Onkyo Adds HD Radio Add-On, Pod Docks

By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 5/4/2009

Upper Saddle River, N.J. — Onkyo introduced an add-on HD Radio tuner for its latest receivers and a new iPhone/iPod dock, which is the company's first dock with Works with iPhone certification.

The tuner and dock plug into a new universal port (U-Port) available on two receivers introduced earlier this year and planned for most new Onkyo receivers in the future, a spokesman said. U-Port connections enable a single-cable connection to transfer control signals, audio and video between module and receiver.

The UP-A1 dock charges an iPhone or iPod and lets users control the portable devices via the Onkyo A/V receivers' supplied remote. The dock also streams music to the receivers along with iPod-stored video in component-video format. The dock is compatible with almost every iPod player, including the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch, and will be available in May at a suggested retail of $109.

The UP-HT1 HD Radio tuner, due in July at a suggested retail of $159, allows for daisychaining a second U-Port module to a receiver.

For Onkyo receivers lacking U-Ports, Onkyo has begun shipping its third-generation iPod dock, the $139-suggested DS-A3.

The dock is compatible with Onkyo's RI (Remote Interactive) protocol, so it can be controlled by remotes supplied with Onkyo's RI-compatible receivers.

The dock's stereo and video inputs are handled by separate cables.