Something that has always interested me is the growing number of Home Theater PC’s. I’ve always wanted to get around to putting together a small box that was hooked via 802.11b to the rest of my network and allowed me to play MP3’s, display pictures, etc. through my full home theater.

One issue that keeps cropping up is how to do an effective remote control for HTPC. Most have been using the Evation IRMan to receive signals from their standard remote and map it to actions on the desktop via Girder. Now, there’s a more elegant solution using a Pocket PC and 802.11b - NetRemote. NetRemote allows you to use the Philips Pronto Remote Codes (which, btw, is the best remote on the planet) directly on your CE device, design a custom UI, and communicate to the NetRemote Server running on your Home Theater PC. Check out some screenshots here, it’s pretty neat.