[Blogs] The Nexus Technoblog - Russound RNET control via iPod Touch

[CT Droid]

Russound is releasing the Touchpoint TCH1 unit soonish or now or already. Basically this looks like a wireless bridge (ethernet to crappy serial) that communicates back to iPhones and Touches. Hopefully this unit can bridge to an existing cabled network as well.

The snag is that the cost of the unit is STUPID HIGH. $599.00. Yeah, totally totally crazy high. A realistic price should be around $200.

Outdrive Systems used to sell a nearly identicle product: http://outdrivesystems.com/home/index.php
Outdrive Systems

Strangly it is no longer listed on their website. Their product was going for just under 200 bucks on EBAY. I wonder if Russound just bought these guys out and rebranded the product? Look how similar the wireless devices are. These have got to be the same thing. So at least we know that realistically the unit can sell for 200ish easy.

Following are some pics of the Outdrive System:

And the last EBAY sell that I could find of the Outdrive System Unit:
http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/CONTROL-YOUR-RUSSOU...A1%7C240%3A1318


View the full article

 

[BryanE]

Coincidence… I think not. Yeah, looks like Russound took the easy way out and just purchased the tech from Outdrive.

At $599…. I wish them luck! Apparently Russound doesn’t grasp the concept of offering their customers or potential customers value-added service. Not to burst their bubble but Sonos offers a free iPhone/iTouch app for controlling their system and it’s one of the best apps out there. Granted, the Sonos is already an IP based system but I’m sure a ton of development time and effort went into it. The upside for Sonos, its helping them sell more core product. Imagine that… give a great software app away and more people buy your product.

I could see if you had to purchase an RS232-to-IP interface like the Elk-IP232 for $149 and then they offered the control app as a free download. But to charge $599??? I’ll patiently wait until some ingenious app developer comes out with a more realistic solution.

 

[az1324]

And on top of all that it is just a custom open-wrt build running on a $50 asus router. There will be alternatives.

 

[BryanE]

Looks like someone at Outdrive might have read this thread and pulled the pics.

 

[electron]

Yep, they took it down. Sad. Here's what I could find, small size tho.