Hey Lod, this is Sally from Pinoccio. You don't have to use an iPhone at all. You can use ANY device that has an accelerometer. You can even use your laptop with Chrome or Safari —basically, any device that exposes the accelerometer via the web browser. If you want to see if the device that you're using right now is supported, go to the Web Rover page and try the "Test Drive Your Accelerometer" simulator.
Also, the controls are kind of secondary to this project. You could put together a web page with buttons to steer the Rover instead if you like. We wanted to create controls that would "read" well in the video —you can see the motions that my hands are making, and easily see the effect it's having on the Rover. This wouldn't have been clear if we had put together a page with buttons.
Thanks for the comment!