The idea of controlling your DVR via your iPhone is nothing new, but this MythTV iPhone remote allows Linux DVR users to get in on the fun of using their phones as visual remotes. It's got a real-time program guide so you can easily set recordings, plus the standard channel and volume buttons to flip around channels with. The only thing we have to complain about is that the UI is fairly ugly and not refined at all, but it's bearable. Unfortunately all of us here use either TiVo or Media Center or the cheap set-top-box provided from our Cable company, so we can't test it out. Let us know how it works for you. [eHomeUpgrade]

Steve from Tomizone is playing around with his iPhone 3G, downloading apps from the App Store and getting a whole heap of us excited for the Vodafone store opening in just over an hour.

One app he's just downloaded is the iTunes remote app - it lets you use your iPhone or iPod Touch to control iTunes on your Mac or PC. As you can see from the video above, it works flawlessly...

More than  that though, it will also work with your Apple TV. With more and more apps like this one, the iPhone will quickly become a must have tool for pretty much everyone.

Bring on the launch...

[iPhone 3G launch on Giz]

This is possibly the ultimate hack--turning your face into a remote control unit. A computer-science Ph.D student from UC San Diego can use his fizzog to speed up or slow down video, as part of a project that hopes to make robots better teachers using automated facial expression recognition.

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This Disney RC Tinker Bell is one seriously sweet flying fairy. As you see in the video, it's using WowWee's FlyTech ornithopter-type vertical flying system to flutter, glide and dive around this Waldorf-Astoria suite. It'll be out in the spring for $US40. [Disney]

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We had to double check that this wasn't a story about Second Life, but rather is an actual event in actual meatspace occurring this past weekend in Moscow. As former chess champion Garry Kasparov was giving a speech to unite opposition political forces, a radio-controlled penis flew across the room to some applause and laughter. The fun was ended when a dour-faced man smashed the penis out of the air. That's always the case, isn't it? Some guy's having fun with a flying penis with someone joker just has to ruin the party. [India Times via Sharenator]

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You know, remote control micro-aircraft are cool, whether they hover like 'copters, fly like birds, or do both: like the new Jump Jet from Snelflight. It's a kind of mashup toy, with four rotors to keep it aloft in the hover, or tilted to propel it forward, vectored-thrust style. From the demo video of a prototype in flight, it looks much easier to control than the multiple-crashing Chinook:

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Windows Media Centre users who use universal remotes—not the default Microsoft IR remotes—have problem run into a quirk where only some button presses register. Here's the deal: media centre receivers expect to see an alternating IR code for functions like channel changing or volume switches in order to eliminate IR "bounce", which is apparently caused by IR signals bouncing off stuff and hitting the receiver twice. In order to turn this off and fix the problem for universal remotes who don't support the alternating IR codes, just change a registry entry and you're done. Hit up CEPro for more details. [CEPro]

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For those still skeeved about the iPod touch's US$20 optional software upgrade, here's another beef: the Apple Remote, gateway to the 10-foot Front Row interface, is now an add-on extra that'll cost you US$19. I'm thinking Apple found out that most of them stay forgotten at the bottom of the box. Is this an outrage? Or does it make sense? [Apple Store] Thanks Lowmax!

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The Corgi H2GO is a RC card powered by a fuel cell which gets refilled with hydrogen extracted from water. Like the previous model, the H-Racer, it uses solar-powered electrolysis to do it. Unlike the straight-line-only H-Racer, however, the H2GO is a real RC car that can actually turn left and right. Playing Dr. Manhattan will set you back US$255. [Corgi via Pocket-Lint]

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This remote control design is inspired by a deck of playing cards, with two card-shaped halves that slide in different directions. By gripping it and sliding it up and down you can change your TV's volume, and a twisting gesture changes channels or tracks on your DVD. Designer Sungwoo Park has gone for clean white curves and minimalist control option, and I like its tactile slide design as an antidote for all the touchpad/screen action going on at the moment. [Yanko design]

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