Vectir server 3.7.4 featuring support for simultaneous commands has been released. The main benefit of simultaneous commands is the remote generation of Windows combination key presses (i.e. press Ctrl+C on a remote keyboard). This version also includes new features on the keyboard command dialog and fixes a few non-responsive keys on Windows 8 and higher. Compatibility with simultaneous commands is currently only available in the latest version of the Android app (v3.7.5). This update will be available on Windows Phone 8 soon.

Here is a summary of updates in Vectir server 3.7.4:

• Simultaneous commands now supported
• Keyboard command dialog updated with new settings
• Mouse remote control enhancements
• Mouse right click on disconnect bug fixed
• Minor bug fixes

Vectir v3.7.3 is now available for PC, Windows Phone and Android. This release for Windows Phone adds the new remote desktop mouse mode. See this post for a description of how this feature works. Vectir 3.7.3 for Android adds remote desktop auto pan when moving the cursor beyond the visible area of the screen. This feature is also included in the Windows Phone release. Bluetooth updates are included in the latest release of the Vectir Android and Windows Phone apps. For Windows Phone this includes a fix for the problem on Nokia Lumia phones where Bluetooth could not re-connect after navigating away and back to the app.

Vectir v3.7.3 for PC includes a number of keyboard controller updates. Key held conditions are now correctly simulated when a remote key is held down. As a result, the “Enable key repeat” parameter is now obsolete and has been removed. A bug fix for some combination key presses that were not working correctly is also included. Also included in Vectir v3.7.3 for PC is a few updates to improve remote desktop performance. Users should also make sure they have the latest Windows Phone and Android clients installed to enable the remote desktop updates.

Summary of updates in Vectir 3.7.3

• Keyboard key held condition now simulated correctly
• Enable key repeat parameter now obsolete
• Key generation bug fixes
• Remote desktop updates
• Minor bug fixes

Vectir 3.7.1 with support for a new remote desktop mouse mode is now available. From Vectir Remote Control client version 3.7.2 there will be two remote desktop modes. The first mode “Touchscreen” will operate exactly as the remote desktop has worked up until now. The new “Mouse” mode lets the user drag the mouse pointer to the desired location and then tap to click. Panning the screen in the mouse mode is achieved by dragging three fingers. Pinch to zoom is common to both mouse modes. In the new mouse mode a custom mouse cursor is rendered locally in the Vectir client app. There are two new remote desktop settings for choosing the mouse cursor size and color. A new setting has also been added for remote desktop long press functionality. The two options are ‘drag item’ and ‘right click’.

The Spotify plugin in Vectir 3.7.1 has also been updated to fix problems with the latest version of Spotify. Album, artist and playlist search and play is now working again along with remote volume, shuffle and repeat commands.

For compatibility with the latest remote desktop mouse mode users should install Vectir client version 3.7.2 or later. This is available now for Android and should be available by the end of the week for Windows Phone. In-app purchases for Vectir full version licenses is also now possible with the latest Vectir Remote control Android app.

Vectir 3.7 is now available complete with a new Remote Store feature. The Remote Store lets you browse and install Vectir remote profiles. To celebrate the release of the Remote Store the following new remote profiles have been developed – Chrome remote control and YouTube remote control. You will find these remotes available in the remote store. Chrome remote control provides over 20 commands for the Chrome web browser. The YouTube remote control provides remote control for all YouTube player commands and will work in any web browser. The remote store will also install Vectir plugins if required by the remote profile to be installed.

To facilitate the new remote store, Vectir plugins are now store under the following path %ProgramData%\Incendo Technology\Vectir\Plugins. Plugin developers should copy their plugins to the appropriate plugin folder under the new path.

Another new feature in Vectir 3.7 is the Device Manager. The device manager keeps track of your connected devices and optionally lets you rename them. This can be useful when two identical devices are connected. The Remote Store uses the Device Manager for showing which remotes are installed for each device. The Device Manager is available under the Tools menu.

For full compatibility with the new Device Manager feature, a new version of the Vectir Android and Windows Phone mobile apps is available (v3.7). This version should be available in our app store either immediately or within the next day or two. A unique device ID is now generated for each device and sent to the server to be saved against the device in the device manager.

Summary of updates in Vectir 3.7

• Remote Store added
• Device Manager added
• Plugins now stored under %ProgramData%\Incendo Technology\Vectir\Plugins
• Desktop remote now renders text cursor
• Keyboard plugin updated
• Winamp plugin bug fixes
• Spotify plugin bug fixes

Vectir 3.6.2 featuring a virtual keyboard and mouse driver for Windows is now available. The virtual keyboard/mouse driver makes it possible to interact with the Windows logon screen and remotely log on to your Windows account. Currently the virtual keyboard/mouse driver will only work with Windows 8/8.1 but will be available for Windows 7 as soon as Microsoft release an SHA-2 update for kernel mode drivers.

Other updates in Vectir 3.6.2 include a components section in the installer which allows selection/deselection of Vectir plugins and remote profiles. This will mainly benefit new Vectir users as deselected plugins that have previously been installed will not be uninstalled (however this is possible manually).

The keyboard command setup dialog has also been updated with Ctrl+Alt+Del and Numpad Enter commands. It is also possible to generate keyboard combinations that were not possible before such as Win + Shift + Left/Right/Up/Down. These will currently only work on Windows 8/8.1 as they require the new keyboard/mouse driver.

Summary of updates in Vectir 3.6.2:

• Virtual mouse/keyboard driver included
• Installer updated to allow selection of required plugins/remotes
• Remote profiles updated if a newer version is available and user has not modified existing remote profile
• Keyboard command setup dialog updated
• Remote profiles featuring slider controls updated to include larger slider thumb images
• Portuguese translation added
• Indonesian translation added

Thank you to José for the Portuguese translation and Endro for the Indonesian translation. Thank you also to everyone who participated in the Vectir 3.6.2 beta testing.

Vectir 3.6.1 beta is now available! This version includes a virtual keyboard/mouse driver giving Vectir access to the Windows login screen and the ability to generate more keyboard combinations. Sign up for the beta test at the following page and instantly get the download link:
http://www.vectir.com/beta/

Vectir 3.6 introduces a new device events feature. This tutorial shows how to setup device events and use them in your custom remotes. It should be noted that device events are currently only supported for Android devices but will be added for other platforms in the future if framework updates make this possible. Device events are currently available for volume buttons and phone calls but will be expanded to support device sensors such as accelerometer in a future release.

This example in this tutorial will show you how to mute the iTunes volume when a phone call is received.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vectir 3.6 complete with remote device events is now available. This version makes it possible to execute commands on the Vectir server when triggered by remote device events such as phone calls and volume button presses. More event types such as accelerometer will be added in the future. This feature is currently only available with Android devices (and possibly BlackBerry 10) as it is currently not possible to detect these device events on Windows Phone 8. The next blog post will explain how you can add remote device events to your custom remotes.

Android users who would like to take advantage of the new remote device events feature should make sure they are running version PC server version 3.6 and Android client version 3.6. Also make sure you have the latest remote profiles imported if you would like your Android phone/tablets volume buttons to control your media player volume or master volume. Or if you haven’t added any custom remotes or customized the default remotes, you can delete your remote profile group from the configuration panel in the Vectir PC software and connect from your Android device again. This will import the latest remote profiles complete with remote volume button commands.

Vectir 3.6 also includes some updates to the remote profile designer. The button control now has text wrapping enabled and copy and paste support has been added for remote controls (excluding dialogs).

Summary of updates in Vectir 3.6

• Remote device events added (only compatible with Android devices)
• Media player, system, mouse and desktop remote profiles have been updated with volume button events
• Copy and paste support added to remote profile designer
• Text wrapping in remote button controls
• Spotify initialization bug fixed
• Minor bug fixes

Vectir 3.5.2 is now available complete with full Spotify Remote Control. A dedicated Spotify plugin is included with this release that makes it possible to remotely control all of the main Spotify player features. Supported Spotify remote control commands include Play/Pause, Next track, Previous track, Volume and Seek track position. Menu features include Track search, Artist search, Album search, Playlist browsing for user playlists, Starred tracks, Top lists, Genres and Moods.

Existing users will need to import the correct Spotify remote profile for your device. Users installing Vectir 3.5.2 for the first time will have the Spotify remote control profile pre-loaded ready to go.

Vectir server version 3.5.2 also includes a few bug fixes and minor updates. Here is a summary of all changes in this release:

• Full Spotify remote control support added (Spotify plugin included in build)
• Remote desktop initial zoom setting fixed
• Remote profile design surface re-rendered when full screen remote setting enabled in Android app
• Fixed problems when running Vectir under multiple Windows accounts
• Menu configuration changes detected and reflected in Vectir mobile app
• Minor bug fixes

You can either download and install Vectir 3.5.2 from the PC software download page or wait for the auto-update feature in the Vectir PC software to discover the new release.

No changes were required in the Vectir mobile app for this release. A new version of the mobile app for Android and Windows Phone 8 will be available soon featuring phone events.

Vectir Remote Control 3.5.1 featuring remote desktop updates is now available. This version is focused on improving remote desktop performance in the Vectir Android, BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone 8 apps. Desktop navigation and zoom commands are now sent over the UDP channel if available for improved performance. Version 3.5.1 of the Vectir Remote Control app now includes settings for maximum FPS (Frames Per Second) and zoom sensitivity. Vectir remote desktop in earlier versions was fixed at 10 FPS. The new FPS setting sets the maximum FPS with a range of 4-24 for remote desktop but does not necessarily mean your desktop will be streamed at this rate. If you are using Vectir with Bluetooth remote control or your network is slow the actual FPS may be slower than the max FPS setting. Remember that a higher FPS may result in higher power consumption. The zoom sensitivity setting was necessary due to the rapid zoom rate realized by sending desktop commands over the UDP channel. New remote desktop commands for two finger scrolling, Zoom 100% monitor 1, Zoom 100% monitor 2 and Send ESC have also been added.

The full version of Vectir Remote Control has also been updated to convert to free version functionality when the trial period has finished. The free version has also been updated to enable more features when used with version 3.5.1 of the Vectir Remote Control client app.

Version 3.5.1 of the Vectir client app should now be available in the Android and Windows Phone app stores. It will be available in the BlackBerry app world as soon as it has passed certification.

Summary of updates in Vectir 3.5.1:

• Remote desktop performance updates
• New remote desktop client commands
• WiFi server updates
• Full version now converts to free version at end of trial period
• More functionality in free version (client version 3.5.1 or later)