Pioneer Gets On Apple Bandwagon
- Apple apps offer easy control
- Similar apps coming for Android
- Ease of control for home AV products
Pioneer are looking to hook up with Apple with new apps that will turn an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (running iOS 4.2) into sources for entertainment and control with the company’s new VSX-1021 and VSX-921 AV receivers.
Pioneer will also add similar Android apps in the second half of 2011 so it will not be an Apple-centric set of features. However, there is no word which Android devices will be hooked up to the apps.
So what apps are on offer?
First up is Air Jam, which allows users to share their favorite music tracks directly through the receiver. The Air Jam App can simultaneously connect up to four devices to the receiver via Bluetooth, giving users the ability to create a group playlist with each device’s music content. Owners of the VSX-1021 or VSX-921 can also use their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to control the receiver with Pioneer’s iControlAV2 App.
Air Jam App turns a iPhone, NiPad, or iPod touch into a song server at the touch of a button. By downloading the free app from the App Store and launching it on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, users can cue songs from their music library for playback over Bluetooth on the Pioneer receiver by dropping and dragging the song.
Once Air Jam is launched, each device will display the list of songs and artists added by all connected users and the device from which each song will play.
During the session, each user can shuffle, select, and control the playlist. Following the session, users can recall past playlists and purchase songs from the iTunes Store with a touch of the screen.
Then there is the iControlAV2 App that offers home theatre control directly on the screen of iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch for a multitude of functions. Both the Air Jam App and iControlAV2 App are available for free from the App Store.
Pioneer’s iControlAV2 App enables VSX-1021 and VSX-921 owners to put away the included remote control and utilise an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch as their main home theater controller, enabling direct control of the receiver’s volume, bass, balance and room settings.
When used on an iPad most major functions combine into a single, intuitive screen. Additional features include detailed graphic representations of before and after MCACC room calibration, and sound adjustments that enable users to create their own equaliser settings with a simple “touch and draw” on the screen. The iControlAV2 App also includes Blu-ray player control when connected to a compatible Pioneer Blu-ray player.
Air Jam App and the iControlAV2 App require iOS 4.2 with iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G, iPad, iPod touch (2nd generation), iPod touch (3rd generation), and iPod touch (4th generation).
Both Air Jam App and the iControlAV2 App will be compatible with Pioneer’s AV receiver range, VSX-LX55, SC-LX75 and SC-LX85, when released later this year.
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