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Apple finds another AirPlay partner in Pioneer's VSX-1021 AV receiver
You may have laughed off the assertion made by BridgeCo's VP of Sales and Marketing back at CES, but the man's looking downright prophetic now. Apple has just nailed down yet another major player in its efforts to take over the streaming media world with AirPlay, as Pioneer's VSX-1021 launched today as the first of eight AirPlay receivers the company has planned for 2011. It's a 7.1 channel affair that supports wireless playback of iTunes libraries so long as you fork over a few extra dollars for the AS-WL300 wireless LAN adapter. You'll also need an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or a Mac / PC with iTunes 10.1+, and the new AVR should show up immediately as an available AirPlay device. This particular one will sell for $549, and if you're looking to spring, you should also know about Air Jam and iControlAV2 -- two new (free) apps that turn iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 4.2 into sources for the aforesaid AVR. The latter actually enables full-on control of the receiver from an iOS device, while the former should do a fine job of handling the song selection during your next part. Hit up the source links for the nitty-gritty, and if you venture down beyond the break, you'll find overview videos for the device shown above as well as the Air Jam app.
