Cisco has been showing off its Media Hub wireless music system in an exclusive demonstration to PC Advisor and Macworld at CES in Las Vegas.
The Cisco wireless music system consists of a Player, a Director, a Conductor and a handheld remote control unit that is around the size of a PlayStation Portable games console.
The home audio system will have a similar modular setup to the Sonos wireless music controller that launched in 2006 and that enables music playback in separate rooms to be controlled from a central console. It will cost $999 for the complete setup, but can also be purchased as separates.
The LinkSYS Cisco Media Hub family of products aim to take media streaming to a new (easier to use) level
The $449 Director unit has a built-in 50 Watt amplifier and optional speakers, while the $349 Conductor is essentially a complete stereo setup. It has an integrated CD player and a touchscreen display and acts as a fixed controller base from available tracks can be viewed and playback can be initiated.
Users can purchase the remote control and one or more other elements of the Cisco system in order to stream music wirelessly around their home. The system uses the 802.11n wireless standard to connect devices such as PCs and laptops, iPods and other wireless-enabled music players. Content is aggregrated from all these sources, explained Cisco’s Mike Duin, with the source and output device selected via the 7in touchscreen display on the remote control. An $80 iPod dock can also be bought.
The LinkSYS Media Hub controller
Album art and track details are acquired using an online music database. In the US this will be Rhapsody, while in Europe Cisco will use Audiolounge software.
The Cisco Media Player wireless home audio system is built on open-source software and conforms to DLNA (digital living network alliance) standards, so any DLNA-compliant wireless-enabled device should be able to become part of the Cisco audio cluster.
UK pricing and launch details for the Cisco Media Player have yet to be decided and the wireless setup we were shown at CES used a prototype remote control.
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