Hasta La Gadget!

Denon’s got the Apple AirPlay bug and bad. The company was showing off several AirPlay compatible 2010 receivers (models ending with “11”) at the CEDIA show last week including this new RCD-N7 CD jobbie. The $599 unit coupled with a pair of $199 SC-N7 speakers features an iPhone dock (or USB jack) for local music sourcing. Otherwise, it’ll stream audio from the likes of Rhapsody, Napster, Pandora and Last.fm. Better yet, the receiver also features a Party Mode Plus setting for a five-system multi-zone setup scattered throughout the home, all managed by Denon’s new iPod / iPhone / iPad Remote App. Look for it to hit shelves in October along side Denon’s $49 AirPlay update. That’s right, it’s no freebie — an unfortunate precedent for anyone hoping to update their existing audio gear.

Denon RCD-N7 loves a wireless party, AirPlay too after $49 update originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 06:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s an interesting tidbit. Denon‘s admittedly pricey AVR-4311CI — which was introduced in late April — may very well end up being the first major product to gain iTunes AirPlay compatibility retroactively. Yeah, retroactively. According to an updated product listing, the AVR will see a “planned upgrade” in the fall of 2010 that will “provide Apple iTunes AirPlay compatibility [that will let you] stream your favorite music to the AVR-4311CI.” Now, we already knew that Denon was a partner of both Apple and BridgeCo (the enabling company behind AirPlay), but this is first mention of any existing product receiving a simple upgrade (firmware, we’re guessing) that would add support for Apple’s newly touted streaming feature. In other words, this may mean that hundreds, if not thousands, of AirPlay compatible devices are already on the market, and just as soon as Apple and / or BridgeCo green-lights the respective firmware updates, home entertainment systems everywhere may gain support for a protocol that wasn’t even public before last week. Here’s hoping, right?

[Thanks, Ben]

Denon’s AVR-4311CI to gain AirPlay compatibility this fall — that easy, huh? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week’s episode of the Gadget Lab podcast is heavy on fruits. High on vitamin A, Dylan Tweney gushes over the pluot, a plum-apricot hybrid, while yours truly dishes out this week’s announcements of brand new Apple gear.

Apple’s iPod family all scored major upgrades. The iPod Nano has become a puny touchscreen badge with a built-in clip that should be ideal for athletes, and the iPod Touch is now up to par with the iPhone 4. The iPod Shuffle was refreshed as well — also a badge-like clippable form factor, but with the traditional click wheel rather than a touchscreen.

Apple also announced a brand new Apple TV that’s about a quarter of the size of its predecessor. It streams movie and television rentals, but it faces one major limitation:  only two television networks (Fox and ABC) are on board to offer programs for the device. For now, it’s not an adequate replacement for cable TV.

However, in a future software update, iOS devices will be able to wirelessly stream their iTunes videos and music onto the Apple TV by using a feature called “AirPlay.” We ponder on the potential for Apple to reshape the TV industry if the company eventually allows you to beam content from third-party iOS apps (such as Hulu) onto the Apple TV. It’s wishful thinking, but not an impossibility.

Finally, Samsung has officially launched a tablet to compete with Apple’s iPad. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7-inch touchscreen tablet powered by Android OS 2.2, meaning it supports Adobe Flash. We share our impressions of the device after some hands-on testing.

Oh, and those pluots? They come from Frog Hollow Farm, and they really are delicious.

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our smiling faces, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #87

http://downloads.wired.com/podcasts/assets/gadgetlabaudio/GadgetLabAudio0087.mp3

Promotional Image from Apple.com.

The App Store has offered a Remote app for iOS devices for a while now, but the new Apple TV might be the best use-case to show what an app-based touchscreen remote can do.

The new Apple TV had two remotes. The first is the minimalist metal slab that will ship with your tiny box. The second is the iOS application that you’ll download from the App store.

The first iteration of Apple TV had the same little white infrared remote the company used to ship with laptops. It was great for clicking through a slideshow presentation. It wasn’t very good to keep around your living room, unless you stuck it in a bowl with your keys. It wasn’t a real remote, and most people hated keeping track of another remote anyway, especially one that got lost at the drop of a hat.

The new remote, released earlier this year, isn’t a lot different from that old white remote. It’s a nicer device; like everything else Apple makes now besides the new square iPods, it’s a long strip of aluminum. It’s still got just six buttons: up, down, right, left, play/pause and menu.

But that minimalism seems almost smarter now. Apple now seems to be figuring out the exact number of hardware buttons it needs on each device. It took away too much on the iPod Shuffle, so now some buttons are coming back. It wanted to get rid of the buttons on the Nano, so it changed it to touchscreen.

For the Apple TV, it’s keeping the action on the screen, with the software interface. Make that easy to navigate, give people the exact options they need depending on context, and you don’t need dozens of buttons on the remote/media player/phone.

Maybe you don’t even need a remote, though. That’s because Apple TV’s second remote control is the Apple-made mobile device that Apple TV customers probably already own.

Seriously — what are the chances of someone buying Apple TV who doesn’t have an iPod, iPad or iPhone?

[Continue reading]

Steve didn’t mention it during his keynote just now, but in addition to bringing AirPlay music streaming to iOS 4.2 and iTunes 10, Apple’s also opening the tech up to third parties, with a few big names already on board. That means you’ll be able to stream music from iTunes, your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to speaker docks, receivers and stereos from companies like Denon, Marantz, Bowers & Wilkins, JBL and iHome, complete with song, album, and artist info and album art. That certainly makes the system much more flexible, especially since you can stream to multiple speakers at once — and damn, building a mix-and-match whole-house audio system just got incredibly easy. We’re definitely digging for more info on this and some release dates for compatible gear, we’ll let you know.

[Thanks, Iain]

Apple’s AirPlay music streaming coming to third party speaker docks, receivers, and stereos originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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