The Wireless Audio BlogThe Wireless Audio Bloghttp://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2011-03-14T21:15:02ZSquarespaceBowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air demos at CES. Bring on the AirPlay...http://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2011/1/8/bowers-wilkins-zeppelin-air-demos-at-ces-bring-on-the-airpla.htmlMTC2011-01-08T08:14:53Z2011-01-08T08:14:53Z

Nothing can be better for wireless audio user experience than Apple being successful with AirPlay. This means that every launch partner delivering great user experiences and value to consumers.

Great stuff.

via engadget

]]>Engadget: iHome iW2 and iW3 AirPlay wireless speakers hands-on sneak peekhttp://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2011/1/8/engadget-ihome-iw2-and-iw3-airplay-wireless-speakers-hands-o.htmlMTC2011-01-08T08:09:34Z2011-01-08T08:09:34Z

iHome is busy making a line out of AirPlay. It's been a blast working on these.

Both systems are essentially identical internally, with two low-range drivers and two tweeters, but the iW2 is laid out horizontally, while the iW3 is a tower. Since they're designed to be cheaper fixed satellite speakers for around your house, they don't have internal batteries or the iW1's grab-and-go charger, but they do pick up Ethernet ports, and you can still use the new iHome Connect setup application. No word on price, but the iW1 is $300 and these are meant to be cheaper -- we'd guess $200 or so.

via engadget

]]>iHome iW1 AirPlay wireless speaker hands-onhttp://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2011/1/8/ihome-iw1-airplay-wireless-speaker-hands-on.htmlMTC2011-01-08T08:06:40Z2011-01-08T08:06:40Z

 

]]>CES 2011: Onkyo Adopting Avnera-developed Rocketboosthttp://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2011/1/8/ces-2011-onkyo-adopting-avnera-developed-rocketboost.htmlMTC2011-01-08T08:00:44Z2011-01-08T08:00:44ZAll Onkyo receivers introduced in 2011 will connect via the company's proprietary U-port to an optional Rocketboost transceiver module to transmit audio to a remote Rocketboost receiver module, which will either be built into or plugged into planned Onkyo Zone 2 audio systems.

Onkyo's first Zone 2 system will be a compact one-piece unit with networking capability, built-in speakers, iPod/iPhone dock and optional Rocketboost card. The system will be the first of a growing line of Rocketboost-enabled Onkyo products, the company said.

via TWICE

]]>New digshttp://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2010/12/31/new-digs.htmlMTC2010-12-31T06:59:10Z2010-12-31T06:59:10ZThe Wireless Audio Blog is now hosted by Squarespace. I will miss many features of the self-hosted Wordpress system I had before, but Squarespace seems to have their stuff together and keeps things low maintenance, which is always good.

I also hope this and the nifty iOS app means I will get back to posting more regularly, particularly as CES and AirPlay take center stage over the coming weeks.

Cheers!

]]>Today on @wirelessaudiohttp://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2010/11/4/today-on-wirelessaudio.htmlMTC2010-11-04T10:05:00Z2010-11-04T10:05:00Z
  • New AirPlay icon revealed in latest iOS 4.2 GM seed, Apple AirPlay from iOS devices imminent... http://bit.ly/aLcY84 #
  • Rocketfish Rocketboost Wireless Card signals things to come... http://bit.ly/dyYRN3 #
  • Rocketfish's Rocketboost Wireless Stereo Headphones brings Rocketboost interoperability to headphones. http://bit.ly/9Ihr2o #
    • ]]>    Denon, Marantz first (besides Apple) to deliver AirPlay to the "masses"...http://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2010/10/12/denon-marantz-first-besides-apple-to-deliver-airplay-to-the.htmlMTC2010-10-13T00:29:44Z2010-10-13T00:29:44ZDenon Electronics and Marantz America announce they will each offer Apples AirPlay music streaming capability via upgrades to nine network-capable audio/video components in their product lineups. via Denon, Marantz Add Apple AirPlay to 9 Products - CE Pro Article from CE Pro.]]>Today on @wirelessaudiohttp://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2010/9/16/today-on-wirelessaudio.htmlMTC2010-09-16T10:05:00Z2010-09-16T10:05:00Z
  • Is BridgeCo the foundation for 'Made for AirPlay' Apple accessories http://t.co/1s6JDl2 via @engadget #
  • Denon's AVR-4311CI to gain AirPlay compatibility this fall -- that easy, huh http://t.co/rPNqel6 via @engadget #
    • ]]>    Today on @wirelessaudiohttp://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2010/9/10/today-on-wirelessaudio.htmlMTC2010-09-10T10:05:00Z2010-09-10T10:05:00Z
  • Great user story about Rocketboost's versatility. Go Rocketfish and Avnera! Thanks Carl. http://bit.ly/aZEkii #
    • ]]>    AirPlay audio launches, enabled by BridgeCohttp://www.wirelessaudioblog.com/wab/2010/9/9/airplay-audio-launches-enabled-by-bridgeco.htmlMTC2010-09-09T15:04:54Z2010-09-09T15:04:54ZBridgeCo, was revealed over the last week to be the vendor providing AirPlay-enabling hardware to third-party speaker and audio system manufacturers. They are currently enabling iHome, Denon and others via their JukeBlox modular circuit design which contains a networked media processor at its core along with the mixed signal circuits required for carrying out home networking duties, required by AirPlay. Note from BridgeCo that AirPlay requires numerous capabilities above and beyond a basic networking stack, including:
    • Authentication, communication and streaming with iTunes Mac/PC
    • Support for Apple “Remote” iPhone/iPad/iPod touch control and system interface/control commands
    • Simplified network setup featuring WPS, JB Connect and Bonjour/uPnP discovery
    • Fail-safe system code upgrade support options – internet direct, home network or USB
    • System management web pages

    BridgeCo's offering

    The JukeBlox platform is capable of tons of stuff. However, Apple's AirPlay finally gives some rationalization to the market, in the form of clear marketing and huge installed base, for these streaming audio technologies in general. Even as Gene Sheridan, BridgeCo CEO notes in a CNBC article,

    "(Apple) know(s) how to take a complex and feature-rich technology and narrow it." How narrow? Sheridan said after getting a peek inside, BridgeCo provided Apple with a long list of what it could offer the company. "They picked three."

    Make no mistake, BridgeCo's ten years in networked audio has created a fairly large offering of pretty cool capabilities: Pandora and Rhapsody streaming, Sirius/XM, DLNA, UPnP. Going forward however, it is reasonable to assume the volume opportunities for BridgeCo will surpass and marginalize the relevance of the litany of non-AirPlay specific capabilities (however cool they are). Which for companies like iHome, and thus many mainstream consumers, means the AirPlay-enabling solution will become more cost-effective in time, as well. The hardware required to pull off all those nifty features ain't cheap, and as Apple said, they only need three of them! All that aside, BridgeCo did their homework, stayed close to Apple, and when the opportunity finally availed itself, they struck and got the big design win for AirPlay audio. Commendable and impressive for a small company to not lose focus on where their volume opportunities resided.

    What does it mean for product makers?

    For product makers like iHome, it is vital to understand what BridgeCo's technology does and does not provide. Product makers spend a lot of time and effort to make features come to life and provide meaning to consumers in the context of their lifestyles. For AirPlay, it is no different. BridgeCo has to support and work to enable end-products to meet the requirements their makers define, balancing what is possible with what is meaningful. Product makers spend the majority of their time figuring out a product that:
    • delivers the highlights of what AirPlay makes possible
    • provides a simple out-of-box experience
    • offers a bona-fide sound solution
    • keeps the price of the product palatable
    These make up the key challenges for defining a successful AirPlay product. So while Apple has opened up a protocol and provided key IP, and BridgeCo has implemented those features into a hardware module, there is still lots of work to make it appealing to end-users and market is succesfully before AirPlay or any of it's enabled products become widespread hits.

    Take-away

    It's a big multi-party effort to develop products in Apple's ecosystem, and for some companies, it's a great business. BridgeCo has wiggled in and carved out a sandbox that may also provide it a path to profitability that it's been seeking for the last decade.

    For BridgeCo, which still isn't profitable (but hopes to be so by the second half of next year), the impact of the Apple deal is immense. It should provide more than half the company's revenues, though, even without the Apple deal, Sheridan says the company's backlog "is at an all-time high." Still, with 120 million people owning some sort of Apple i-product, the opportunities are "intimidating", and Sheridan has spent a good part of the last year lining up suppliers to make sure there won't be any manufacturing glitches.

    It's execution time.]]>