It had to be around 2006 or ‘07 when I purchased my first iHome speaker. I believe it’s the now discontinued iHR5 (I may have the model name wrong), but it’s still perched atop my dresser till this day, delivering AirTunes and clear FM radio across my bed as I browse websites on my iPad. At the time, the product was geared around the 5th generation iPod Video, which was a fantastic hit in the early days of senior high. While it can certainly play music from the 1st gen iPod touch I’ll replace upon the next announcement, I’m certain it won’t be future proof for much longer (but who knows). Looking big, TUAW recently showcased iHome’s latest model, which is pretty ridiculous. Not only is this rectangular beast designed to blast the infinite musical spectrum straight out of your eardrums, it sits the largest Apple mobile device you may own: the iPad.
I don’t know if it’s practical to seat an iPad on top of a home stereo, but it’d certainly be convenient as a charging station. I bring up this point because I don’t know too many people who constantly use the iPod app on their iPads. I do, but I usually choose to utilize podcasts more often than actual music. Too, the iPad does feel like it almost overtakes the stereo because of its size, but just almost. It looks silly. But the stereo is bluetooth compatible, meaning you can stream music from your iPad directly to its audio throne from across the room.
If I was to buy it, I’d buy it for the bluetooth feature alone since the iPad doesn’t have AirTunes built in, and I wouldn’t expect to use it as a dock. There isn’t a set price yet, but TUAW speculates this bad boy will be anywhere from $100 to $150, which sounds right to me.
