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Friday, January 19, 2007
CES was ripe with iPod gadgets last week and truth is, it was hard to see the golden tree amongst the thick forest. But if you kept your eyes open, you would have seen a little something from silex. It’s golden apple is the wiDock and what an apple it is!
Docks are becoming as common as, well, as apples these days for iPods. What separates wiDock from the crowd is it’s magical ability to make sure everything on that iPod is current. It synchronizes wirelessly. Aah, I’m already in love with it! But it goes an extra step and will sync up to five different iPods to five different PCs or Macs on your network! Now we’re talking!
John Halloran, Project Manager at silex, took time out of his busy schedule to tell SvenOnTech all about this great little dock for any iPod with a dock connector (iPod, iPod nano, iPod mini.) Halloran told us that the built-in 802.11g wireless dock syncs associating an iPod by its serial number to any computer you choose on the network. So Danny can sync to his PC and mom can sync to her Mac all from the same wiDock. With a simple software install on each computer (Windows or OS X), Sx Virtual Link makes a virtual driver emulating a USB link. By pressing a button on the dock, the computer on the other end associated to that iPod starts the sync process. You can also initiate the Sx Virtual link to start up automatically if you so choose, to make for seamless sync jobs. If you’re sitting at your computer and the iPod is on the dock down in the living room, highlight the iPod in iTunes and start the sync from your computer. iTunes thinks it’s right there on your desk!
Halloran told me during our 30 minute call that silex sees the wiDock as helping make the iPod the focus of your home entertainment system. With RCA audio and S-Video outputs to connect to your system, you’ll be able to watch movies and enjoy your music without having to worry about the nagging music protection scheme on the content you purchased from the iTunes store. With its built-in support for the Apple Remote, you can sit down and enjoy anything on your iPod from the comfort of your couch. And yes, Halloran did confirm that silex is kicking around the idea of making its own remote as well for a future release.
When I asked Halloran about iPhone integration, he said while they haven’t been able to touch one to really see how it works, they do believe it should be an easy adaption to the wiDock since the iPhone too has a dock connector. When I pressed about its built-in Wi-Fi and maybe the ability to add silex software to the phone for wireless syncing anywhere (within ones home Wi-Fi next work), Halloran said that it was a possibility, but couldn’t commit to it until they see the iPhone first. Halloran did tell me that silex is currently working with other manufactures in getting silex’s technology in a wide variety of other products.
The worlds only Wi-Fi dock for the iPod can be had for $149 MSRP though it has been found as low as $120 on the street. Response to the wiDock was hot at CES and Macworld where many purchased it on the spot when they saw what it could do. We’ll be getting one in soon and we’ll tell you then if it’s as hot as we think it is!