Apple announced this morning that it has begun shipping AirPort Express, the company’s portable 802.11g base station. The device was announced in June, and features wireless networking and printing, as well as wireless streaming of music to a stereo or speakers through AirTunes, software that works through iTunes. In the announcement today, Apple claimed 80,000 preorders for the device. From Apple:
Apple today announced it has begun shipping AirPort Express, the world’s first 802.11g mobile base station that features wireless Internet connections and USB printing that can be used at home or on the road to bring wireless freedom to hotel rooms with broadband connections. AirPort Express also features both analog and digital audio outputs that can be connected to a home stereo, and together with AirTunes music networking software gives users a simple and inexpensive way to wirelessly stream music from iTunes on their Mac or PC to any room in the house. Apple has received more than 80,000 pre-orders for AirPort Express, which was introduced last month.
"With over 80,000 pre-orders, AirPort Express is off to a great start as the first 802.11g mobile base station for Mac and PC users," said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With the breakthrough AirTunes feature, music lovers can now listen to their iTunes music collection streamed wirelessly to a stereo located anywhere in their home."
AirPort Express includes a built-in combination digital and analog audio connector allowing users to connect it to a home stereo, powered analog speakers or the latest digital 5.1 surround sound systems. iTunes 4.6 automatically detects the remote speakers and displays them in a simple pop-up list for the user to select. Once the remote speakers are selected, AirTunes wirelessly streams the iTunes music from the computer to the AirPort Express base station. AirTunes music is encoded to protect it from theft while streaming across the wireless music network and uses Apple’s lossless compression technology to ensure no loss of sound quality. AirPort Express provides a range of up to 150 feet, and multiple AirPort Express base stations can be bridged together to send music to extended areas.*
*Actual range may vary.
AirPort Express is priced at US$129, and is available at the Apple Store. You can find more information on the AirPort Express and AirTunes at Apple’s Web site.
The Mac Observer Spin:
Apple’s pricing for AirPort Extreme base stations is no longer competitive, but the company has added some outstanding value to AirPort Express (portability and music streaming) that makes the product very compelling in our opinion. 80,000 pre-orders is impressive for such a peripheral. It will be interesting to see if demand for the product continues at such a level, or if we are seeing simply those with early-adopter syndrome quenching their tech thirst.
In the meanwhile, we encourage those who get theirs to post their experienced in the comments below, especially concerning AirTunes.