| Software Review: Sailing Clicker |
| Written by Stuart Clark | |
| Thursday, 08 December 2005 | |
|
Not being afraid to plagourise our own authors, here's a very nice
review by Thomas of a product called Sailing Clicker. Yep, I too
thought "what on earth is that" when I first heard the
name. It turns out that this is a very competent application which
turns your trusty Sendo X into a remote control for your PC. Read on to
find out what Thomas thinks of Sailing Clicker...
One of the Big Things these days is the idea of turning your
computer into a home entertainment centre. Aside from the problem of
you wanting to have a lengthy gaming session at the same time as
somebody wants to watch TV, the other problem is building a remote for
something like this. Let’s see, you need a CD changer with a number
pad, a DVD controller as well, something for viewing photos, heck, why
not chuck in a game pad as well? By the time you’re finished, you wind
up with something the size of a dinner plate or, more accurately, a
full blown keyboard.
Enter Salling Clicker. It could be quickly dismissed as a simple Bluetooth remote control but it’s a lot more than that. There are two parts to it - a section that resides on the phone and a separate section that lives on your PC or Mac. First off, it’s worth mentioning a few points about compatibility - at present, there is only a Series 60 and UIQ version, although a version for all the Communicator users out there may materialise at some point. Another problem at present is an issue with certain early Series 60 phones such as the N-Gage, 3650 & 7650 (Sendo X works like a dream though!), although I’m told that this will be sorted by the next update release (the version tested was 3.0). Take a closer look at the desktop computer part of Salling Clicker and the word “customisable” instantly springs to mind. The interface allows you to add new programs to be controlled by Salling Clicker, although the interface does take quite a bit of getting used to, being rather complex. The software can quickly detect existing pairings with Bluetooth phones and send the installation software accordingly. Once the pairings and software are all set up, the next time your computer picks up the phone in range, Salling Clicker launches automatically, saving you the necessity of re-pairing and getting everything set up. There is a constant stream of info between computer and handset. For
example, when the phone rings the film or music is paused during the
call and restarts when the call ends automatically. The phone also
receives information back; if a particular song in your iTunes library
has artwork attached to it, this will be displayed on the phone. When I
tried this with a music video in my library it crashed both the handset
and Mac - support for this may appear in a future version. One of the
things that really appeals about the software are the little tweaks
which make everything flow together - an action on the phone is
displayed on screen in large clear lettering so that even if you are
sitting some distance away from the screen, everything is still clearly
readable.
For those that have to use their phones and computers
for business as well, Salling also supports Keynote and Powerpoint
presentation. A range of third-party plug-ins are also available on the
Salling Clicker web site to allow for compatibility with an even wider
range of software. An added bonus for those with the very latest
handsets is a feature for Wi-Fi support - this may be something for
future E series owners to look forward to.
All in all, I cannot recommend Salling Clicker enough. There are occasional bugs with the software for the very newest features (e.g. video) and the aforementioned compatibility issues also need resolving. Aside from this, I advise you to install Salling Clicker, then spend some quality time with your comfiest chair and DVD collection..... Overall score: 86%
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