Las Vegas – A tabletop
docking-speaker system designed by Digital Innovations for Android smartphones
doesn’t use Bluetooth but delivers IR-remote control of phone-stored music.
The $99-suggested Speaker Dock
For Android charges almost any Android phone via its MicroUSB port. Music
streams to the speaker via the phone’s 3.5mm headphone output. The dock’s
MicroUSB connector is connected to a cable that retracts into the dock’s
chassis. A 3.5mm audio jack is connected to the end of another retractable
cable to plug into the phone’s headphone output.
To control the docked Android
phone via IR remote, users install a free app onto the phone, delivering
control over the music player’s volume, skip up/down, play, and pause. Music
playback must first be started from the phone’s user interface.
The same functions can also be
controlled from buttons on the dock’s chassis.
The dock’s cables are 8 inches
long, enabling users to cradle a phone in portrait or landscape mode regardless
of the location of the phone’s MicroUSB port and headphone output, the company
said.
The area where the phone is
cradled supports Android phones with protective cases and helps hide the
cables.
The dock’s 2.1-speaker system
delivers 2×3 watts to the left-right drivers and 10 watts to a subwoofer.
Other Android-specific speaker
docks also use MicroUSB ports to charge the docked phone, but those models use
stereo Bluetooth to stream music from the phone to the speaker, requiting users
to first pair the phone with the dock.
