Apple Continuing iPod Hi Fi Development, Other Hi Fi Models In Development?

[MacRumors]

With Apple's iPod Hi Fi currently sitting in 4th place amongst iPod speaker sets (and second in revenue), Apple appears to be continuing development of its iPod speaker accessory line.

A recent job posting on Apple's website calls for acoustic engineers to "be responsible for the design and development of many aspects of consumer loudspeaker systems such as Apple’s Hi Fi - including enclosure design, passive and active filter design, transducer design, and design validation."

In addition, AppleInsider reports that at one point this year Apple was preparing a smaller version of the Hi Fi that would cater to the sub-$199 speaker market. The unit supposedly didn't proceed beyond the test build phase.

[DavidLeblond]

ho hum

[Harpo]

I'm surprised to find it's doing that well! I heard nothing but groans of disappointment when it first came out.

[MacVault]

The iPod HI FI has to be one of the least interesting products Apple has ever released. They should save their development resources for other things, such as refining OS X, computer hardware, etc. Let the third party manufacturers make the iPod Hi Fi gadgets, IMHO

[davey-nb]

I hate it when people say "...if only this product had features I want I would buy it..." , BUT really, if the Hi-Fi had built in Airport and an FM tuner, I definately would buy it.
I know many Americans moan that there is no radio worth listening to but in Canada and Europe, there is.
Having those components built in lessens the wire clutter and makes for a cleaner setup.
The sound is pretty great already.

[miketcool]

Originally Posted by Harpo

I'm surprised to find it's doing that well! I heard nothing but groans of disappointment when it first came out.

This is in no way aimed at you harpo;
The Hi Fi 2 could be perfect, absolutely flawless on every level, and priced at $100. But then every audiophile aside from the one the unit seemed tailored to would hate it. They harp about everything, and I've said it before, the HiFi is amazing. It is simple, uncomplicated, and wireless. It's another great Apple standalone unit. Whine all you want, but this is about as high quality, without complication as you can get to great sound. Find another unit out there that matches all the specs this one does and we'll talk. But this thing is easy, and because people think the iPod is easy, they get it.

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by MacVault

The iPod HI FI has to be one of the least interesting products Apple has ever released. They should save their development resources for other things, such as refining OS X, computer hardware, etc. Let the third party manufacturers make the iPod Hi Fi gadgets, IMHO

Did you not read the part of the article where it said "second in revenue". this means they have beaten EVERY speaker system except one. There are zillions of ipod speakers from Bose, JBL and others and Apple has beaten almost ALL of them were it counts in n revenue. Sounds like they've got a hit

I'm very surprised that Apple's iPod hifi is doing so well but if it is, it makes sense for Apple to invest more in something that is making money.

[iJon]

Has anyone listened to or heard of the iMaingo. This thing is frickin' sweet. It's by far the cheapest and loudest sound out of many iPod speakers I've seen. It blows away most similar items from Altec Lansing and JBL. I'm pretty sure you can only buy them at Apple Specialists but they are going to have big booths at both CES and MacWorld I believe.

http://imaingo.com/

jon

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by iJon

Has anyone listened to or heard of the iMaingo.

Interesting! Do you own one?

[Squonk]

4th in sales and 2nd in revenue - go Apple!!! I had no idea.

What has me excited is the prospect of a great sounding (for the price and purpose) alarm clock w/iPod & iPhone dock connector. Yes, JBL and iHome make these and to be fair, I have not heard the JBL, but I didn't think much of the iHome when I auditioned it in Best Buy.

Anyway, what I like is the idea of docking my Apple phone so that it charges at night and serves as my music source to wake up to. I think this would be the only reason that I'd want music on my phone besides ringtones.

And I'd really like it if the clock/stereo projected the time on the ceiling. Put all of these in one and I'm there.

I suspect that Apple is not going to go for the alarm clock crowd at all, but I'll keep my eyes open for that.

[Demon Hunter]

This is very good news. I love my Hi-Fi!

[SciTeach]

Improvement on the HIFI systems will be great. I'm sure Apple is planning on better development to work with the new home systems they are thinking of.

Just as long they have a volume control that goes to "11"

[macintel4me]

Originally Posted by Squonk

... Apple is not going to go for the alarm clock crowd at all, but I'll keep my eyes open for that.

http://www.xtrememac.com/audio/speak...a/overview.php

[Clive At Five]

Originally Posted by Squonk

What has me excited is the prospect of a great sounding (for the price and purpose) alarm clock w/iPod & iPhone dock connector. Yes, JBL and iHome make these and to be fair, I have not heard the JBL, but I didn't think much of the iHome when I auditioned it in Best Buy.

Anyway, what I like is the idea of docking my Apple phone so that it charges at night and serves as my music source to wake up to. I think this would be the only reason that I'd want music on my phone besides ringtones.

You do realize that the iPod comes with Alarm Clock fuctionaity already, do you not? Just hook it up to your favorite set of speakers and it's good to go. you just saved yourself $200+. "Boom. Just like that."

-Clive

[macintel4me]

I can see Apple coming out with a 5.1 and a 7.1 sound system that is wireless. If "iTV" can do wireless video and audio via 802.11, certainly Apple can come with a wirless Home Theather speaker setup to complete the experience. Oh yeah...maybe that 42" inch LCD screen/monitor wouldn't be too bad either...lol

[iJon]

Originally Posted by mkrishnan

Interesting! Do you own one?

I do and I can honestly say it's one of the slickest devices I've owned for my iPod and it's only $69. If anyone is interested in one I can probably get you one since they aren't sold widespread yet. I've many many iPod owners scoop them up for themselves or for presents.

I have found it's perfect for times like camping, traveling, staying in a hotel where you want some good loud sound but don't want to carry your laptop or some big speakers.

jon

[EagerDragon]

zzzzzzzzzzzz

Speakers, Television, Stereo systems, FM tuners, etc.
Just allow for the integration, let other build the devices and compete with each other.
I am not sure I welcome every device in the living room to be from Apple.

[Unspeaked]

I don't buy this story for one minute.

There must be some major number manipulation going on to arrive at those rankings.

[dernhelm]

Originally Posted by SciTeach

Improvement on the HIFI systems will be great. I'm sure Apple is planning on better development to work with the new home systems they are thinking of.

If they are smart they are looking at extending it to be a surround sound system for iTV, as well as a plug-in iPod speaker. THAT I would buy.

Just as long they have a volume control that goes to "11"

Funniest. Movie. Ever.

[whippersnapper]

The 4th place thing is still pretty misleading. When you read the story and apply some basic math, the Bose Sound dock is outselling the hifi almost 3 to1. Apple has just under 8% unit share and 14.5% value share. By contrast Bose has ~35.5% value share and about 22.2% unit share.

[Evangelion]

I actually heard the iPod Hi-Fi for the first time last saturday. And it did sound better than I imagined it would. But I still feel that it really needs few more features to make it really compelling:

- A screen or something. So I could sit on my couch and control it with the remote. It uses the iPod's screen, right? Well, that screen is way too small to be viewed from several meters away.

- Network, so I could use it to access music on computers, as well as accessing netradios.

- FM-tuner. There are still loads of good radio out there.

Give it those three, and you got yourself a customer.

[Unspeaked]

Originally Posted by whippersnapper

The 4th place thing is still pretty misleading. When you read the story and apply some basic math, the Bose Sound dock is outselling the hifi almost 3 to1. Apple has just under 8% unit share and 14.5% value share. By contrast Bose has ~35.5% value share and about 22.2% unit share.

Plus, from what I gathered, it seems the numbers the retail report they're getting this info from is gathered from information supplied by "Big Box" ratliers, which means speciality outlets (kiosks, for example) or small web retailers wouldn't count in the numbers - and those are exactly the types of places people would be buying less brand name (read: not Bose or Apple) products.

[kddpop]

hifi has always seemed overpriced and unecessary to me. i know there are people who need that type of speaker system. but for me, its always been easier to simply plug in any peripheral audio device into aux ports on the back of my stereo. to affect this, i have to make sure there are such ports on the stereos i buy. this includes car stereos. i have auxilliary inputs in every stereo in every room. solves a lot of problems for me.

~kyle

[n-abounds]

2nd in revenue, 4th in sales....

That's doesn't mean it's very profitable, so maybe Apple should focus elsewhere.

Besides, I think competing with other peripheral companies might lead them to creating peripherals for other MP3 players. In turn, that could make consumers more willing to buy those products. The only reason my next MP3 player is an iPod is because it's the only one with a dependable FM-transmitter, car-charger, and running kit.

[emotion]

Hi Fi needs a built in phone. We'd all go mad about it then