Was that a collective sigh of relief we heard right there? It probably was, because thanks to homebrew, the Wii's value as an indispensable multi-purpose living room machine has grown even further. Today, we're offered the chance of turning the Wii into an entertainment center in the form of DragonMedia Player coded by homebrew developer DragonMinded - without Linux. You read that right the first time. Look to the full story for more on the WiiBrew multi-source media player project.

Download: DragonMedia Player v0.03 Alpha

Developer BigBoss recently announced a new build to the Apple iPhone and iPod touch homebrew app Touchpad Pro. Bumping up the version number to 4.31, the latest release fixes a small bug found in the previous version of the program. To find out more about it, check out our full article after the jump.

Curious to know how Bostjan Cadez came with up the flash browser game Line Rider which is now being ported over to Nintendo's Wii and DS? You'll be getting all that and more as Cadez talks about how he developed the game. Check out his interview after the jump!

If you've been looking for ways to control iTunes, Winamp, or Windows Media Player from the iPhone then you might want to consider using Alloysoft's Signal. This application turns the unit into a remote control allowing users to control playback, browse media libraries, or edit playlists on their desktops.

Signal also works with various streaming solutions including Airport Express, allowing it to be used as a remote control for stereos as well. Operating system compatibility should not be a problem since the program will run on both Macs and PCs. With regards to what else the program can do, here's a list of its key features taken from the official website:

• Play, pause, and stop your music
• Move between songs in the playlist
• Adjust the volume
• Rate songs
• See the current album art
• Browse and search your media library
• Add songs to the queue
• Remove songs from the queue
• Adjust EQ settings

If you you want to get more information you can visit the official site of the program via our Read Link.

In commemoration of its 10th anniversary, Winamp is introducing a new function that allows users to stream music from their PCs straight to their consoles. Matthew Callaway, product director of Winamp, explains that the new function was the direct result of having a user population that has a lot of gamers.

The new function involves a PC (not necessarily yours), a console, an internet connection and a whole bunch of music.

Users need only keep their PC on and keep their Winamp program running. A console can then log on to a specific website they use to log in to the PC and access the music (and video too!) files which they can stream and play.

The Xbox 360 will suffer a bit though. Because of the lack of a browser, it can only stream from a local PC. The Winamp team also plans to make the service available to cell phones with web browsers.

Callaway was once part of the Sega and Electronic Arts, and with the "anecdotal" discovery that many PC gamers use Winamp, GameDaily.biz says, "Naturally, the place to start building new Winamp functionality was by heading to the consoles."

Over at the site of the oddly named Knights of Kaos clan, there's a post that outlines the many available media solutions you can use through the Wii Web Browser.

They talk about BrowseAmp, AjaxAMP, Winamp Streaming Services, ORB Streaming Audio, Wii Media Center X, The WiiCR, and iTunes streaming tricks and solutions you can use in the Wii Browser. They also point out Jinzora, a web based PHP/Apache/Mysql/Flash Music system. They report that one of the founders of Jinzora is currently working on a Wii Compatible frontend skin.

For more detail on the the mentioned applications and a solution for ORB streaming problems, feel free to use our read-link below.

Now that we've established that the Wiimote is somewhat easy to modify for different control uses, what else can use the darned thing? According to this video, the Wiimote can also control a synthesizer.

We've had a couple of different hacks done to let people use their Wiimote differently. On the silly side, there's isnoop's WiiSaber that lets people use their Wiimote to make lightsaber sounds. To control operating systems, the DarwiinRemote is currently being developed by Hiroaki and Ian Rickard to control Mac applications. The WiinRemote, on the other hand, lets you use the Wiimote as a mouse on Windows and has also spawned different ways of using it, such as Winamp control through Wiimote usage which can be seen here.

This next video shows off someone using the Wiimote to control a Nord Lead synthesizer. One thing we wish the video would show is the placement of the lights that help triangulate the Wiimote's position. Heck, is it even needed in this case? We'll definitely need to get out hands on the plans for that device as soon as possible. Mostly because we want to see if we can get it to control our video editing software like something straight out of "Minority Report".

Months after unveiling plans of putting up an internet radio station for Lineage II, NCSoft finally does so with the help of TMSBroadcasting. Yep, they are now live and on-the-air! A player can have access to Lineage-related interviews, news and even join contests via the MMO's radio .

Lineageradio.com, the official site, uses a band of volunteer DJs to man the shows, aside from playing rock and techno music. Access Lineageradio via WinAmp and Windows Media Player.

A couple of days ago PadrinatoR came up with one of those homebrew apps that promises to make life a little bit easier for DS and PC owners. DSAmp turns the Nintendo DS into a remote control for the Winamp program installed on a PC. With this homebrew, you can use your DS to turn Winamp on or off, make the Winamp go full screen on the PC, and pick the songs you want to listen to. Maybe it's not going to change civilization as we know it. But we predict Padrinator will certainly change the life of many DS couch potatoes.

PadrinatoR has come up with an interesting system to use with both the DS and the PC.

The program in question is called DSAmp, which allows you to basically use your Nintendo DS as a remote control for the Winamp program on your PC. It allows you to turn Winamp on or off, make the Winamp go fullscreen on the PC, and pick the songs you want to listen to.

Scary how you can actually do that, if you think about it. Still, for lazy fellows who want to listen to music on speakers but don't want to sit in front of the comp to change the tunes, this seems like a pretty smooth way of doing it.

Here are the general release notes:

Requirements:
- .NET Framework 2.0
- You must have the port 32123 UDP opened in your router.

Step by step guide:
1) Install .NET Framework 2.0 (if it's not installed yet)
2) Run the server app (DSAmpServer.exe). If you have Windows Firewall enabled, it will ask you if you want to lock the application. You must choose Unlock. It doesn't matter if Winamp isn't opened, because you can open and close it from NDS.
3) Switch on you DS and run DSAmp. It will ask you for host's IP, enter it and click OK.

Enjoy!

  

Download: [DSAmp v1.0]