Apptui

Hmm, it looks like the alliteration works better for Thursday. Marketing will have to meet sometime to discuss this revelation.

Anyways, today we’re going to feature our Prezi remote. If you haven’t used Prezi before, it’s basically PowerPoint that … moves. It’s actually way cooler than that, but you can just check out their site for a much better explanation.

Our Prezi remote is pretty full featured:

1. Go back and forth between slides
2. Zoom in and out, click and drag to move around
3. Search for prezis and view your prezis
4. Toggle blackout mode
5. Toggle fullscreen

Get your Prezi remote here if you don’t have Apptui yet.

Possible presentation situations where a Prezi remote would be useful:

1. You’re in high school and you don’t trust your friend to go to the next slide at the right time, because they never do
2. You’re having a family slideshow and don’t want to be crouching over a laptop or leaning over to click the mouse every thirty seconds
3. You don’t want to spend $70 to click the left button a dozen times
4. Your coworkers use the word “PowerPoint” to put themselves to sleep at night, so something a little more interesting might be a good idea

Remote suggestions:

If you have any ideas for sites or applications that you’d like to see remotes for, feel free to let us know by emailing us at support@apptui.com or contact us on Twitter. We’ve already had a few cool suggestions so far and have made the Grooveshark and iHeartRadio remotes just for you.

Do You Already Own the Best Apple TV Alternative?

If you’re a fan of buying small black boxes that plug into your TV, this could very well be your Golden Age. Companies left and right are releasing DVRs, set-top boxes and streaming sticks, all of varying quality. Apple TV is definitely one of the frontrunners, but it is far from perfect. Is there a good enough Apple TV alternative out there somewhere?

What if I told you that you already owned a box that does everything Apple TV and its competitors do and more? Well, if you have a personal computer, then this is true. Here’s why your PC or Mac is the ultimate Apple TV alternative:

1. It doesn’t cost anything. Since it is already in your possession, owning your own computer will not cost any money.
2. It does everything. Almost by definition, everything that you like to do on a computer is on your computer: YouTube, Netflix, video streaming, local and downloaded video files, music, games, applications, etc.
3. You know how to use it. If you own a computer, you probably know how to do what you like to do. You know where to watch your shows, where your home movies are stored and what your account passwords are. Everything already works.
4. You have full control. There are legitimate advantages to being in a closed system, but content licensing has rendered the video streaming landscape a mess. Regardless of what services/sites you use, you’ll never have everything all in one place. With full web browsing and access to all your local files, your computer offers as much as possible. Also, you won’t be at the mercy of giant technology and media companies who decide at will what you can and can’t watch. Any proprietary Apple TV alternative will be subject to the same issues.
5. Connecting to your TV is easy. At this point you might be wondering how a computer compares to a living room set-top box like Apple TV. Regardless of what kind of TV you have, there are multiple ways to get your computer on TV. Simple HDMI cables are a pretty foolproof solution. If you want to get rid of wires, check out WiDi or Miracast. In fact, if you really want to know you can check out our previous articles on How to connect a laptop to a TV and How to connect a MacBook to a TV.

Oh, by the way, if you want to control your computer while it’s hooked up to your TV, check out Apptui. Apptui is an app we made to solve the problem of control when you’re not leaning over your laptop. We think it works great for those who like to lean back, and you can watch this video we made to see how to get started.

If you’re following us on Twitter, you might have seen a certain account @IndieFlix tweeting an image that looks something like this:

This is our new Touch User Interface (or TUI, learn the lingo) for IndieFlix, a cool site that has a bunch of independent films for you to watch. This one, for example, is good. Go check it out if you are into movies, or art, or TUIs.

For part two of our connecting guide, we’ll take a look at MacBooks (and other OSX computers). Believe it or not, it’s a bit different. The same disclaimers apply: make sure you know what kind of TV you have. Depending on the type (HDTV vs. SDTV), you will need to seek out different adapters. Here we go:

1. HDMI, Thunderbolt and Mini DisplayPort.
   1. First, let’s start with the HDMI cable. Monoprice has a great selection of the cheapest HDMI cables, coming in all colors and lengths.
   2. If you have a newer MacBook Pro, you should have an HDMI port and can connect to your TV now. Take a look on Apple’s support website if you’re unsure about which cables you need.
   3. If you don’t have an HDMI port, you’ll need an adapter.  Here’s a great deal on Thunderbolt-to-HDMI adapters, and we found this one to be the best bang for your buck when it comes to Mini DisplayPort HDMI adapters.
2. Mini DisplayPort to VGA. If your TV does not have HDMI, you can still connect your Mac. We’ve got the best deal on the cable you’ll need right here. Note: when connected through VGA, you won’t be able to send audio to your screen. To get sound you’ll need either a male-to-male 3.5mm cable or a 3.5mm to RCA adapter depending on your TV.
3. AirPlay. If you have an newer Mac and an Apple TV, you can mirror your computer screen on your TV using AirPlay.

OK, I have a cable, what now?

Plug it in, turn on your TV and change to input to either “HDMI” or “Computer.” You should be good to go.

OK, connect MacBook to TV complete, what now?

Apptui also works on Macs! For those of you who don’t know, Apptui is a free app that lets you control your entire computer with your phone or tablet. It works on Windows and OSX with Android and iOS devices. Lean back, relax, and don’t bother messing with a mouse/keyboard on the couch.

As indicated in our earlier post, connecting your laptop to your TV is actually a pretty good idea. Now, it’s time to show you how it’s done. There are a few methods depending on your particular living room setup. Note that in this article we are looking at Windows PCs and laptops. If you have a Mac, check out How to connect a MacBook to a TV. Let’s get started:

1. HDMI cable. Now we know that cables are kind of bad, but connecting via HDMI is the most straightforward way to achieve our goal. Obviously, you must have an HDMI port on your laptop and television for this to work. Whatever you do, don’t spend more than this.
2. WiDi. WiDi, the WiFi-piggybacking acronym for Wireless Display developed by Intel, is a really cool way to get your computer onto your TV. To see if this is something that you can do, take a look here. You can see a list of compatible receivers here.
3. Miracast. Miracast is another new way to project your computer screen wirelessly. If you have a Windows PC, you can head over to Microsoft’s site to see how to get started.
4. Other cables (DVI, VGA, S-Video, adapters). If your TV or laptop does not have an HDMI connector, you still have options. Best Buy has a comparison page with pictures of the most popular cables to see which one you might need.

Again, once you have your computer hooked up to your TV, we really think that Apptui is the best way to take control. Apptui is a free app that lets you control your whole computer: low-latency mouse movement, keyboard input, system volume. In addition to that, Apptui comes with a host of handmade remotes that give you even more refined control, automatically switching to the right one for each application or website. Try it out now by heading to our Downloads page.