A few years ago I used to use an old Mac Mini as a basic FTP server on a fast broadband connection. In fairness, it was a flawless setup, never went offline (unless the broadband line went down), remained quiet in operation and is a recommended setup. However, as the need for a faster connection drove us away from providing content from within the office, the Mac Mini was made redundant. Although it's a Power PC system, we realised recently it could be used to stream audio around the home. Connect an Airport Express to every audio device where you want to play your tunes and you're away. Well, nearly.

Signal 1.1.3 enables you to control your streaming audio through your iPod Touch, iPhone or similar device. Simply install Signal on to your Mac Mini (or another computer, Mac or PC, with iTunes installed) and you can see your music and control output from your iPod Touch. Wherever you're in the house, you can move to another track, control volume, speaker distribution and more.

Signal link.

06 Nov 2008