Splashtop Inc. has released Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPhone and iPod Touch, an app that enables device users to view and operate Windows 7, Vista, or XP running remotely on a PC. The company said that iPhone users can operate any Windows application, including reading and composing email in Outlook, editing Office documents, and accessing any file on the PC or on a network the PC has access to. Documents and files remain on the PC, so there is no need to sync files with the iPhone. Support for controlling a Mac from an iPhone is now in beta.

The software connects access the PC over a Wi Fi network and will work through any virtual private network connection supported by the device. The company has been shipping a version for iPad since August. Splashtop says Windows applications are 100 percent functional on the iPhone/iPad/iPad Touch, including displaying Flash video in a Windows web browser. The app uses the devices' on-screen keyboard, but extends it to include Windows-specific keys (such as Ctr and Alt) to enable users to fully operate Windows applications.

To make up for the lack of a mouse on an iPhone, Splashtop Remote Desktop enables you to use touch gestures to control Windows and Windows applications. Supported gestures include a tap for a mouse click, touch for controlling a mouse cursor and scrolling windows. A right-click is a press-and-hold. The pinch and zoom gestures are supported to make portions of the Windows screen legible on an iPhone.

Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPhone and iPod Touch is available in the Apple App Store (US $0.99). It requires iOS 3.2 or later, and the iPhone 4 and 3GS and 2nd generation iPod Touch or later, or any iPad. On the PC, it requires a 1.6 GHz or faster dual-core CPU.

Splashtop Remote Desktop can also connect to multiple PCs with the same iPhone or iPod Touch app. In addition to the phone app, the device requires a Splashtop Remote application to be running on each PCs. The desktop application for Windows is available as a free download for one or more PCs. A download for Mac OS X 10.6 is available as a beta (prerelease) version.