Splashtop 2 Released For Windows Phone 8: Remote PC Access At Last

Today Windows Phone 8 grabs the cross-platform app by the name of Splashtop, specifically the edition called "Splashtop 2" for remote PC control. What you'll be doing with this app – and what Android and iOS users have been doing for some time now – is gaining a live, interactive mirror of your PC's screen on your smartphone. While features for this app are limited in comparison with the Android and iPhone iterations, this release is certainly a good start.

Before the release of Splashtop 2 for Windows Phone 8, there were a few less-than-perfect alternatives on the market. The importance of this release once again marks the slow-but-steady rise of the Windows Phone Marketplace for apps, and the continued (but again, slow), rise in popularity of the operating system itself.

With Splashtop 2 you'll need the app Splashtop Streamer running on your Mac or Windows computer, both apps being entirely free so long as you're working within your own local network. This means that both your smartphone and your PC are connected to the same wifi network. If you want to control your computer from your Windows Phone 8 device with mobile data – out of your home – you'll have to pay a bit of a fee.

At $1.99 USD a month, control from anywhere you can access data is allowed. Functionality includes the ability to touch the display as you would on a touchscreen monitor, typing on a pop-up keyboard, and clicking with a virtual mouse.

This is just the beginning for development on this app for Windows Phone 8, we must assume: there's still a lot the team will be able to add given the abilities of the Android and iOS apps on the market today. We're waiting for Gamepad action, specifically: go for it!