New remote desktop tools for iOS, Android

I’ve never really found the ability to login to my desktop computer and control it from a phone with a 4 inch or smaller screen to be all that exciting. I mean, sure it’s cool… but not all that useful most of the time, unless you really need to find a file that you left on your desktop computer while you’re out and about. But theoretically you could also use a remote desktop client to surf the web using a full web browser, view your photo collection, or move the cursor randomly and freak out whoever was using the PC before you logged in.

Anyway, if that’s the sort of thing that floats your boat, it looks like there are two new options for connecting to your PC from a mobile device.

Splashtop Remote for iOS

The folks at Splashtop are probably best known for developing quick-boot software that lets you surf the web, send email, make Skype calls, and do a few other things a few seconds after pushing your computer’s power button, without waiting for Windows to fully load. Now the company has released an iOS app that lets you remotely login to a computer running Windows 7, Vista, or XP from an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

Splashtop Remote is a bit more impressive than some other remote desktop apps I’ve tried, since it has full support for audio and video content and will even let you stream Flash video and Flash games from your desktop to a mobile device. It actually looks pretty good on an iPad, as you can see in the demo video after the break.

The app only works over WiFi, and you need to be on the same network as the computer you’re connecting to, which severely limits the utility of Splashtop Remote since you could, you know, also just walk over to your PC.

Splashtop Remote for the iPhone and iPod touch will cost you $0.99, while the iPad app is available for $1.99 from the App Store.

CrossLoop Remote Access for Android

CrossLoop already offers software that lets you remotely login to a computer using another computer. Now the company has launched a beta version of CrossLoop Remote Access for Android.

The Android app is tied to a version of androidVNC, which means that theoretically you could just set up your own VNC server on a PC and login without the CrossLoop software, but CrossLoop Remote lets existing CrossLoop users see a list of computers tied to their accounts, the status of those machines (online, busy, or offline), and very easy setup on the PC side.

You can sign up for a free trial of CrossLoop, but once your time is up you’ll need to pay for a pro account to keep using the app.

via Engadget and Download Squad