WirelessIpodDock
Latest
Mint Studio hands-on and impressions
Digital Signature's new Mint Studio iPod dock may not look all that different than the company's previous Mint 130 model on the outside, but it's gotten a few fairly significant upgrades to its internals, which was enough to get us interested in it again. The biggest of those are some improved wireless capabilities, which still rely on the same tried and true 2.4GHz band as before, but promise an increased range of up to 100 feet (up from 45 before), and less interference from other devices thanks to some new channel-hopping technology. The real kicker, however, is that the wireless transmitter is able to support up to three of the systems simultaneously, making the Mint Studio a cut-rate multi-room audio solution of sorts -- although anyone looking for anything close to Sonos-level functionality will want to look elsewhere. Read on for our full impressions. %Gallery-75129%
Marantz's IS301 wireless iPod dock elegantly cuts the cord
Wireless iPod docks were all the rage back in 2006 (seriously, we remember nerds camping out for them), but the trend sort of petered out as 2007 emerged and focus turned to more important matters. Now, Marantz is looking to bring it all back in style with the IS301, a Lucullan wireless iPod dock that transmits both audio and video sans cabling and includes a port-filled receiver for tight-knit home theater integration. Practically every dock-connecting iPod (no iPhones allowed, at least not officially) will work fine here, and there's also Bluetooth 2.1 support for receiving and beaming tunes from BT-enabled devices. Expect the bundle to storm Japan in January for ¥26,250 ($277), after which we Americans will drop down on bended knee and plead for a US version.[Via Impress]%Gallery-37663%
NuVo gets into the wireless iPod game
It's not the first wireless iPod dock we've seen, and it's not NuVo's first stab at a wireless music sharing device either, but NuVo's new NV-WIPS multiroom wireless iPod dock looks plenty lovable. The setup is based around a fairly plain-jane iPod dock, which beams out music via the NuVoNet protocol. The stream includes metadata so you can browse playlists via a remote keypad, and you can even control a pair of iPods over one network. The system is completely wireless, relying on a some frequency-hopping 2.4GHz RF tech, and sends CD-quality uncompressed audio. There's a standard RCA jack for hooking up the receiver to your stereo, but at the $600 asking price we wouldn't have minded a bit of S/PDIF. Luckily, there's a $300 version that operates over those boring ol' Cat5 cables. No word on availability, but it it looks like it should be out soon.
