An apparatus and method control a controllable device in a portable terminal. The apparatus includes a device register unit, an input unit, a memory unit, a gesture detector, a controller, and a contents transmitter. The device register unit registers controllable devices to partial regions of an output screen. The input unit generates input data for controllable device registration or user's input data for controllable device selection. The memory unit stores information of the controllable devices registered by the device register unit. The gesture detector senses a user's input capable of determining direction. The controller detects a controllable device corresponding to the user's input. The contents transmitter transmits contents to the controllable device detected by the controller.