Quick App: Boxee Remote 20

If there’s anything we at PreCentral like rooting for, it’s the underdog. We’re a website dedicated to Palm and webOS news and discussion, what else would we root for? While Palm (and everybody else not named after fruit) may be the underdog in the smartphone game, there’s one unique underdog player in the media player market: Boxee. The upstart little open-source media platform is gaining steam and cred amongst the tech crowd, and with the upcoming Boxee Box threatens to break into the mainstream. But how to control it?

With a remote on your phone, of course. That’s where Boxee Remote comes in. The work-in-progress app by PreCentral forum member richaoj (otherwise known as Alexander) recently found its way onto the Palm beta web distribution feeds and is now making the rounds. Boxee Remote is Alexander’s first webOS app and is already working nicely as an interface between your phone, Boxee, and the media already on your computer (or other Boxee-running device).

The app has already come a long way from the first Homebrew Gallery iteration. Users can now browse their Boxee media library, control playback and volume, view album art, and search for music and videos to play - all over Wi-Fi from their webOS device.

Set-up for Boxee Remote is a cinch. No desktop-side special controller software is needed (with the exception of Boxee itself). All you need is your computer’s IP address, which is easy enough to find - everything else you need to know (which amounts to a single port number and a checkbox) is located on Boxee’s network settings page.

If you’ve been hesitant or skeptical about trying out Boxee, now you’ve got no excuse. Of course, we should note that Boxee Remote is still in beta (v0.9.0 as of this writing) and you might encounter some unexpected bugs or glitches during use (for example, Boxee sometimes hangs when quitting if the app is connected), but nothing that will completely ruin the Boxee experience.