6. Explore the controls
Explore
the controls
Using the Gmote remote is pretty intuitive,
so it’s quite self-explanatory really. Even so, it’s worth mentioning that when
you first open the application, you’ll be presented with an array of media
controls that you can use to play, pause and alter the volume of any media
files that you open, whether they are music or video.
7. Find some files
Find
some files
Once you’re acquainted with the first
screen, you can start browsing for media files on your PC’s hard drive. Tap the
‘Browser’ button in the top left-hand side of the screen and you’ll see a list
of folders that you added earlier. Just tap on the folder where your media is
located and tap a file to open it on your PC – this will be your default
program for the file type.
8. Play on tablet
Play
on tablet
You can also beam media stored on your PC
to your Android tablet or smartphone. Streaming this way is easy – just go back
to the file browser on your Android device, and at the top where it says ‘Play
on’, tap ‘Phone (beta)’. You can now search for media files as you did before.
It’s worth noting, however, that because this feature is still in beta, not all
file types are supported.
9. Finger tricks
Finger
tricks
One of the app’s best features is the
ability to transform itself into a mouse and keyboard at will. Press the menu
button and click on ‘Touchpad’ to turn the screen into a mouse touchpad. The
real beauty of this is that when you tap the screen it will register as a
left-click of the mouse, and if you hold your finger down, it will bring up the
Windows context menu.
10. Type away
Type
away
Even better, you can type directly on
screen by simply tapping the keyboard icon in the top-left corner. Input
responses are immediate, so you could type entire documents on your phone.
Gmote has another neat trick up its sleeve too – tap the menu button once more
and select ‘Web (beta)’ and you can now search the internet.
Advanced media control
XMBC
is an excellent alternative to Gmote
If you’re planning to use your media PC as
just that – a device for accessing and playing media and you’re not too
bothered about being able to use it as a normal PC, then XBMC (http://xbmc.org) is an excellent alternative
to Gmote. It’s basically Windows Media Center on steroids. The PC app is
purpose-built so there’s easy access to your media files, which you can add
simply by allowing access to certain folders on your hard drive.
There’s also a complementary app available
on the Android Market, and it’s designed to give you total control over XBMC so
you can easily get to your media from the comfort of your sofa. Unlike Gmote,
it’s not quite as easy to get the PC app and Android app talking to each other.
Instead of a simple password system, XBMC requires that you delve into the
settings of your PC to find its IP information, and then enter this into the
remote app’s set-up screen. Provided you access this, it’s not hard to use.
For pure media playback, XBMC just about
has Gmote licked because it’s a very nicely integrated system, although if you
want complete control over your PC and who doesn’t? then Gmote gives you a
whole lot more bang for your buck.
