Apple AirPort Express
June 7, 2004 - 11:54am — bmann
This changes things.
With AirPort Express, Apple continues to advance wireless, delivering the first device to pack wireless networking, audio, printing and bridging capabilities into a single affordable, portable unit.
Apple: AirPort Express
$129US. Wireless support in the iPod can't be far behind. Apple is busy raising the bar in wireless, music, and home connectivity all in one go.
I just bought a LinkSys WRT54G and I'll still likely buy one of these as part of my travel kit. Integration into iTunes! Printer sharing! Heck, with a USB connection, you could easily hook up all sorts of home networking dongles if Apple opens up some of the specs (I know, I know -- perhaps too much to hope for).
Hat tip to Evan.
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Come on now..
Your computer will never be tucked away somewhere, lets be serious here! :)
Rendesvous
Very interesting device.
Would 802.11G be sufficient for DVR applications? This is a good step beyond Apple's traditional Digital Hub definition, and a move towards the home A/V/D hub; it's about bloody time too.
Now for optical video capability on the Express box, and eventually UWB equivalent so you can interface with your microwave and set off the post-cook beep reminder while you're watching a DVD.
802.11G for DVR applications:
802.11G for DVR applications: all depends on the size of the video screen. With good codecs (DivX, MP4) you could probably push a couple of streams over the wireless connection, albeit without any QoS guarantees. We need better codecs AND faster wireless (like UWB) before wireless can really handle all the video distribution needs inside the home.
With USB in/out (I didn't see if it was USB 2.0 -- I doubt it) you can do some other interesting things. Plugging in a standard webcam wouldn't be hard.
usb cam to the airport express
Has anyone plugged a usb web cam into an Airport express with success?
Airport with WebCamera
Did you ever get anywhere with the Apple Airport and webcamera?
Nope
Was more of a thought experiment rather than direct hardware hacking. Probably possible with custom firmware on some of the Linksys routers...
All Aboard the Airport Express
I like Todd's post on this subject. Any thoughts?
I concur
Todd's post on the subject is good. He agrees with me on two points:
- needs a remote so you don't have to run back to your Mac to control it (although Salling Clicker plus a Bluetooth phone does pretty good in a ~30ft range)
- almost guarantees some sort of wireless capability included with or as an add-on for the iPod
The reason I'm not getting one? My apartment is too small, and my computer is already my stereo. I will most certainly get one once we live in a larger place where the computer is tucked away somewhere and the stereo is more central.
Oops
My mistake, not sure how I managed to read that wrong. In any case, I'd still need some sort of wireless 'dongle' for my eMac in order to use it so...
ARGH!
Actually Andy just pointed this out to me, asking if it was too late to return my Squeezebox. At first I was annoyed, since I just paid over $300 for the thing, but then I thought, I'd still have to buy a basestation and converting $129 US into Canadian puts me up over $300 anyways... :)
I'm happy with the Squeezebox for now. I may end up buying one of these when I do get around to buying a basestation though...
This is a basestation. You wo
This is a basestation. You would need to add a wireless card to your computer to transmit from there, but that's all you need (and my laptop already has it built in).
Squeezebox is still a good device. Will be interesting to see what other functions Apple adds over time (basically anything that has a USB port). I could see future versions with a video-out port as well as an audio out port, or perhaps you could plug a regular webcam into the USB port.
Interesting times...