Macs All-in-One for Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter III.4. Using a Mac Remote to Control Programs and Using Front Row for Music, Movies, and Photos

In This Chapter

• Using the Apple Remote

• Accessing Front Row

• Playing movies and videos

• Playing music and podcasts

• Viewing pictures

If you want to watch videos, play music, or browse through digital photographs, you could load QuickTime Player, iTunes, and iPhoto and search for the videos, audio files, or pictures you want to hear or see. However, this can be something of a juggling act, especially if you want to play music and browse through your photograph collection at the same time.

To give you another way to access your video, audio, and digital images, your Mac comes with a program called Front Row. The whole purpose of Front Row is to integrate the features of the QuickTime Player, iTunes, the DVD Player, and iPhoto to make it easy for you to access your media without having to load a bunch of programs.

Although new Macs don't come with an Apple Remote control, some earlier model Macs do, and you can also buy one for your Mac (www.apple.com) if your Mac has an Infrared port. With the Apple Remote control, you control Front Row from your easy chair. You can also use the Apple Remote to control many of your Mac's other programs, including Keynote, iTunes, and iPhoto.

Tip

If your Mac doesn't have a built-in Infrared port, you can buy an external Infrared receiver called Mira (twistedmelon.com/mira) that plugs into your Mac's USB port and gives it the same remote-control-friendly capabilities ...