Q: I want to use my iPod touch as a portable presentation device. I used iPresent to convert a PowerPoint presentation into a series of JPEG images to show on my iPod as a slideshow, and although I can output video through my Universal Dock, I need to manually control the slideshow. Is there any way to remotely do this? The Apple remote control sends me back to the menu, rather than progressing the slideshow.
– Gill
A: Unfortunately, this will not work on the iPod touch or iPhone, as the remote control is only used to control the “iPod” application for music/video playback. As you have discovered, using the remote control will return you either to the menu or to the currently playing track within the iPod application. This behavior should be the same for just about any iPod remote control, as they all communicate with the iPod/iPhone via the Dock Connector using the same methods.
Note that all of the traditional iPod models that provide photo display, including the 2007 iPod classic and iPod nano, do provide the capability to use the remote control to play/pause and navigate through a slideshow presentation when being shown on the iPod screen or on an external display. If the ability to use the iPod as a presentation device is a priority, you may want to look at getting one of these iPod models (or an older one) instead.
The ability to remote control slideshows on the iPod touch is obviously not consistent with the traditional iPod models, but it should certainly be possible for Apple to address this in a firmware update if they so desire.
