XMBC & Vectir

Back onto the subject of XBMC, as per my previous post I had been having issues with my remote control after updating to the latest alpha build of XBMC. I recall reading about how some of the XBMC users were using their android phones as remotes to control their media centre, and wondered if my somewhat older Nokia N8 could do that job. Turns out it can with the little help from Vectir, the remote control software designed for mobile phones. I'm not sure if this is the software those Android users make use of to control their pc, but it supports Symbain phones so I was good to go!

The price for the software is a very modest $14.95, and the licence is valid for one computer - you can install the software on as many phones as you wish. It comes with a 30 day trial, so you can give it a good test run before you decide to buy it.
Setting up the application is quite straightforward, and i configured mine to use my wifi connection in about a minute or so. Other potential connections you can use include bluetooth, and I think you can also use usb.

XBMC Profile

The main use of this software is being able to control your desktop with your touchscreen, but I didn't really use it for this purpose. What i was keen to play around were the profiles that came with it, specifically the WMP and XBMC remote profiles. The WMP profile worked well as expected, and the XBMC seemed to work ok over wifi, although the interface could be a bit prettier. The XBMC interface is designed exactly the same way as the original Xbox dvd remote, so it has all the functions you need which work straight out the box.  You can see what it looks like on the left hand side. I personally think the buttons could have been spaced out a bit more, and made a little larger, but that's just my opinion.

WMP Profile

It does do exactly what it says on the tin however, but since the buttons are a bit small for my liking it isn't quite for me. It is a great idea however, and I'm sure many people would love this sort of thing. For $15 you can't go wrong. One minor issue I had with my Nokia N8 is that the screensaver kicks in after 2 minutes, which can be a bit annoying if you need to pause your music/movie. This means you have to unlock the phone first to get access to the remote. I did look through the settings but it didn't look like there was an option to block the screensaver unfortunately. Obviously I can change the screensaver setting on my phone, but it will drain the battery at quite a rate when Vectir isn't in use.
Still it was fun to play with the software, and if someone could make a slightly better XBMC profile I probably would have bought it.