Saturday, August 4, 2012

Denon's iPod dock streams music wirelessly – and, yes, that includes those of ... - Daily Mail

PUBLISHED: 16:00 EST, 4 August 2012 | UPDATED: 16:00 EST, 4 August 2012

Apple has spoken. Wires are so last year.

So much so that the kindly Californian tech giant is rumoured to be changing the connector on its new iPhone, just in case any naughty Apple fans entertain the idea of using any outdated docks they’ve bought, instead of streaming wirelessly using its AirPlay system.

Apple’s influence, of course, is now at a level where the company could probably get away with bringing out an iPhone that played C90 tape cassettes.

Denon's Cocoon will play internet radio, if you can handle the vertigo-inducing world of 10,000 stations, not a single one of which you've heard of

Denon's Cocoon will play internet radio, if you can handle the vertigo-inducing world of 10,000 stations, not a single one of which you've heard of. It can also stream music remotely from your PC

But the first effect of this next phase of their plan to grip the world of music with an iron â€" sorry, polished magnesium â€" fist, is iPod docks that aren’t really docks.

Hence Denon’s Cocoon. Thankfully, the Japanese company is far too clever to just offer a polite Eastern bow to Apple.

It’s got a dock (for charging), but it’s built for wireless, and it will work with AirPlay (the new, officially sanctioned way to move music from the iRealm of Apple gizmos into the physical plane of existence) â€" but the Wi-Fi works just as well with Windows PCs, Apple Macs and even poor old Android phones via a slick upcoming Wi-Fi app.

There are USB and ethernet inputs on the back and it will support most audio file formats

There are USB and ethernet inputs on the back and it will support most audio file formats. You can also run multiple Cocoons - although at £500 a pop, you wonder, 'Who are these people who buy £2,000 stereos?'

Android phones have previously been a sad lonely species with barely a dock that would deign to speak to them.

You can also plug a hard drive full of music into the back of the Cocoon and control it via the LED panel on the front â€" ideal for those homes where the Wi-Fi’s a bit iffy due to, for instance, inconsiderate builders making the walls out of brick rather than paper.

TECH SPEC

£499, denon.co.uk

Speakers 2x 40mm tweeters, 2x 100mm woofers

Power 100W

Weight 5.4kg

Features Internet radio (three radio presets), 3.5mm stereo jack

This being Denon, it sounds delicious.

It’s big, bold, and the rhythm section is crisply separated from guitars and vocals â€" much in the same way as the players are in TV interviews, where the drummer’s lucky if he’s even invited.

The problem, though, is price.

This is £499. Sure, like most good hi-fi s these days, it wouldn’t look out of place in a sculpture park, but it makes one yearn for Denon’s old minis, which were defiantly boring, rectangular and â€" crucially â€" the right side of £300. 

Put your tablet to work

From the number of serious-looking people staring intently at tablet computers in airports, you’d think the things were an office essential.

But when it comes to performing real office tasks, you’d be better off with a PC from ten years ago.

The Pages (£6.99) app is Apple’s bold attempt to change that.

You could make a magazine on the Pages, and the touch-control is simple enough to make you feel briefly godlike

You could make a magazine on the Pages, and the touch-control is simple enough to make you feel briefly godlike

It’s finally willing to talk with other computers (Apple ones only, mind, as long as they are running the new Mountain Lion operating system).

It's a typically gorgeous piece of Apple droolware

It's a typically gorgeous piece of Apple droolware

It’s a typically gorgeous piece of Apple droolware, packed with ‘here’s one I made earlier’ documents that will have any sane human thinking, ‘Oh God, I really need to update my CV, it looks nothing like as good as this.’

You could make a magazine on this, and the touch-control is simple enough to make you feel briefly godlike.

The only problem is iCloud â€" Apple’s online storage system.

Google’s Documents can’t touch this for sophistication but I can edit them from anywhere there’s an internet connection.

With this, you’ll be cut off until you can get back to an iPad or Mac â€" which, in today’s always-on world, is like having the thing stuck at home in a drawer on a bit of A4.

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