and offer comparison with iTap. He concluded that both applications were quite good and that either would serve its purpose well. The other day I saw that Air Mouse had been updated to version 1.5 and it seemed as good a time as any to take a fresh look myself. All I can say is — "What a difference an update makes!". The application was good before but it’s fantastic now.
Details and a chance to win a copy of Air Mouse after the break.
Setup is absolutely simple. Download the app to your iPhone or iPod Touch, download the server software to run on your computer (Mac or Windows), start both your iPhone app and the server software, wait a half second for the two to find each other and get mousing. That’s right, thanks to the new Bonjour support in version 1.5 the application automatically finds and connects to the first server it sees. Even better, if the server software is running on more than one computer it is simple to switch from one to the other.
The application looks about as polished as you couls ever imagine and offers tremendous flexibility. Yes, it can act as an air mouse, detecting every movement of the device in your hands and moving the mouse in kind. (And it does so well with a bit of practice). But, even leaving that functionality aside, it works as a mouse incredibly well.
The server software is available for both Macs and PCs and the software is smart enough to detect which operating system is being used and to modify its display in kind. (That’s pretty darn powerful.) The new version of the application includes an "tab" key and even saves the mode you were last using during the prior session. You can turn the sound feedback on or off and switching between "mouse mode" and "air mouse mode" is as simple as one tap on the screen.
When the application is put in landscape it provides a beautiful large two button mouse pad that is (in my opinion) as simple and accurate to use as the one on my MacBook. When the iPod or iPod Touch is held in portrait mode, however, it offers a smaller trackpad but far more functionality. With a single tap you can pull back all the windows and show the desktop on the computer. with another tab you can go into air mouse mode. With yet another tap you can move into keyboard mode or control any application on your screen.
I especially love the fact that when you switch to a different program the name of the program briefly appears on the screen of your iPhoto or iPod touch. Similarly, when you go to keyboard mode the words you type on the screen appear on the iPhone or iPod Touch for a brief period as well.
In all the app works very well In fact, I used it to write much of this post. For a time I had hoped Apple would release a glass trackpad. No longer since… I have one already.
Giveaway – We have a few copied of this superb app to give awap. Tomorrow (Sunday) night at 8pm est. To enter to win tell us the most creative use you can imaging for using Air Mouse with your computer.
