Griffin TuneCenter remote for iPods

Following Tuesday's news about the DLO HomeDock Deluxe, here's another iPod dock that displays menus and playlists on your TV, and from the description, this one does a lot more. The Griffin TuneCenter, due out in March for $100, puts your iPod playlists on the big screen, lets you control video and slideshow playback, and also acts as an Internet radio receiver when connected to a home network, either over Ethernet or via WiFi. And it works with 3G-and-newer iPods. Output options are similar to DLO's: S-Video, Composite and RCA for audio. One thing not mentioned in Griffin's specs is whether this charges your iPod when it's docked. We'll assume for now that it does; otherwise, you'd better be prepared to stop the music every few hours to juice up.

[Flash @ Jan 12th 2006 5:28AM]

Does anybody knows any other alternatives? I'm iPod fan and always hugry for iPod novelties.

[seb @ Jan 12th 2006 5:48AM]

hm. i'd appreciate a little design revision. looks a bit clumsy.

[bob @ Jan 12th 2006 5:50AM]

Sweetness! does it work with the nano? Or does it need a video out?

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[Z @ Jan 12th 2006 8:43AM]

This TuneCenter looks really nice. Controls audio, photos, and videos and has built in WiFi and Ethernet.



The question is, where's a picture or mention of the remote control that should come with it to operate it from a distance? It seems to have an IR port on the front of it from the looks of things, so it should indeed ship with a remote. RF would be better than IR, but any remote would be good - and necessary based on the nature of the product.



The other question is, although a person can control video (seemingly from an included remote), can we start video with the remote, too, or is this TuneCenter going to have the same problem with that, that the DLO HomeDock Deluxe is rumored to have?

[Z @ Jan 12th 2006 8:56AM]

Oh and yes, the TuneCenter also better charge the iPod as well while it's docked, otherwise, that would be a tremendous oversight and serious design flaw. The dock should also allow a person to synchronize.



Having a place to dock an included remote control like the DLO HomeDock Deluxe has, would also be a nice touch.

[Andrew Eller @ Jan 12th 2006 10:40AM]

I agree with the above comments. I won't buy a dock unless it will let me scroll through my videos and audio on screen. If nothing else, Apple should release one and make the GUI look like Front Row!!!

[Joe Bradley @ Jan 12th 2006 11:08AM]

This looks great! I've wanted one of these for quite some time, always wondered why there wasn't a dock with on-screen menus. To answer some of the above comments, I'm sure it will charge your iPod as this would be useless w/o that capability. The website says it includes a 14 button remote control (probably overkill?), which I'm sure is IR from the huge IR sensor on the front of the dock in the photo. One think not mentioned is that it has both cat5 ethernet and built-in WiFi capability (for the internet radio I'm sure, but it would be nice if you could sync to your computer as well).



Lastly, the website lists the following compatible iPods. Looks like only shuffle, 1st, and 2nd gen are left out in the cold.



Works With:

� 3rd Generation iPod with touch wheel and buttons

� iPod mini

� 4th Generation iPod with Click Wheel

� iPod photo

� iPod U2 Special Edition

� 4th Generation iPod with Color Screen

� iPod nano

� 5th Generation iPod with Video

[consumer_q @ Jan 12th 2006 1:03PM]

thank you for the 3G loving!

I cannot wait

[Dave Zatz @ Jan 12th 2006 2:58PM]

For a hundred bucks, this thing seems stacked. If iTunes were to add movie downloads at a higher resolution than 320x240 I'd re-purchase the vidPod and this docking station to facilitate VOD/PPV.

[Z @ Jan 12th 2006 7:26PM]

Now I see mention of the 14-button remote. I missed that first time around. I still wish they'd show a picture of it, though.

[Michael DiVitto @ Jan 12th 2006 9:10PM]

On Griffin's website there is a photo of the back of this unit. Looks like there is a power adapter port to the right of the ethernet port. My guess is that if you plug it in, it must charge your ipod.

[Z @ Jan 13th 2006 4:28AM]

I guess that does appear to be an adaptor port.



There doesn't seem to be a USB port, but with the integrated WiFi, how slick would it be to be able to sync your iPod with your computer via WiFi instead of USB? I don't know if that's currently possible with this device and whether or not there would need to be any updates to iTunes in order to allow for this, but I'd be all for that.