Escient dock links with home theaters
updated 04:45 pm EST, Tue January 2, 2007
Escient home theater dock
Escient has begun shipping its Fireball FP-1 Media Manager, a device that connects to automated home theater systems via Ethernet and RS-232 to pipe music as well as video anywhere that an entertainment system extends. The Fireball is one of the few media hubs that can share Apple's FairPlay content across a network, according to Escient, and users can connect multiple Fireballs simultaneously while allowing users to control iPods remotely using a TV-based interface. The option also exists to stream audio from a networked Mac or PC, so long as it's in unprotected AAC, FLAC, MP3, PCM or WMA formats. Users can sync iPods through the USB port, and Crutchfield is selling the the FP-1 for $600 as well as the dockless ZP-1 for $500.
