Now that looks so cool!

chrisgeleven

The iPhone is a pretty cool tool, but the easiest and most reasonably priced service for remote support these days is Techinline (www.techinline.com). There is absolutely no installation required on either end, and you can support a remote machine from any point in the world since the service is browser-based. In comparison to LogMeIn and VNC, it's a steal price-wise

techoftheday

Be careful when accessing over the internet as only the login is encrypted, not the actual session. I recommend realvnc which encrypts everything, and I imagine an iphone client will be coming along

vw195

Well, this is a good development to make the iPhone approach being feasible for me.

How much does the 'heavy' version cost? I remember Mocha from the Palm days. I think it was stupidly expensive.

drewls

You're right, I didn't think we'd be seeing this so soon. Mine just crashes though. I'm having a really hard time getting this set up. Anybody else finding this buddy as all get out?

SuperCollider

Well, $5.99 sure doesn't fall under the stupidly expensive category.

Okay, so if someone can spit out an SSH client, I can then justify getting an iPhone. That would be very cool, because I get to have a shiny new toy that also does the things I need and rely on from my smartphone.

drewls

@Kale: no kidding, I think it's time for the banhammer to fall

hypnotik_jello

Very Cool, now all I need is Hamachi for for the iPhone so I don't have to spend any time configuring my network to allow VNC through.

gardenlevel

According to [mochasoft.dk] the full featured version is 5.99 USD (~4 EUR). Can't find it in the app store to purchase though.

kflott

@techoftheday: It's interesting how every single one of your comments is about how much you like techinline.

Kale

I recently fell in love with LogMeIn. True story.

L.Rawlins

I just tried it and it works OK. I really liked how VNSea handled panning with the two finger approach.

rayray14

@L.Rawlins:

I see your point. But, the idea of having the media player and smartphone in one device is appealing to me. If it costs me a bit more to get it to work the way I want it, I don't mind that. What I mind is when it flat out doesn't do what I need at all, which is how I felt about the first generation of the iPhone and my first impression of the App Store.

Plus, dealing with PalmOS for years, I got used to having to pay extra for no-brainer functionality from my phone, so I've been conditioned. :)

drewls

@drewls: You mean 'Pay more for less and then pay more?'

That's crazy talk.

L.Rawlins

One of my most used apps on my jailbroken iPhone was Touchpad Pro. Worked great and was hoping to see a version offered for the 2.0 firmware upgrade.

Can't wait to give this a try.

jarhead

@drewls: I use my N82 as my media player. It has the 8GB memory card onboard and 16's are on the way. I also use Orb through the phone browser to stream stuff from my computer at home to my mobile. It transcodes the AV to a format the phone can play and even lets me get to documents.

For free.

L.Rawlins

I had this on my windows mobile phone for awhile, but I eventually switched to the RealVNC one.

razordu30

@Kale: I've evaluated a bunch of these remote desktop services over the past little while, and it just got to me how expensive they are i.e. LogMeIn Rescue $110/month. I was just looking for something that is simple and affordable, and when I came upon www.techinline, I was pleasantly surprised. Furthermore, I am trying to help these guys gain some recognition because I like their small-business approach, and therefore every time I see something being written about remote access, I suggest what I find to be the best service on the market. That's all. Who knows, maybe after trying it you'll also comment on it

techoftheday

One of the apps I miss from the PocketPC world is a piece of software that does the opposite and allows remote control of the iPhone from a PC. (For PocketPC I used Soti Pocket Controller Pro, [www.soti.net] ). It comes handy for doing software presentations over a big screen, and for typing SMS using a real keyboard. I'm not sure wow hard it would be to port VNC Server to iPhone?

mojo17

I use TightVNC and it works perfectly. What an awesome free app!

icehouseyo

@techoftheday:

it's just odd that you never comment on ANYTHING, unless you're plugging techinline. I have some companies/products that I really like and will bring up when it's relevant, but I don't only comment when I can plug a single product. If you had 50 comments, and 5 mentioned techinline, that'd be one thing, but you're at 100% plugging, and that smells like astroturf, don't you think?

Devon

VNSea was one of my fav Jailbreaks, looking forward to trying this.

Nitesh84

Also, remember that Leopard has Screen Sharing built in, so you don't even need a VNC server running - just use rthe built in one. That said, this client forces you to use 32 bit color when connecting to an OSX machine, which borders on unusuable. The lag involved is just incredible. However, this is a decent first pass, and hopefully is a sign of better things to come by way of remote connecting.

Meatlocker - still a man, despite his white iPhone fetish.

This looks great, but I can't get it to work. Nothing happens after I click connect. Ah well.

Eric

@techoftheday: LogMeIn has a free version available and has additional features such as those provided by LogMeIn Rescue available as a monthly subscription. According to their site, Techinline.com only offers a paid for version with a free trial available.

LogMeIn on an iPhone [www.technologyevangelist.com]

Techinline Prices [www.techinline.com]

buffalo2001

@Devon: @techoftheday: I really don't understand what all this arguing about who wrote what and how many times is about. We should be discussing what is a good service, and I want to know whether there is something that could be a good tool for remote support out there. Frankly, I don't care how many comments for or against LogMeIn, Webex, iremotePC, Techinline, VNC etc somebody writes, I just want to find a good solution

Patrick84

@techoftheday: Thanks for the heads up on Techinline! I just signed up for a trial and so far, so good! Could be just what I need for remote access

ZakD

I am having trouble finding the answer to my question. This program seems to work great but I'm wondering how do I connect to my computer when I'm outside of my home network? My computer is on wi-fi so it's IP is 10.something something.

Can anyone help me out? Thanks!

JoshMac

@JoshMac: I'd try out a service like DynDNS, which gives you a free permanent address (like joesmith.dyndns.org) and can automatically sync up with your router so you can point your iPhone at joesmith.dyndns.org:5600 to get in, providing you do the configuring.

Gina has a handy guide to opening up a computer with DynDNS that's worth a read. Good luck!

Kevin Purdy

@buffalo2001: Even though LogMeIn Rescue does in fact have more features for a monthly plan, their price is about 4 times that of Techinline, from what I understand. So the question becomes: which features do you really need and can you do without them for the extra cost? I was using Webex at one point, and although it has all kinds of features, it was just way too expensive given that I never used 90% of them

Patrick84

@Kevin Purdy: Thanks Kevin!

JoshMac

@Kale: Good call, Kale...It's banhammer time! (LOL at all this guy's posts - He doesn't even try to be conspicuous.)

GrossGreg

Another useful remote control program (nothing to do with the iPhone-ness of this article, but since people are talking about it anyway) I've enjoyed using is Team Viewer (www.teamviewer.com). There's a free version, which has its limits, largely time-based if memory serves (it has been a while since I've used it, as I'm not working in computers anymore). There's also a customizable "Quick Support" module that is portable (no installing, just run it), which makes helping others out a breeze, because you can put in your own logo, a message with info like your phone number, and you can even set a static password, so, if you prefer it, you don't have to ask people for a randomly generated one each time. It only allows 5 min connections for the free version, but is free with commercial licenses. as I understand it.
([www.teamviewer.com])

Anyway, there's my two-bits worth.

fubeca

Easy & Free setup for Leopard Users (using built-in VNC)
On your Mac go to System Preferences->Sharing. Toggle "Screen Sharing and press the "Computer Settings..." button. Toggle "VNC viewers may control screen with password" and enter your new VNC password and click OK. Now load up Mocha VNC lite on your iPhone. Input your Mac's IP (can be found in System Preferences->Network) and the VNC password you set. You should be looking at your Mac desktop now. This is super easy to setup and there's no need for Logmein or techinline.

docfr3sh

Ok just got this thing working pretty good. This is for leopard users. Enable leopard's built in VNC by going into System Preferences->Sharing. Toggle Screen Sharing. Press the "Computer Settings..." button and select VNC viewers may control screen with password toggle and add your password. Next make sure Mocha VNC Lite is installed on your iPhone. Input your Mac's IP, put in your VNC password, and you should be rocking. No need for Logmein or techinline or anything.

docfr3sh