iPhone, iPod touch becomes home music remote control

You want control, right? The convergence culture means every home now has a plethora of different remote controls, each for different devices. Wouldn’t it be handy if your iPhone or iPod touch also controlled all the CE devices in your crib? 

Well, we may have a wait until that happens but an announcement from Arkados means we can look forward to using Apple’s devices to control all manner of home streaming solutions. And with iTunes controls (allegedly) built-into the soon-to-ship iPhone Software 2.0, it’s natural others in the streaming home audio space want a place at the party. 

Fabless semiconductor company Arkados produces its own portfolio of connected home products, and now plans to widen its solutions by introducing its own chips and software to enable iPhone and iPod touch users to control their whole-house audio systems.

The company will in future offer up a reference design that will allow companies that produce home audio systems to embed Arkados chip-and-software solutions into a device that enables the iPhone or iPod to "talk" to and control whole-house audio systems.

In essence, this will mean iPhone or iPod touch will function as an intuitive and colourful handheld wireless remote control from anywhere within the home for such functions as song selection, volume control, or choosing which room the user would like to direct music to. Additionally, HomePlug powerline technology enables an easy-to-install and easy-to-use whole-house system, for a fraction of the cost of professionally installed systems.

Arkados  uses HomePlug technology to make it easier for customers to wire up their homes for music. It does this by using the existing electrical wires in the home.

The company cites recent CEA stats claiming the market for iPod docks grew 44.5 per cent in 2007 and is expected to grow another 27.7 per cent in 2008. It claims to be one of the first to market with powerline solutions for networked audio that “couple the appeal of whole-house music with the storage and portability aspects of an iPod, as well as with any music available in the home via internet, stereo systems, or PCs.”

Oleg Logvinov, President and CEO of Arkados said: "iPhone and iPod are the premier handheld devices in today’s marketplace. By utilizing them as the touch screen controller in our upcoming reference design, we enable millions of consumers to use these devices in the broader whole-house audio/video market."