Creative iPod XDock HD Offers Wireless Streaming of Music And Videos Content in HighDef

‘Another iPod docking station,’ you say (trying not to yawn) ‘so what?’ and, to be honest, we’d be inclined to agree with you as these days they’re as numerous as my hair follicles increasing aren’t, but Creative’s XDock HD system for iPods is certainly worth a mention if only on account of the fact that not only is it capable of streaming your iPod audio and video content wirelessly, it can do so in glorious High Definition.

Unveiled at CES this week, Creative’s XDock HD offers HD content by converting your music to Creative’s award winning X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity standard – courtesy of X-Fi Crystalizer and X-Fi CMSS-3D technologies – prior to streaming wirelessly to independent X-Fi wireless receivers connected to speakers placed strategically throughout your home or by upscaling video content to 720p or 1080i resolution for viewing on HDTVs.

Designed to work with the iPod Touch, the new iPod Nano as well as previous generations of Apple’s ubiquitous range of players, the XDock comes with HDMI connectivity as well as component and composite video outputs and analogue/optical line-out connections for hooking up the system to other audio equipment in non-wireless fashion.

According to Steve Erickson, the Vice President of Creative’s audio division, the XDock HD has been designed ‘so that all the movies, music and photos that you carry with you on your iPod can be experienced in HD in your home,’ thus transforming your iPod into what he describes as a ‘high-quality HD entertainment system.’

Impressive, certainly, it’s just a shame that whilst they were cramming all this technology into their XDock HD they didn’t think to devote a little more time to the unit’s styling which, in our minds at least, is less than inspiring (to the point of being what we can best describe as ‘dull’, though the word ‘insipid’ also springs to mind – see the beautifully retro Shanling MC-30 and Gear4’s minimalist Blackbox – though not a docking station – for comparison)

Due to be released this Spring, Creative’s XDock HD system will retail for around $400 with a single X-Fi receiver with additional X-Fi receivers setting you back around £100 a pop.

[Source | PCMag]