Thursday, May 25, 2006
Philips Streamium WACS700
Posted by Chris Gohlke in "HARDWARE" @ 11:00 PM
"The Philips Streamium WACS700/37 ($1,000) is the company's latest addition to its Streamium line of digital media receivers. It comprises two components: the main Music Center and the smaller Station, each of which includes an AM/FM tuner, an integrated amplifier, and built-in flat panel speakers. The Music Center incorporates a 40GB internal hard drive for music storage and playback, as well as slot-loading CD player/ripper, which is located on its top panel. The smaller Station is a more basic client device designed to stream audio from the Music Center's hard drive. The two automatically set up their own wireless link with each other--separate from any home network you may be running--but you can, in turn, hook them into your home Ethernet or Wi-Fi network. You transfer music onto the Music Center's hard drive either by ripping tracks from CDs or by copying them from your PC (if you've opted for the aforementioned network connection). With additional units available for purchase at $300, the Music Center is capable of simultaneously streaming music to up to five stations while its local playback is also active. Oddly, you can't stream audio from your PC's hard drive or the Internet to the Music Center, but you can stream from your PC to the Station. Moreover, it doesn't support copy-protected audio files such as those purchased from iTunes and Napster."
Very cool looking if a bit pricey. Based on the styling, I think the designers must be fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation since it looks like it could easily be mistaken for the styling of many of the computer system interfaces.
Very cool looking if a bit pricey. Based on the styling, I think the designers must be fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation since it looks like it could easily be mistaken for the styling of many of the computer system interfaces.
