I was browsing around the Android Market to look for an application that can browse my Ubuntu box's folders and play a video on my Android phone, and then I saw this application called "SSHmote", installed it, played around it and discovered cool things.

So what is "SSHmote"? As described on Android Market:

The multimedia remote control for Linux/BSD

With an intuitive and minimalistic graphical interface, SSHmote simplifies the browsing of your multimedia files and the control of your favorite media players.

And described by Zokama (the developers behind this application):

SSHmote is a remote control for Android devices that uses the SSH protocol to connect to your computer and control your favorite multimedia applications through editable profiles. Using the SSH protocol means that for most Linux/BSD distributions, no additional server installation will be requiered, you will just have to enter your username and password in SSHmote and it will turn your Android device into a cool remote control.

So that's it, basically it is a remote control for Linux!

I'm going to show you a quick guide to have a VLC player remote using SSH and Android phone with SSHmote.

1. On your Android phone, go to Android Market.

2. Search "SSHmote".

3. Install. If you're planning to install this via Android Market website here's the URL pointing to the application [Link].

4. Once done installing, you can now configure your SSHmote on your phone to connect to your Linux PC via SSH (of course internet connection is needed).

5. On the application, click Menu -> Add Control Set.

6. Fill up the form with your Linux PC's SSH connection info, note to select your preferred multimedia application for this profile.

7. Click "Save" once done.

8. Now click your newly created profile, then you will be connected to your Linux PC and you will see your directories on it.

9. Navigate to your movies directory and click a video file.

That's it, it will be played on you PC and you can click Play, Skip, Stop or any command you like!  :D

Screenshot of the application is available here [Link].

References:

SSHmote on Android Market: [Link]

Zokama : [Link]