California-based in-wall speaker manufacturer SpeakerCraft has developed a new interface for its MODE multi-room AV control system that enables the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch to be used as a wireless remote, with control of all sources and routing accessed on the touchscreen through an intuitive GUI. The system operates through the home’s wireless data network via a wired port on the user’s wireless router.
The interface – which is said to share the ‘look and feel’ of other iPhone functions – is generated through an embedded web server residing on a chip inside SpeakerCraft’s ERS 1.0 Ethernet-to-serial adapter. Access is through the iPhone’s Safari browser.
The ERS also contains a version of the interface designed to display and operate on a standard PC or Mac, offering the user the option of controlling the system from the iPhone/iPod Touch or any PC on the network.
“This is another powerful addition for SpeakerCraft dealers,” said SpeakerCraft president Jeremy Burkhardt. “They will now be able to offer their customers the easiest systems to use in the industry. Our current relationship with Apple which allows us to control and display metadata from the iPod has already dramatically enhanced our control offering. This latest development, utilising the Safari browser on the iPhone or iPod Touch to control the system, will expand SpeakerCraft’s control offering even further. I hate to say it, but this is the beginning of the end for keypads. Soon any keypad that isn’t emulated on a device like the iPhone will be obsolete.”
www.speakercraft.com
