Toshiba is to release software which allows you to control your PC via your cell phone. The new software, which is called Ubiquitous Viewer, is an app that runs on both mobile phone and Windows PC. The software re-creates the desktop of the PC on the phone. Tasks such as reading e-mails and editing documents can then be performed on the PC by entering instructions on the mobile. It's a wonder no one brought this out before now - but how does it really work?

Ubiquitous Viewer can remotely switch on PCs that support the Wake-on-LAN function, a common feature that enables a PC to be switched on when traffic is sent to it across a network, said Nobuo Shimizu, senior specialist at Toshiba's software engineering center.... The mobile phone's keypad is automatically set by the software so that it becomes a virtual QWERTY keyboard.... Since PC and notebook PC screens typically have an XGA (1,024-by-768-pixel) resolution, the software captures a portion of the screen and displays this on the mobile phone screen. The virtual screen on the mobile phone can be moved in real time by the user across the virtual desktop.