If the iPhone has an IR output, then someone will write a uni remote app. (if it has no IR output, this is all moot.) People wrote these apps for the Palm a decade ago. But it's not a device seller; it's a novelty.
Even stipulating the iPhone could serve as a good, even top of class, universal remote (in this class), I simply don't believe people will want to use their phone as a remote control. Specifically, they won't want or be able to let their family use the iPhone as a dedicated remote because they're using it to take phone calls and listen to music. Who's going to leave their iPhone in the living room all day / evening so the family can use it to watch the news and Blue's Clues? If the most powerful remote in the house isn't actually available for use, who's going to bother learning touse it? That leaves the single guys who can ignore phone calls because they're changing the channel.
This app will be made. I assert it will merely be a novelty, forgotten a month after release.
Even stipulating the iPhone could serve as a good, even top of class, universal remote (in this class), I simply don't believe people will want to use their phone as a remote control. Specifically, they won't want or be able to let their family use the iPhone as a dedicated remote because they're using it to take phone calls and listen to music. Who's going to leave their iPhone in the living room all day / evening so the family can use it to watch the news and Blue's Clues? If the most powerful remote in the house isn't actually available for use, who's going to bother learning touse it? That leaves the single guys who can ignore phone calls because they're changing the channel.
This app will be made. I assert it will merely be a novelty, forgotten a month after release.