yeah wee really need a form of xmb based plugin to make the ir remote feature viable.
and @disturbed - not everyone buys there tv new and when they buy second hand they usually don't come with one. then theres the other reason - some people have animals that particularly like the taste of plastic, metal and battery acid (my mums dog is like this and she lost a remote to it). also remotes do go faulty - one of mines did. theres many reasons for an app like this and theres virtually no reason not to have it for those that need it.