February 2005  Email this  Print this
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TECHNOLOGY
A Wireless Solution from Apple
Piping music wirelessly from stereo to speakers is great. But if you have hours of music stored on your computer, another cool connection would be linking your computer to your stereo. Several manufacturers make devices that can do this, but Apple recently introduced one that does music and more, and is one of the least expensive. The AirPort Express (average online price $125) is a sleek gadget about the size of a deck of cards. To stream music from computer to stereo, just plug it into an outlet, and connect it by cable to your stereo (you can buy the cable at Radio Shack or as part of a $40 installation kit from Apple). The device can be up to 150 feet from the computer, which, of course, must be equipped to broadcast wirelessly. AirPort Express works with PCs as well as Apple computers and, unlike other such devices, streams copy-protected music bought from Apple's iTunes Music Store as well as unencrypted MP3 music files. You can also pipe Internet radio, audio books and other programming available through iTunes to your stereo with the device. You'll need an AirPort Express for each stereo or set of speakers.
The AirPort Express has additional features you won't find incorporated into higher-priced music adapters, such as the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Wireless Music adapter ($180) and the Slim Devices Squeezebox Wireless ($280). For example, the AirPort Express works as a wireless network base station. Plug a DSL or cable modem into the AirPort Express, and it will allow up to ten wireless-ready computers to surf the Internet. And if you're not happy with the range of your current wireless Airport network, the AirPort Express can serve as a relay station, linking signals from a base station with a computer or other device, extending the base station's reach by as much as 150 feet.
It is also one of the rare base stations that also acts as a wireless print server. Plug an AirPort Express into a printer's USB port, and up to ten computers linked to the AirPort Express can use that printer.
At only 6.7 ounces, the AirPort Express travels well. Plug it into a hotel room's broadband connection and you can work from your laptop anywhere in the room. Other wireless travel routers, such as the Netgear WGR101 ($70), create wireless networks but lack the AirPort Express's music-streaming and printing capabilities.
The AirPort Express can receive signals from Apple computers that are running Mac OS X version 10.3 or later, and that are equipped with an AirPort or AirPort Extreme wireless card. It also works with PCs running Windows 2000 or XP that are equipped to use 802.11g or 802.11b Wi-Fi. The AirPort Express includes the beefy WPA (Wi-Fi protected access) security to protect your network from eavesdroppers and from hackers.
The AirPort Express doesn't come with a remote. But for an extra $60 the Keyspan Express Remote lets you manipulate your music from across the room. --Ronaleen R. Roha |
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