Hasta La Gadget!

Had your eye on an AirPlay accessory for your iPhone or iPod touch? Well, Pioneer is looking to help you pull the trigger on one. The company has announced a new set of AirPlay Music Tap systems that enable access to your music library without being chained to a peripheral. By connecting one of these bad boys to your home WiFi or ethernet network, you’ll be able to access your entire iTunes library in various locations throughout your home — ‘course, having Apple’s free Remote app will ensure maximum utility. Other features include a 2.5-inch full-color LCD display, Pandora, iHeartRadio, vTuner internet radio and Air Jam, which allows for playlist sharing on your arsenal of the company’s Music Tap systems. When this pair drops in October, you’ll have your choice of the X-SMC-3-S for $400 or the more dapper, bluetooth-enabled X-SMC4-Elite for $480. You can take a peek at the Elite, along with the full PR, after the break.

Continue reading AirPlay-enabled Music Tap systems touted by Pioneer, free us from living room control

AirPlay-enabled Music Tap systems touted by Pioneer, free us from living room control originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 02:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Updated below at 4 p.m. EDT with additional information

The wait for an Apple-centric solution to cloud-based music streaming is almost over.

Apple has released iTunes Match to those enrolled in its developer program. Tuesday’s announcement included a short video tour of the service, which is available only to those who are running iOS 10.5 Beta 6.1 and were quick enough to grab one of few beta subscriptions Apple offered.

Match works in conjunction with Apple iCloud, which allows users to store iTunes playlists remotely. With iTunes Match, you don’t have to store music files on your iDevice: They’re simply streamed from the cloud. You do have the option to download tracks, as the video shows.

We haven’t heard much about iTunes Match since it was revealed at WWDC 2011. The service costs $25 a year and allows a maximum of 25,000 songs or as much as 250 gigs of space, assuming songs are four minutes long and compressed at 320 kbps.

Of course, iTunes Match isn’t the first streaming-music option. Ten bucks a month gets you a subscription to Rdio, which offers an iPhone and iPad app. Rdio also features a great playlist collaborating-and-sharing feature. Spotify, also available for $10 a month for the premium version, offers convenient offline syncing in its iOS and Android apps.

At $25 a year, iTunes Match is a significantly cheaper option, though.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems with iTunes Match and similar services is that the demise of unlimited data plans means streaming your tunes takes a big bite out of monthly data usage. If you want to stream freely, make sure you’re connected to a good Wi-Fi connection.

If you’re hoping to score a beta version of iTunes Match, keep checking back over the next few days, as Apple will continue to expand its beta-testing pool.

Update:

According to AllThingsD, Apple’s iTunes Match service does not stream from iCloud, it requires you to download songs from your virtual, cloud-based “locker” onto whatever device you are listening on. This applies to any music title, whether it was purchased from iTunes or acquired from another source.

The “stream” in the video below is actually a simultaneous download and listen. This means Apple’s service is probably not technically a true streaming platform, since a copy of the song is needed on your iDevice in order to play. However, iTunes Match would still provide on-demand access to the music in your locker, so if you switch devices, you still have immediate access to all of your music.

Wired has asked Apple to comment.

via Insanely Great Mac

Image: Jim Merithew/Wired

See Also:

• Apple Snips the Cord on iTunes, Reveals iCloud Strategy
• iCloud’s the Limit: How iOS 5, Lion Push Apple’s Lock-In Strategy
• Apple’s Music iCloud Is Nice, Not Revolutionary
• Hack Allows iTunes Music Streaming to Any Device
• Stream Your Music From the Cloud

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