Apple has quietly updated their Universal Dock product in the Apple Store. Instead of containing just the dock and various different device connectors, the product now comes with Apple’s $19 aluminum remote, as well as an extra USB cord and wall charger. Furthermore, the connectors in the current product are molded to fit any of the following Apple products: iPhone 4/3GS/3G, second-, third-, and fourth-generation iPod touch, and the fifth-generation iPod nano. All that said, Apple has also raised the price from $49 to $59.

This would make for a really fun and entertaining way to run through a PowerPoint or iPhoto slideshow. Just hook your MacBook up to a TV and then “flick” through the slides with your wand. There are a ton of fun ideas for this wand. Yes, nearly all of them are fun just for novelty’s sake, but hey, sometimes you have to stop and just have fun. You can’t always do things just because they are the fastest or most efficient.

In the slew of Apple product updates released yesterday, the company also quietly introduced a new remote to be used with their new iMacs. This remote, which takes on the aluminum enclosure of many of Apple’s other products, has a small interface change but the same amount of buttons. For some reason, Apple decided to move the Play/Pause button from in the middle of the circle to the bottom right and pushed the Menu button a tad to the left.

You’ll probably remember last month when I wrote about a rumor stating that Apple planned to make their own iPhone remote for release in the App Store. Well, it turned out to be true, and it’s awesome. Apple, with a stroke of genius, has decided to call this iPhone application Remote. It’s free, it’s 1MB, and it’s available through the App Store that was launched yesterday.

First impressions after the break.

Although third party developers have already made applications that allow you to turn your iPhone into a remote, MacRumors has found that Apple plans to make their own. Although this could have been expected, you can read the following text—found in a pre-release version of iTunes (7.7)—for assurance: Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, more »