Are we ever going to see this product?



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Corey
music heals

Last time I asked (a couple of months ago), they were still hoping to put them on the market. Every time there's some sort of decision by the Librarian of Congress or a court regarding royalties for streaming audio stations, the entire "dial" of stations that Arrio (the company behind the IR1000's brains) tracks seems to get shuffled like a deck of cards as the stations react, which I'm sure makes Outlaw nervous about selling a product that relies exclusively on that "dial." They haven't given up on it, though...

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

I think it might be time to dust off this thing and get it shipping. The Small Webcaster Settlement Act was passed on Nov 15th. I am back happily listening to Groove Salad again (from SomaFM.com). The only thing that would make it better is if I could move it to my stereo.

[This message has been edited by TurnerF (edited November 23, 2002).]

Wow. I hadn't heard about that yet. Excellent news. I've been pushing the boss to replace our contracted muzac with something else, and the idea of streaming Internet audio tuned to a good "background noise" station appealed to him, although he didn't want to pursue it just yet. I'd love to see the IR1000 ship and see one replace the atrocious junk we have now...

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

I still still want one. But I want it to be able to play every audio format known to God and Man.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

I like the concept but honestly I think I really like the Audiotron (?) better. What I'd really like to see is an appliance that wasn't WinCe based that allowed playback of streaming or network stored audio and video in a variety of formats. If we wanted to get really cool it should integrate a network attached storage device as well.

Ripping would be cool but that might cross too many lines - dunno.

I like most of that, Charlie, except that I don't think it really needs to have its own built-in storage; it could never have as much storage as my PC anyway and would only raise the cost. But it should be able to stream stuff from my PC using various filesharing protocols (should support SMB, NFS, and AppleShare at a minimum).

What would be even nicer would be if it had a built-in web-based control console, to allow you to work it from the PC. To top that, it should be able to control the 950 remotely, as well.

I agree, the Audiotron right now is better. But I also think that there are a lot of things that the Audiotron doesn't do, that the Outlaws are in a unique position to do.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

My thought on the NAS was that it would be able to stand alone better - I could dump whatever to it and still access it from the PC, but I wouldn't need a server on to play my collection. Disks are cheap. In any case that is the least important feature since in theory I could buy a NAS box if I really wanted it.

Hmm, that's an interesting idea. My PC is always on, so that's not as much of an issue to me, but I can see how it might matter more to someone who doesn't leave the PC on all the time.

If it were to have built-in storage, I'd want it to be capable of storing not just audio, but other stuff as well. And it would have to be quiet; one of my objections to NAS is that HDDs make noise, and usually require fans which make nosie. With a separate NAS box, you could put it in another room to alleviate that.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Good points. Take a look at storagereview.com and you'll see that lately a few manufacturers are making drives that are notably quieter and cooler than others. If Outlaw was careful they might be able to make it work. Also it occurred to me that a sort of TiVo-ish thing would also be possible, where one could time shift or store favorite radio shows etc.

If it was NAS aware this would all be doable too though. Maybe the disk could spin down if not used or be an option? And definiately should be mixed media device, or else you're me-to-ing Turtle Beach.

I came across this earlier today -- it looks like it's basically an Audiotron tucked into a little shelf system. No internal hard drive, and it may be limited to MP3 support, but it was a little interesting...

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

It's all good stuff...

Of course, if you wanted to, you could just turn it into an HTPC. If you're going to add TiVO-like functionality with an HDD, then IMHO you're already 75% of the way there. If you've added a built-in CD or DVD player and a ripper, then you're 90% of the way there.

Now, that may not be a bad thing... HTPCs are nice... I was just thinking of something a bit cheaper/slimmer in this particular cas.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Actually I'd like exactly that - 70% of an HTPC feature set without the PC headaches and tradeoffs.

Maybe we need two new products, then.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Maybe, but many consumer products are just that. I just went to evaluate some technology that involved a set top box type appliance. As example hardware they were using a DirecTV box running Linux.

Using low power hardware and careful engineering a very uncomputer-esque result can spring from what is at it's core still a PC. The payoff can be that a lot of engineering is already done and economies of scale can cut cost.

Maybe we'll get lucky and Apple will release something along those lines at MacWorld... Hey, it could happen, right?

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Any news on the IR1000? status?

thanks

No news... is bad news!

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

C'Mon, Outlaws... if I don't see some movement soon, I may just have to buy the Audiotron!

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Actually the Audiotron feature set is more appealing to me. Looks like a cool device.

I know, but it doesn't have the green power button. :-)

Seriously, I would rather stick with all Outlaw stuff because I like what they do. But if the IR-1000 were released as it has been previously spec'ed out, I'd probably go with the Audiotron. But if Outlaw adds some of the missing features such as the optical out, I'd give the IR-1000 the benefit of the doubt.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net