BD Touch turns iPhone into a Blu-ray remote

And try this on for size: The new software kit, available now for iPhone developers and Blu-ray disc producers, could actually let you transfer digital copies of Blu-ray movies to your iPhone.

BD Touch (a product of the just-released iPhone SDK) would not only let an iPhone (or iPod Touch) act as a simple remote for your Blu-ray deck—play, pause, fast-forward, and the like—but it could also perform tasks such as keep track of your Blu movie collection, manage your Netflix queue, offer movie suggestions, display trivia and "fan-created" content that pops up in sync with the movie, and act as a controller for games on Blu-ray discs.

Other features that BD developers could tap into include the iPhone's accelerometers, mapping, search, geo-location... you name it. And here's the really cool possibility—BD Touch could let your Blu-ray player send a digital copy of your movie (not a full 1080p version, I'm sure) to your iPhone via Wi-Fi.

All the back-and-forth communication between an iPhone/iPod Touch and your Blu-ray player would take place over Wi-Fi—not a problem for the Wi-Fi-enabled PS3, although I'm guessing an Ethernet-only Blu-ray deck would have to be hooked into your wireless network.

Now, before you get too excited, a couple of caveats to keep in mind: The upcoming BD Touch software only works on Blu-ray players that support Profile 2.0, a.k.a. BD Live—and for now, that means the PlayStation 3 and a handful of upcoming Blu-ray players.

Also, the coolest features of BD Touch—such as the digital movie transfers and synchronized movie trivia—would have to be enabled by Blu-ray disc producers, who would bake BD Touch functionality into their movies.

Still, cool stuff. Look for BD Touch apps to arrive sometime after June, when the next version of the iPhone firmware arrives.

And here's a side note: Why not create an app that turns the iPhone into a full-on universal remote, which would communicate with your components over a Wi-Fi-enabled IR blaster? Hmmmm...

Related:
Developer code connects iPhones, Blu-ray Disc players [Macworld]