More than one way to stream Bluetooth
Want an easy way to use the Bluetooth in your iPhone/iPod touch to stream music to your traditional stereo? The new Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver, announced this week, should do the job nicely. It's a little dongle that connects to your stereo either through a 3.5mm headphone jack or, using RCA cables, to the AUX inputs in the back of your system. It will remember half a dozen Bluetooth devices and let you stream music up to 33 feet away at a cost of $49.99 US.
Honestly, I didn't see the big deal, since I've been doing this for quite a long time using the now discontinued Griffin BlueTrip. The BlueTrip was made to stream Bluetooth audio from an iPod to a stereo using a dongle that plugs into the 30 pin connector adding BlueTooth to iPods that didn't have it built in. But what if you have an iPhone rather than an iPod? We've got you covered there, too -- read on.
[via Engaget]
Although the Griffin site clearly states that the BlueTrip will not work with any other devices than iPods, it's a lie. Both it and the little Belkin piece will work with any Bluetooth 2.0 enabled device. What Griffin doesn't tell you is that if you throw away the iPod dongle and pair your iPhone/iPod touch using the code: 0000, it'll work like a champ. I have two of these at home, originally bought to work with an iPod Classic, and made this discovery after buying an iPhone using the scientific method of just screwing around.
Here's the best part; I just bought another BlueTrip for $19.47 US including shipping on eBay. There are a lot of them for sale over there and bidding starts at under $10 US. I found some auctions with no bids, and a day later I won the auction as the only bidder.
As far as I can tell, the only differences between the two units are that the BlueTrip is larger, adds an optical connection, needs to be plugged into an A/C outlet and I don't know how many devices the BlueTrip remembers. Both need to be plugged into an AC outlet.
Currently the Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver is out of stock while the BlueTrips are plentiful.
Just don't tell Griffin I told you about it.
