Keyspan is now shipping TuneView, a wireless color LCD remote control for Apple iTunes on Macs and Windows PCs that offers complete control of music, MP3 files, podcasts, and video from up to 150 ft away.
As you press buttons on the remote, the USB transceiver queries the iTunes library each time that information is needed and transmits this data to the remote. With the color LCD screen and the ten buttons provided on the remote you can quickly and easily browse iTunes as if it were in your hands.
TuneView also works with Apple’s AirPort Express, Xitel’s Hi-Fi Link and other products that connect audio output from a PC-based music server to the audio inputs on an AV receiver or multi-room audio system.
“TuneView provides the missing piece to the PC music server puzzle,” explained Mike Ridenhour, president at Keyspan, in the press release. “There have been many ways to feed sound from iTunes to a stereo system, but there has never been an effective and affordable way to control iTunes from anywhere in your house.”
TuneView features include:
• Remote features color LCD screen and intuitive 10-button keypad
• TuneView USB transceiver plugs into USB port on a PC or Mac
• 2.4 Ghz RF connectivity between remote and transceiver
• RF signal works through walls and furniture up to 150 ft range
• iTunes content presented on the remote in familiar iPod-like menu style
• Controls iTunes music, videos, radio and podcasts
• Supports English, French, German and Spanish
TuneView has an MSRP of $149. More info here.
I would have bought one of these when it was first announced, what, about a year ago. But it never shipped. I since have ATV, so I am less interested. Since I don’t like the idea of having to have the TV on in order to play music, I might still be interested. A shame this didn’t ship sooner.
Keyspan? Making remotes? No wonder my electric bill is so high in MA !
Oh my god that is ugly. I don’t think I’d even want to touch it.
freakin’ finally! Somebody had the brains to do this.
Nice device but only seems to be practical if music sharing is enabled and you are away from your Mac. Obviously it doesn’t make much sense for someone who primarily listens to music at his or her Mac. My concern would be regarding the company’s policy about updates. Is there any guarantee that the product will work with the latest version of iTunes for a certain length of time? Given the price, one would hope that length of time would be several years.
Peace.
Hi,
I just wanted to reply to the comments that have been posted so far…
DanielN
It did take some time but we wanted the product to be good. You pointed out one of the advantages over ATV (you don’t need a TV to be on) but there are others. With our product and iTunes:
* you get a jukebox mode (via our remote)
* you can use just about any speakers with your Mac
* you can use Airport Express to connect remote speakers
* you can be anywhere in your house and see your iTunes library
I have an ATV too. I like ATV but it’s not all that useful when I’m on my deck bbq’ing and want to control my music. There’s room for both and they can work side by side.
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NavyTim
We’re the original Keyspan. Keyspan Energy copied us =)
We’re not the same as Keyspan Energy but we get a lot of their customers confusing the two. We’re based in California and were founded before Brooklyn Union Gas became Keyspan Energy. We predate them by a year or two.
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leveldown
In this case, form follows function. I think the pictures don’t do justice to the remote. The look and specifically the feel are really elegant. Hopefully, you’ll come across a demo somewhere. If you do, I believe you’ll really like the remote. The top of the remote
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hairbo
Thanks! We’ve been working on this for some time. Personally, I’m happy this is coming out. I’ve been playing around with this for sometime and I loved it. We’ve had a few beta testers on this and their feedback has been very positive. I hope you’ll like it too.
Thanks for listening! I hope this helps!
Lurker_PC
Thanks for the comments…
I would hope we would continue to support iTunes provided that Apple continues to support the APIs that we use to get at the data. I don’t see a case where Apple would stop supporting the API.
Looking at our track record with our other products, we generally support products for several years after they’ve been discontinued.
Hope this helps!
Hey KeyspanDude….
It looks like it is basically an iPod that remotely controls the iTunes library…. I did not see a video of it in action… any chance there would be a video coming out of your site soon?
The Dude abides.
KeyspanDude – I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to respond to the comments and addressing questions / concerns. Glad to hear of some commitment from a company – even unofficially. As a general rule of thumb I encourage people to wait until after the next major OS upgrade before making most purchases. Assuming people follow this logic your company should see an uptick in sales from Mac users after October.
Once again, TuneView looks like a very nice product. Good luck with it!
Peace.
To Keyspandude
I love the idea and even think your implementation can’t be good, but in the hi-res pictures my god it looks ugly. Not very in tune with Apple design at all.
The Dude!
Great idea…working on a video – it should be posted soon.
(love the big lebowski reference! – my best bud turned my onto that movie back when it came out – the dude abides indeed!)
Lurker_PC
Good point about software updates. I think there’s an embargo on 10.5 info from Apple so I can’t say to much about it other than we expect to have 10.5 compatible software on the day of 10.5 release if not shortly there after. Since TuneView is a new product, it will definitely have 10.5 support from Keyspan.
leveldown
The pictures don’t do it justice. We didn’t want to copy Apple entirely for various reasons. When we came down to it, we looked at our objective here and saw that we wanted to make good remote with a good screen. We think we did it. If the very idea of controlling iTunes remotely is appealing to you, you’ll love the remote. If you’re not sure you like visual looks of it, try it if you can. The remote is more than its looks. It’s the quality of the control, the weight of the remote, and the speed of the menus.