Bonjour

Not too many iPhone apps take advantage of Apple's Bonjour local network discovery protocol. VLC streamer does a nice job of showcasing the possibilities with Bonjour. Paired with a streamer helper, it makes the iPhone/iTouch pretty powerful in accessing contents on a PC or laptop. I tried it with an MBP which sets up an ah-hoc wifi a million times easier than any winbox and seeing the mpb contents listed on the iTouch was pretty cool. Doing video streaming is a tall order, so that part of the app is not ready for prime time. But it won't be long.