iPhone, iPod Touch Turn Into Remotes
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 4/9/2008
Riverside, Calif. — SpeakerCraft has turned the iPhone and iPod Touch into handheld wireless-RF remotes that control its MODE multiroom-audio system.
To use a Wi-Fi-equipped iPhone or Touch as a remote, consumers need a $1,000-suggested ERS 1.0 component, which plugs into a home’s wireless Wi-Fi router via Ethernet cable to talk to the handheld devices. The ERS’ embedded Web server uses the home’s Wi-Fi network to deliver a SpeakerCraft-developed multiroom-audio user interface through the device’s standard Safari Web browser. The interface controls all central audio sources and routing.
“Soon any [in-wall multiroom-audio] keypad that isn’t emulated on a device like the iPhone will be obsolete,” claimed SpeakerCraft president Jeremy Burkhardt.
The color interface features large virtual buttons and shares the look and feel of an iPhone interface, requiring a small learning curve, the company said. In addition, users don’t have to install software on their iPhone or Touch because the interface is accessed through the device’s existing Apple Safari Web browser.
“You can have an unlimited number of iPhones operating your system and even have two simultaneously operating in multiple zones,” Burkhardt added.
The ERS also presents a multiroon-audio interface intended for display on a standard PC or Mac.
iPhones and iPod Touches remotely control custom-installed multiroom-audio systems remotes with the use of SpeakerCraft’s ERS 1 component.
