NeutralAxis

It’s been perfect weather this weekend and I’ve spent the evenings out on the deck enjoying the breeze and listening to music from a Roku Soundbridge that’s connected to some outdoor speakers.  The catch was having to go back inside to make changes to what was playing or adjust the volume.  I found two solutions without leaving the chaise lounge.

Soundbridge Commander

Soundbridge Commander is a free Java download for Windows, Mac and Linux.  Its interface mimics the look of the Soundbridge almost exactly.  Only the “remote” buttons are a different configuration.

The Search option brings up a display I thought was going to mimic iTunes with a Window for Artist, Album, and Song, but instead they appear blank.  You’re then to type whatever your searching for into the appropriate column and it then pulls up a list that matches.  In the shot below, I’ve searched for “Jenny” and its brought up the matching artists in my library.

The Preferences option provides controls for display colors and if you want internet radio station presets to appear.  The Hide option hides the remote or search parts of the display and only shows the song readout.

I’ve only been using it for a couple of hours, but so far, it works perfectly.

RokuRemote

RokuRemote is a $2.99 app for iPhone or iTouch, available through the iTunes App Store, that works through the wifi connection to control any Roku Soundbridge or RokuRadio devices on the local network.  RokuRemote makes no attempt to mimic the Roku devices, but that’s not a bad thing.  The app starts by scanning the local network for any Roku Devices and then shows them in a list.  You touch the one you want to control and it then asks which library you want it to play.  You then get a screen for choosing Album, Artist, Song or Playlist.  Chosing any of the 4 options brings up a scrollable list of all possibilities.  You can scroll quickly through the list, or type a name into the search box at the top.

In addition to that, tapping on the album art will flip it around to show lyrics and provide a slider for position within the currently playing song and a volume control.  Album lyrics are being retrieved by the program from the internet.