It seems like everything's got Wi-Fi these days: smartphones, tablets, weather monitors, baby monitors--even children's toys. More than we'd like to admit it, if it weren't for Wi-Fi, we might not know what's going on at all times of the day.

But there are other uses for Wi-Fi than merely surfing the internet. More specifically, Wi-Fi can be used to stream movies, control your Mac and--hey!--get you on the internet when you're in a far away country. This week, we highlighted three free apps that stream movies between your Macs, let you control iTunes or Apple TV with your iOS device and find a Wi-Fi hotspot in Sweden without even connecting to the internet.

Mac

StreamToMe

Maybe you're not too interested in using an iPad or iPhone to watch video, or maybe you don't even have an iOS device to utilize in this manner. That's alright, StreamToMe is a free app that streams video, music and photo files to other computers within your Wi-Fi network. It works for both Macs and PCs, so if you've got an old Dell collecting dust downstairs you could do something like turn it into a simple media center for the kinder. It works remotely, as well.

iPad/iPhone

Remote

Apple's official Remote app enables you to control your iTunes and Apple TV using your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad over the Wi-Fi network. You can also use Remote for AirPlay video support to stream videos from iTunes to an Apple TV, sift through Internet Radio and play music, movies and shows you nabbed from iTunes. Or, utilize Remote to play iTunes DJ chicken with your office pals.

iPad

Wi-Fi Finder

Sometimes, I'm really not a fan of the way that iOS tries to log on to the internet. I want a little more than just a popup window that shows me the nearby connections. Wi-Fi finder uses GPS to show you where the closest hotspots in the area, which you can categorize by service. And, you can download a map of hotspots elsewhere in the world for offline viewing.