iPods get Bluetooth, Remote Control

imagin8or writes "TheRegister tells us that Griffin, makers of various stylish Mac accessories, is adding remote and Bluetooth addons for iPods: BlueTrip, to connect your iPod to your hi-fi wirelessly, and AirClick, to remote control your iPod, iPod mini, or Mac/PC (3 products) via RF. The article also mentions FireWave (due Q2), which will be a FireWire connected (and powered) digital surround sound module. Now you can control your hi-fi from your iPod, your iPod from your remote and therefore lose both in the sofa cushions without pausing your electro-pop playlist."

Comments

A remote?

[AtariAmarok]

I think there is something a little amusing when the remote is not much smaller than the thing being controlled with it.

Re:A remote?

[avalys]

What are you talking about? My iPod is not larger than my stereo's remote (if a bit heavier), both of them are a lot smaller than the system itself.

Re:A remote?

[AtariAmarok]

I've got 3 remotes. One is iPod sized. The other two are larger.

Re:A remote?

[VDM]

mmm. the point is: is the remote for controlling the iPod smaller than the iPod itself?
If it is of the same size as your stereo remote, no.

Dupe...

[Anonymous Coward]

dont feel like finding the link.... but i know it is....

wireless?

[underactive]

now the iPod won't be as lame anymore. ;-)

Re:wireless?

[bill_mcgonigle]

now the iPod won't be as lame anymore. ;-)

It still has less capacity than a Nomad.

Christ, 12 hours and noone took your bait?

Re:wireless?

[Anonymous Coward]

The nomad is still the player to beat though...

WiFi would be cooler

[NardofDoom]

Imagine if you could stream music from your iPod to an Airport Express from anywhere in your house that has WiFi. Or share music via 802.11 from your iPod to any other iPod or iTunes client in the subnet that has this feature turned on. That would also be cool.

Re:WiFi would be cooler

[lpangelrob2]

I've thought about it. I picked up an Airport Express for the future a few days ago (my wife and I won't be living in a one-bedroom apartment forever, plus her mac is acting weird when I try to network print to it). I also picked up monster cables at half price from the Apple store. We ended up doing something like you describe.

Basically, she wanted to play songs from her iPod on the surround sound system, which is connected via the Monster cables to the Airport Express... without getting off the couch. (We were tired. :-) Since the iPod is synced with her computer anyway, I went over and shared her library. Then it was just a matter of opening the PowerBook, getting to the shared library in iTunes, and playing songs from her desktop library over the PowerBook onto the Living Room speakers that were connected to the AirPort Express. It takes less time to do this than to describe it.

That was one of those blissful moments where I finally realized that integrating computers with media didn't have to be hard... nor require a separate "media center"... and with apple's stuff, it almost never is hard, and you can extend what you have for minor cost. It's a textbook example of making things that are hard possible. :-) This is roughly the situation you outlined.

Anyways, back to making a JDBC driver for MS SQL Server work... dammit...

Re:WiFi would be cooler

[NardofDoom]

Well, yeah, there's lots of other ways to do it, but doing it directly from the iPod, with all the controls there, would be really awesome.

Re:WiFi would be cooler

[Anonymous Coward]

I stick my iPod in the Dock, and control playback from my bluetooth mobile (SonyEricsson K700i). On-phone browsing, volume control, track/album/time info, library searching, etc.

Sound's sent to the hifi over the AirPort Express. I wonder if iTunes's 'AirTunes' device selection is AppleScript-able? That way, with an AE for each stereo, I could pipe the audio to wherever I am right from the phone.

Remote Control?

[tyman]

You buy an iPod so you can fit your music in your pocket, not place it across the room and conrol it from the couch. And for 39.99 US, what a gimick!

Re:Remote Control?

[Spytap]

This is exactly what I've been looking for. I spend most of my iPodding time in my car. This way, my iPod spends it's time safely in my glove box and I can just use the remote to scroll through the songs.

Re:Remote Control?

[tyman]

I use the TuneDok in the car with an iTrip. It seems to work really well, keeping my iPod within arms reach. Then the dock folds up and fits in my armrest compartment to prevent the car thieves from getting any nasty ideas.

HTPC

[Anonymous Commando]

Get a Mac Mini, the FireWave, and the AirClick, and you've got yourself a nice little setup that can plug into your home theater system. The FireWave sounds exactly like what some people have been saying that the Mac Mini needs, better audio out options. Ask and ye shall receive...

Re:HTPC

[k_187]

Yup, one of those and an ElGato box, you've got a Tivo like that will drop right into a network, and allow other uses on the TV, email, web whatever. Very nice. Especially since for 20 bucks over the price of the mac mini, you can get the TV out, and then add the extra componets whenever. Which is what I'm planning on doing. Stereo DVD box with email and music streaming. Then tivo, then 5.1 sound or something. Very nice.

Re:HTPC

[bynary]

Exactly. I'm planning on getting a Mac mini to replace my stereo and dvd player. The Firewave is the icing on the cake.

Re:HTPC

[bynary]

Oh, almost forgot...add the Keyspan Express Remote and you'll be ready to go.

Re:HTPC

[Anonymous Coward]

Get a free mac mini from here, http://www.freeminimacs.com/?r=13908694/

Re:HTPC

[Anonymous Coward]

A bit expensive, but I'd love to do the same thing.

What's missing is good "entertainment appliance" software. Mythfrontend is almost there - if only it was easy to set up relatively independently of a MythTV backend.

Perhaps if ElGato released a software version of eyeHome, we'd truly see the iHome we were all dreaming of a few days ago. All they'd really have to add to it would be the ability to recognise when DVDs are inserted, and deal with the different kinds of data stored on the DVDs (movie discs vs. DivX files, etc.), and you've got a pretty decent (and SMALL) setup.

Once Tiger arrives we're a handful of dashboard widgets away from home theatre nirvana.

Firewave on shopping list for Mac mini Home?

[amichalo]

Any thoughts on adding the firewave to a Mac mini with an EyeTV 200 and a bluetooth wireless keyboard/mouse combo from Motion Computing?

Lame

[Evil_Way]

Wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Halfway lame.

Re:Lame

[tyman]

Except Nomads have a tendency to stop working after the headphone jack breaks due to bad sautering. It happens often.

Re:Lame

[akpoff]

Sautering...is that where you make electrical connections by throwing the components in a pan, lightly coated with tin, and heat over a low flame for 3 - 5 minutes? Personally I solder but perhaps Creative are staffed by refuge chef's with a penchant for micro-electronics.

Re:Lame

[jmontana66]

... staffed by refuge chef's...

You were doing so well up until the end. That should be refugee chefs. If you're going to rip on someone for poor spelling, at least have the decency to proof your own post.

$150??

[jxyama]

blue trip is $149... wouldn't an iPod dock/airport express combo be more functional for about the same price?

Re:$150??

[jxyama]

actually, i stand corrected... blue trip will let you roam around with the iPod... but i'm still not sure if it's worth that much $$$. a nice gadget for those with cash, i guess.

how's the battery life?

Sounds reasonable...

[singularity]

There is already a remote for the iPod, but it is IR, not RF. It is also priced at $49 (I believe) which makes the Griffin remote a little better the cheaper, to boot.

The big thing that all the iPod remotes I have seen are missing is the ability to jump playlists.

Keyspan has their new Express Remote which can plug into an Airport Express and offers a lot more power. I have a Keyspan Digital Media Remote attached to my computer and I love it. I simply mapped two of the buttons to an AppleScript that advances ahead a playlist and then text-to-speeches the name of the new playlist.

I am wondering if the ability to skip ahead a playlist is built into the functionality of the iPod.

Re:Sounds reasonable...

[Golias]

What I want is a big Dock with standard RCA out (if not optical audio), a remote control which mimics the scroll wheel, and a big enough display to see it from across the room. (A video signal to my AV-switching amp would be almost as good as a display, I suppose.)

Then using the iPod with my home stereo would be just like using any other component, except I dock the iPod instead of loading media into it.

I thought about building some of this once, but unless you are a company which is at least the size of Griffin or Monster, the people at Apple won't even sell you a schematic of the dock pin-outs, let alone tell you which is which.

Re:Sounds reasonable...

[PedanticSpellingTrol]

Reverse Engineers say what?

Re:Sounds reasonable...

[paz5]

There is an other product calles remoteremote2 that has been out for a while. Here is a review of it, or the store with images. It comes with a small keychain fob like the alarm ones for cars. I have wanted one so that my ipod could remain in my backpack and the controls im my pocket / hand without any wires in the way.

I lust after Bluetrip

[Dark Paladin]

I've had an iPod for about 3 years now (first a 5 GB that I sold on eBay 2 years ago when I bought my 30 GB), and Bluetrip is the "last thing" that I needed.

I have a CD player that's gone unused for over a year now because of my iPod, but to play on my stereo receiver I've used a Monster RCA cable of sorts.

Apple should be including Bluetrip as part of their hype, much as they used Belkin's to show off how to get photos from your digital camera to the iPod for storage.

Only Bluetrip looks cooler. Sit the iPod down in a charging spot, and you've got a music remote control and never need a CD player again.

The only way to make this better now is to let us sync our iPods to our computers as well. This way, I could buy music online, tell my iPod to Sync, and get my latest music on the Pod without having to move it from its perch (well, until I take it out to drive to work, but that's a different issue).

Better yet: the iMote

[AtariAmarok]

Better yet, let's see Apple apply their engineering to the problematic remote control, with its zillion buttons, labels that rub off within 8 months, and you need a pile of them to run your TV/satellite/DVD/etc.

Re:Better yet: the iMote

[Mrhilaryduff]

Perhaps then you'll actually be able to remotely controly your ipod, via your ipod.

My Dream

[Grayden]

I just want to connect an iPod to my car's stereo (stock equipment) with a minimum of fuss. BlueTooth seems like a nice way to do it. Couldn't you theoretically build a BlueTooth receiver and the other relevant electronics into something the size of an audio cassette and still have room for a AAA battery or two to power it? Then you could slap your BlueTape© into the cassette player and stream music to your car's stereo from a BlueTooth-equipped iPod.

Re:My Dream

[imagin8or]

Then I suggest you read the Griffin site a bit more thoroughly. They sell a cassette adapter for the iPod named the Smartdeck, which uses your car stereo's controls to control the iPod. It's not wireless, but it's clever, and connects an iPod to a car stereo with a minimum of fuss...

I am more excited by this

[mzs]

M-Audio Transit available now. Digital audio in/out via USB.

Re:I am more excited by this

[tinpan]

The FireWave looks better for home theater because it has 5.1 surround sound support.

The M-Audo Transit is good for stereo in/out, but the iMic adapter is half the price.

Remote via Tape Player

[majkqball]

Griffin also released the "SmartDeck" - a remote/tape interface. This ought to make integration with car radios cheaper and nicer, sans the Alpine/iPod kit ($200 for the deck, $100 for the iPod adapter + installation).

Link here: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/smartdec k/index.php

They automagically upped my shipping from $6 ground to $10 2nd day air without my approval though. Watch your shipping charge.

Oh yeah, they say it'll ship in Q2 2005.

Re:Remote via Tape Player

[damienl451]

This adapter looks great but I can't help wondering if many people still have TAPE players in their cars, given the very low price of CD players nowadays (even those with MP3 decoding capabilities). But anyway, it's great for those who still own a old car radio and live in countries where FM transmitters are illegal...

Re:Remote via Tape Player

[majkqball]

My Toyotas have both CD and tape players. Helps they're the huge style (Double DIN perhaps?).

Quality?

[waynelorentz]

I like the concept of the Bluetooth device. But I worry about the quality because it's being made by Griffin. I bought two iTrips -- one for my 1st gen iPod, and one for my wife's 3rd gen iPod. They both suck. They don't work in the car like they should, and at home I have to put the iPod on top of the stereo to get a clear signal. I've been very very disappointed with them.

Re:Quality?

[kaan]

I worry about the quality because it's being made by Griffin. I bought two iTrips -- one for my 1st gen iPod, and one for my wife's 3rd gen iPod. They both suck.

I've had similar experiences with the iTrip (I agree, they suck), but from all the reading I've done, it seems that's mostly a function of the concept sucking, not the specific implementation. Said another way, most of the other radio tuner things by other manufacturers also suck, some more than Griffen's iTrip.

The only one I've seen that looks like it would actually function is the pod freq by Sonnet. Of course, it's giganto compared to the size of the iTrip, and it also costs about $100 at places like Amazon, etc.

Re:Quality?

[Anonymous Coward]

that's really odd, i use an itrip with my 3g 10gb ipod and my fiancee's ipod mini. other than order of operations (plug in, then power on) problems, the quality has been great. i find that if i'm hearing too much hdd or alternator whine, i just need to turn the ipod up. i usually have the ipod resting on my lap or on the flat beneath my e-brake handle. ymmv, but i only use 87.9, which it comes set at by default.
e

FireWave

[Anonymous Coward]

Oooo, that would've been a good name for wireless FireWire. Too bad it's taken by digital audio via FireWire. The name FireWire just doesn't cut it for wireless connection.

The other side of the equation:

[Gropo]

Now, Griffin, if you would feel so inclined as to offer us a stereo bluetooth headset with voice com capabilities that doesn't appear to be completely worthless junk? Yours, -Frustrated by tangles and snags

naviPlay.

[Anonymous Freak]

Try the naviPlay. Bluetooth transmitter and receiver. Supposedly good quality, but I haven't seen an actual review, nor seen one out of it's packaging. (The Apple Store in Portland has them, but none out on display.)

One story claims it will come with HP Bluetooth headphones 'when it is released', but I saw it in a store yesterday with no headphones...