Minneapolis – Best Buy launched
that gives
users handheld remote control of a do-it-yourself wireless multi-room audio
system that incorporates Rocketboost wireless-audio technology.
The company also launched a PC
app that, like the iOS app for Apple’s mobile devices, directs music from a PC equipped
with a Rocketboost sender or from other Rocketboost-enabled sources to
Rocketboost-equipped products throughout the house.
Other Rocketboost sources include
Insignia-branded connected TVs, an Insignia A/V receiver and an Insignia HTiB.
Products that can reproduce music from Rocketboost sources include wireless active
speakers, an Insignia soundbar, a sender/receiver to add to any sound system,
and an amplified sender/receiver to connect to any pair of passive speakers.
Besides letting users direct
music to one or more Rocketboost devices, the iOS app lets users view PC-stored
music on their iOS device’s display screen.
Previously, consumers could
access Rocketboost sources by pressing a next-source button on select
Rocketboost products to cycle through connected Rocketboost sources. On a
Rocketboost-equipped TV, a graphical user interface lets users select sources
and choose the devices to which music will be streamed.
Some Rocketboost products feature
built-in Rocketboost wireless, and others require the addition of an optional
dongle.
The iOS app operates on iPod touches,
iPhones and iPads and is available for free at Apple’s app store. The PC app is
available free at
.
Within a home, a combination of
up to nine sending and receiving devices can be set up to stream up to five
Rocketboost sources or PC-stored songs simultaneously. Music is sent as an
uncompressed 24-bit/48kHz-encoded PCM audio signal.
Last September, the company
of its Rocketboost selection.
Though the app uses an iOS
device’s Wi-Fi to send commands to a networked PC, the app recognizes any
source connected to the Rocketboost network as long as a Rocketboost
sender/receiver is connected to the PC. The app will not turn on/off any
Rocketboost-networked product.
