Marantz Adds Bluetooth To iPod Dock

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 11/24/2008

Mahwah, N.J. — Marantz is turning to Bluetooth to make it more convenient for consumers to play iPod-stored music through home A/V systems.

The IS301 dock, due in January at a suggested $250, consists of a Bluetooth-equipped handheld cradle that

Marantz‘s Bluetooth-equipped iPod dock.

holds a person’s iPod. Consumers select music from the iPod’s menu, and the cradle transmits audio and control signals via Bluetooth to a Bluetooth-equipped connection block near an audio system. The connection block connects to the audio system via its RCA outputs.

When not in a user’s hands, the iPod and its cradle sit in a circular table-top recharging/docking station, which can be placed on an end table or nightstand.

The docking station itself, however, can also be mounted on a wall and connected via CAT-5 cable to transmit iPod-stored video and photos to the IS301’s connection block, which also features composite-, S- and component-video outputs. In this use case, consumers aim a supplied credit-card-size remote at the iPod-holding recharging/docking station to choose videos, photos, and music from an on-TV menu, which is created by the connection block.

The connection block also features IR input and output for integration with multi-room A/V systems and home-control systems.

The IS301 is designed for current-generation iPods, including the touch, but not iPhones.

Marantz’s current iPod dock, the $149-suggested IS201, is a wired model that features on-TV display, composite- and S-video outputs, IR I/O and a more basic onscreen display.