San Diego (CA) – Sony went Apple-crazy today with three new products with iPod/iPhone docks. And remember that we complained just last week that Microsoft’s Zune has an edge over Apple’s iPod with a tagging feature for songs played over the FM radio receiver? That is still the case, but Sony has come up with a fancy new HD radio that allows iPod/iPhone users to tag songs for to download them from iTunes later.
There was a time when Sony simply ignored Apple’s iPod and when it looked for opportunities to defeat Apple’s products in the market. That time has long passed and even Sony can’t overlook the fact that iPod connectivity in home audio devices has become a critical feature consumers are looking for.
New in the company’s lineup are the ICF-CD3iP CD clock radio with iPod/iPhone dock and the ZS-S4iP boombox with iPod/iPhone dock. But the more interesting new product is the XDR-S10HDiP HD radio, which supports iTunes song tagging. Songs that are playing on the radio can be simply bookmarked for a future download from the iTunes store.
We have seen this feature surface recently in Microsoft’s Zune music players, while Apple’s media players still lack an FM radio. Sony’s move to help Apple catch up with Microsoft, at least partially, was unexpected and we hope that Apple will send a brief thank-you-note to Sony for supporting iTunes sales.
The ICF-CD3iP CD clock radio and the XDR-S10HDiP HD table radio will be available later this month for $100 and $180, respectively. The ZS-S4iP boombox follow in October for about $100 and the SRS-GU10iP docking speaker will sell for about $150.
There was a time when Sony simply ignored Apple’s iPod and when it looked for opportunities to defeat Apple’s products in the market. That time has long passed and even Sony can’t overlook the fact that iPod connectivity in home audio devices has become a critical feature consumers are looking for.
New in the company’s lineup are the ICF-CD3iP CD clock radio with iPod/iPhone dock and the ZS-S4iP boombox with iPod/iPhone dock. But the more interesting new product is the XDR-S10HDiP HD radio, which supports iTunes song tagging. Songs that are playing on the radio can be simply bookmarked for a future download from the iTunes store.
We have seen this feature surface recently in Microsoft’s Zune music players, while Apple’s media players still lack an FM radio. Sony’s move to help Apple catch up with Microsoft, at least partially, was unexpected and we hope that Apple will send a brief thank-you-note to Sony for supporting iTunes sales.
The ICF-CD3iP CD clock radio and the XDR-S10HDiP HD table radio will be available later this month for $100 and $180, respectively. The ZS-S4iP boombox follow in October for about $100 and the SRS-GU10iP docking speaker will sell for about $150.