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Monsoon Multimedia debuts Sling, ROKU competitor with some compelling features
Today Monsoon Multimedia is announcing the Vulkano, a universal video platform that integrates DVR, Web video, streaming and time shifting of media from the home to a portable device, including the iPhone, iPad, and Macs or PCs. It also supports streaming to Android, Blackberry, Symbian and WM6 phones or devices. Prices range from US $259 to $379 depending on the storage capacity customers desire. The $379 device stores 1 Terabyte. The company says it will introduce a 3G capable app for the iPhone next month. Among the functions available are: Triggering recording from a remote device Playback of recordings on iPads, PCs and Macs in the home and remotely Browsing of an electronic program guide for shows and episode information Access photos, video and music on your home TV from UPnP supported devices Connects to cable, DVD, satellite, DVR and Tivo Streams using H.264 and MPEG-4 standards at rates as low as 150kpbs Connects wirelessly to home router Although not currently in the product software, the company says it will offer free upgrades that include Google TV, Yahoo!, Netflix, Hulu and other services in the 'near future.' "We designed Vulkano from the ground up to replace single purpose solutions, such as TiVo, Roku, Slingbox, etc," said Steve Stone, CTO at Monsoon. "In the coming months we will be pushing new apps to Vulkano owners for free so they can rest assured that this is the first and last product they'll need for all their TV and Internet media needs." We're going to get a review unit soon and can give you our own impressions. For a full description take a gander at the Vulkano website. Monsoon is taking pre-orders for an estimated August 10 shipping date. It will be interesting to watch the consumer reaction to this device. It is very Apple friendly and if it is easy to use and set up Monsoon will have a winner.
HomePipe streams your iTunes to Android, other files too
Need another way to get your tunes (whether they be i-prefixed or not) onto your Android celly? HomePipe is the latest, a service offering easy access to files on your home computer via your cellphone. It's been available for Apple devices for some time now, but a recently added Android app extends the reach of its plumbing system. That mobile app works in conjunction with a desktop version acting as a server, pushing photos, documents, and lots of types of media -- including iTunes. HomePipe claims this makes it the "first to ever stream home iTunes music to Google's Android," but having played with Michael Robertson's MP3tunes service, which uploads your music library to the cloud and allows access from Android handsets, we're happy to assure the service that it is at least the second. Still, it sounds mighty handy, and for the bargain price of free it's definitely worth a shot. Video demo and full press release is just below.
Sonos S5 all-in-one wireless speaker fades to black, like your career
The $399 black Sonos S5 is just like the original... only now it's a little bit older and a lot darker. Just like a former teenage popstar. Either is available to purchase now.%Gallery-94168%
Stylish Sony Walkman docks sport WiFi radio, ludicrous sheen
Thermos audio wasn't the only idea Sony Japan introduced this week; there's also the company's glossy new speaker docks, the NAS-V5 and NAS-V7M, whose intense reflection make us remember that time mom told us never to stare at the sun. Unfortunately, NAS doesn't stand for Network Attached Storage here, but the ¥50,000 (about $535) NAS-V7M does have 16GB of internal memory onto which you can rip audio CDs with a single touch, and both it and the ¥40,000 ($428) NAS-V5 have internal WiFi that'll have your Japanese counterparts pumping internet radio jingles from Shoutcast, vTuner, your PC and anything else with a compatible wireless audio stream when they hit Akihabara on June 26. They both feature 32-bit DSPs for what we can only guess will be crisp, clean audio quality, have all the standard AM-FM radio features you've come to expect, and include an AUX jack and a powered USB port. Oh, and lest we forget amidst all the bedside table aural goodness -- they're also Walkman docks. Hear a deep, soothing Japanese voice explain why you need one, after the break. %Gallery-90120%
Logitech Squeezebox Radio unboxing
A wee bit of the fanfare was taken out of the Squeezebox Radio announcement when the FCC went ahead and told us all about the party before Logitech had a chance to jump out from behind the sofa and yell "Surprise!" Expected or not, we've now got ourselves a streaming radio for testing in the house. It has a trendy, piano-black, fingerprint-magnet coating on the outside that looks classy as long as you can keep it clean, separate volume and scroll knobs on the front, and a little handle on the back that could make it a nice portable. However, without the optional battery pack, this thing isn't going far. We haven't had a chance to pump any tunes through either its Ethernet or 802.11b/g connections just yet, having barely turned it on and told it our language (Hola!), but we'll report back in the very near future with a full set of acoustic and functional impressions.%Gallery-74514%
Spotify for iPhone gets thumbs up from Apple, subscription music with offline playlists is a go
Streaming and subscription music services are a dime a dozen on iPhone, and they seem to get past Apple's app store approval hurdles with relative ease. But Spotify was one whose fate wasn't so clear cut, given its offline playlist function -- which as the name suggests downloads songs ahead of time for you to listen to when there's no WiFi or phone service to stream from -- could very easily fall into the category of "duplication of core iPhone functionality" and get deep-sixed at the drop of a hat. Turns out that's not the case here, as an Apple spokesperson has told paidContent UK that the app's been given the metaphorical stamp of approval and would be hitting the store "very soon." A premium subscription will run about £9.99 ($16.20) per month, with an option to pay annually coming at a later date. Of course, there's a catch, as Spotify's service is only available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain for now. The company expects to invade America sometime later this year, but that means another round of app store approvals -- and with Apple's track record on consistency, there's no telling how that'll turn out.
FCC reveals Logitech Squeezebox Radio, could make all those streamy dreams come true
It's hard not to like new-school tech named after old-school instruments, and so Logitech's (Slim-developed) Squeezebox lineup has at least that going for it. Decently solid reviews, too, for the models we've seen thus-far, and thanks to our old friends at the FCC we know that a new model is coming soon. Dubbed the Squeezebox Radio X-R0001, it's described as "a compact tabletop network music player and internet radio that lets you listen to virtually any internet radio station." How it'll handle the variety of streaming formats and functions remains to be seen, but it'll also go fetch your local music collection over an internal network and play it all through its combination of 3/4-inch tweeters and 3-inch woofer. A 2.4-inch LCD is on the front, 802.11b/g WiFi and wired Ethernet are standard features, and it's all enclosed in a "compact design." That's all we know at this point (assuming you don't care that it has a 11.11dBm rating at 2.412MHz when in 802.11g mode), but hopefully Logi will set this one free from the Faraday cage soon.
Public Radio app updated and renamed
The much beloved Public Radio Tuner has been updated, and now sports a new name. Public Radio Player [App Store] is your easy way to get to most of the NPR stations in the country.This new version, which remains free, also allows you to find archived shows, like Car Talk, Speaking of Pets, Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me, Fresh Air, and many others. This allows on-demand service of your favorite Public Radio programs. You also can get a station's current schedule when you start to stream. Some stations don't support it, but if the metadata is there you'll see it in the app.A couple of things to note at this point: Since the app has been renamed it may not appear when you check for updates at the App Store. However, when you run the older Public Radio Tuner, it will advise you of the new app and download it, leaving your older app in place. The new app won't have your favorites, so those will have to be added in manually. There is a search function so you can find what you want by station name, call letters, frequency, city, region or category.I find the new version a bit sluggish, and this is reflected by many other users comments. It's a bit slow to respond on either Wi-Fi or the 3G network.Some of the stations appear in the list without their location, so it looks like the database should be cleaned up a bit. The app also has to my eye a rather sickly green color. Not a favorite of mine, and I think many people won't be wild about it. Note: The App Store page shows different, better colors (my view) but you can't get them on the release version.Finally, I had some problems installing this app. On first run it said 'loading' and spun a gear for more than 10 minutes. I bailed out, re-booted my iPhone and it came up fine. If you see something similar, try re-starting your device and see if it solves it.I love the new features in this app, but it has some rough edges. Luckily it doesn't write over the original version, so you can retain your favorites. I'd like to see a quick update and bug fix for this app, but as it is, it improves on the original feature set and should make Public Radio fans happy.Here are some screen shots:%Gallery-68520%
MLB updates At Bat 2009 for iPhone, gives live streaming to MLB.TV users
If you're a baseball fan you already have it. If not, you're missing a lot, and now MLB has updated At Bat 2009 [App Store link] to include more video streaming for fans who already subscribe to MLB.TV. That means as of today, those subscribers can watch all the remaining games this season (subject to blackout restrictions) on their iPhone or iPod touch.The app has also been tested for iPhone/touch compatibility with version 3.0 of the Apple software. Regulars users of the app who haven't subscribed to any of the special MLB packages still get one free live streaming video game a day to watch, as well as all the current features of the app, including streaming audio from every MLB game as it is played.I really like the app; my only complaint is that my favorite team which is supposed to be at the top of the list gets shunted down when other teams are the featured live streaming game. I'm hoping that is fixed in this new version, but it is too early to test it.At any rate, if you're a big fan of the boys of summer, just check the App Store and update. It's especially good if you subscribe to to MLB.TV or MLB.TV Premium.Batter up!
Review: Sirius XM for iPhone/iPod touch sans Stern
As we reported last night, it's out, and the Howard Stern fans aren't happy that this app eliminates the two channels Stern appears on.There are still 120 channels that do work, so I thought I'd give it a try. The app is called Sirius XM Premium Online [App Store] and it's free but requires a paid subscription if you don't already have one.You log in (one time) with your user name and password. After a few seconds, you are authenticated and ready to explore the radio offerings.The app allows you to browse by category, channels, or by favorites you provide. There is a shopping cart if you want to tag something for purchase at the iTunes store. (Ah, that's why Apple liked this app.)I found the performance of the player pretty good. On a WiFi network I was able to acquire a signal or switch channels in 3 seconds. On the 3G network with moderate signal strength, it took about 7 seconds. You can get a display that tells you what is playing, or just see a list of stations.I found the interface slow to respond at times. I often had to tap a few times to change stations. Audio quality was not ultra high fidelity, but about what you'd expect from streaming radio. I listened on Sennheiser headphones. Howard Stern fans are very upset about not having their hero on this app. Sirius certainly could have told customers well in advance that he wouldn't be available and saved some of this pain. They handled the merger of XM with Sirius the same way. XM customers didn't know what was happening until the morning it happened. For a struggling company, it seems suicidal to constantly mislead and disappoint paying customers.I asked Patrick Reilly, Senior VP of Communications for Sirius what happened to Stern. His response: "We aren't commenting beyond what was in the press release: Some select programming, including MLB Play-by-Play, NFL Play-by-Play, SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, and Howard Stern, will not be available on the iPhone and iPod touch. Listeners will continue to be able to access that programming through the platforms they are currently offered on."Not a very satisfying answer. There may be very good contractual reasons why Stern and the other channels aren't offered, and Sirius XM customers deserve a better explanation. It doesn't look like one is forthcoming. At any rate, the app works, and works well for the channels that it does have. You'll have to decide if it is worth the money versus free music apps like Pandora, Last.fm, AOL Radio and others. By the way, Dave Thomas of the Cars.com blog alerts us to their comparison of alternatives to the Sirius XM app.
Simplify Media update, take 2
Earlier today we reported on an update to the media sharing tool from Simplify Media. It added some nice features, but it also installed a demo share on home machines that was not appreciated by many. It set off a mini-firestorm on the company blog, and we received plenty of negative comments as well.Tonight, wasting no time, the folks at Simplify Media have pushed out another update for Macs, as well as Windows and Linux boxes. It defaults with the demo/test share turned off, but allows you to turn it on if you want to test to see if your system is working. Paul Joyce of Simplify Media had some comments tonight on his blog: Today I've been trading emails and comments with a few of you around a feature in Simplify 2.0 -- the Simplify Demo. The exchange has re-enforced one thing I already knew -- we have great, passionate users -- and one thing I know now -- I made a mistake in communicating this new capability.Such candor is refreshing in a software company. This would be a minor issue, but the iPhone app that allowed users to have access to their large music collections from anywhere was a major hit at the App Store, and one of the most downloaded utilities, so a lot of people had a chance to be pretty angry about the installation of test content on their machine without permission.Anyway, it's solved now, and it's a really positive outcome. I downloaded and tried the update, and indeed the test share is gone by default. A new version of the iPhone app will also be submitted this week. If all software developers were this responsive, it would be a better world.Torches and pitchforks can now be stowed. A link to the new updates is on this page, about halfway down.
Remote media sharing tool Simplify Media updated
The Simplify Media app for sharing your music libraries across the net or to your iPhone has been updated to version 2.0 (previous coverage here). If you have the app installed on your Mac, PC or Linux computer, you'll see an update notice real soon now. The update includes stability improvements, the ability to share only selected playlists, and a much-desired feature that lets you send your shares to Sonos, Roku or XBox 360 devices. The app now supports FLAC, in addition to the usual MP3, AAC, WMA and Apple Lossless codecs.Simplify has also added a version 2.0 for the iPhone. The original app will continue to work fine, and it's free. The new version, Simplify Music 2.0 [App Store link], is $2.99US and adds the ability to search your music library from afar, tag tracks as favorites, create on-the-fly playlists and a 'scrub bar' so you have more playback control in podcasts and audio books. I had no issues with the install on my desktop Mac, but the software irritatingly and without warning put a new share in iTunes called 'Simplify Demo' with an album by Brad Turcotte. I could have lived without it, and can't figure out how to send it back to the netherworld from which it came.Update: I wasn't the only person ticked off about the demo share the software installed. Check the comments at the bottom of this page on the Simplify Media site. What were these guys thinking? What a creative way to ruin a good reputation. Also, a couple of our readers correctly point out that version one of the iPhone app was free, but is now $3.99.A further update: Paul Joyce of Simplify Media tells me they will release a new build with an 'off' switch to get rid of the demo share. Good move. It's nice to see a company acknowledge a mistake and move quickly to fix it.
MLB At Bat 2009 struck out, but now back in the game with bug fixes
Baseball fans were quite excited to learn that this years MLB.com At Bat 2009 iPhone app [App Store link], selling for $9.99US, would include game day audio. We reviewed the app in March and it received good notices but there was no audio to test at that time. Since baseball season began, the App Store reviews have been filled with comments from angry users saying there are frequent crashes and the audio keeps dropping out. Many wanted their money back. The good news is that yesterday the app was updated to version 1.01 and most reviews are now positive. The crashes have been pretty much fixed, and the audio streaming is working very well. There are some scattered complaints about the game day pages being a bit behind, but generally people are now very pleased.In my tests of the first version, I had lots of crashes, and indeed, the audio streaming was spotty. The new version has been crash-less so far, and the audio has been smooth and starts up quickly. I've listened via WiFi and 3G with no issues -- although if you are trying to use the app from your local ballpark, as Steve points out, you'll be competing with thousands of other fans for scarce 3G bandwidth and you may not be able to use the audio features (or do other things involving the cell connection, like making and receiving calls).The app itself is a bargain, since getting audio from any game all season long costs $14.99 via MLB on the web. For 5 bucks less you get it on your phone. If you can live without streaming audio you can get MLB.com At Bat 2009 Lite for free. Now, if my hometown team just wouldn't come in last again this year all would be well. I guess the iPhone can't fix that.
Oticon's ConnectLine hearing aid accessories stream your tunes right into your head
While we've seen plenty of prototype and conceptual aids that might some day revolutionize the lives of those struggling with hearing loss, it's rare that we see something real holding just as much potential. That's what we have here with the ConnectLine wireless streaming system from Oticon (no, gamers, not Otacon). We've seen the company tap into the Bluetooth craze before with aids that can be synced with mobile phones, and now it's taking that a step further, enabling them to be paired with a base station (pictured below) that can connect to your TV, stereo, or even a landline phone to send audio right into its compatible hearing aids. No word on cost, but just think: if ol' Snake had one of these Otacon might not have had to yell so much.[Via MedGadget]
TUAW Review: WunderRadio
The geniuses at Weather Underground have done it again! Now they've capitalized on their insight into weather radio to bring the iPhone world WunderRadio. Available in the App Store (click opens iTunes) for US$5.99, WunderRadio provides NOAA Weather streams based on your current location. But there's a lot more to WunderRadio than NOAA Weather. Weather Underground has joined with RadioTime.com to provide thousands of radio streams from around the world. Once again, based on your current location, WunderRadio provides a listing of nearby stations to provide you with local AM, FM, and Internet radio streams. Enthusiasts of live police, fire, and EMS scanners get a bonus in the form of scanner feeds from ScanAmerica.us. With all of this content, who needs iTunes? Of course, the app has to do a good job of capturing the audio stream on the iPhone. "The initial impetus behind this application was to provide iPhone users with instant access to local weather radio streams," said Alan Steremberg, President of Weather Underground. "During development, we decided to extend the scope of radio stations offered by working with RadioTime - the result is an easy to use portal to over 60,000 of the best talk, music and sports radio stations around the globe."Read on for a quick review of WunderRadio.
Sony S-AIR hands-on
We sat down with Sony's new proprietary S-AIR wireless music distribution system and came away, well, what do you think? It's 5GHz, which is nice, but it's not mesh and the whole setup is pretty rudimentary, especially given its bulky interface cards. If you buy nothing but Sony products this might do, but we have a feeling unless they make a huge blitz in the market to get other companies to adopt S-AIR people will probably forget this thing as quickly as it came.%Gallery-16969%
Sony launches S-AIR multi-room wireless audio standard, gear
It's clear what we all need is yet another proprietary wireless standard for streaming media around our house, so thank God Sony swooped in to launch S-AIR, their new system for configuration-free multi-room audio. Just provide power to your redundantly-named S-AIR Air Station receiver speaker and new S-AIR enabled Sony audio gear can stream to it up to 164 feet away. Thankfully, Sony will also start selling S-AIR EZW-T100 transmitters, WHAT-SA10 wireless speaker kits ($150 -- wait, "what"?), and independent S-AIR AIR-SA10 Air Stations ($120) -- all due in March.
Philips intros WAC3500D Streamium home stereo
The goods from Philips just keep on comin', but it's not like we're kvetching or anything. On deck is the WAC3500D, the firm's latest Streamium home stereo, which weds an 80GB internal hard drive, iPod connectivity, and a USB port to create a fairly well appointed audio center. Additionally, the device touts the ability to "receive, play, and store MP3 or WMA tracks saved on a PC," rip CDs to the HDD in a variety of bitrates, and view ID3 tags on the backlit LCD. All music kept on the system can be wirelessly streamed "to up to five WiFi stations located anywhere in the house," and the built-in Class D digital amplifier drives the dual two-ways speakers. Currently, the WAC3500D is available in Europe for around £260 ($522).
Logitech acquiring Slim Devices
There's nothing we love more around here than a bit of surprising news, and next to HP's recent purchase of VoodooPC, Logitech's just-announced acquisition of Slim Devices caught us off guard like nothing has in awhile. According to Slim CEO Sean Adams, his company -- which makes such streaming audio products as the Squeezebox and Transporter -- will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Logitech -- maker of nearly every kind peripheral under the sun -- with the entire Slim team having already accepted employment offers from their new overlord. The newly-swallowed Slim will remain in its Mountain View offices and retain its executive structure for the "foreseeable future," while gaining the marketing power, retail partnerships, and economy of scale benefits enjoyed by larger corporations. As you're probably aware, Logitech has already dipped its toe into the streaming audio pool with such products as the Wireless DJ Music System, so snatching up Slim will give it a better foothold in this market along with the invaluable expertise offered by Slim's employees. For the consumer, this partnership will probably result in lower prices as well as attractive bundles featuring Slim gear and Logitech speakers / remotes, although you can never really predict how an acquisition will affect a company's innovation and product quality. Still, quite the interesting bit of news, and we're excited to see what kind of swag the Slim team will produce now that they have more muscle and capital behind them.
