Airport Express ... one more thing

In my last post I wrote about some of the ways that Apple's Airport Express can be used. There is one little tip for the road warrior that helps to de-clutter that travel bag of essential items. Don't forget that the USB port on the Airport Express means that you can use the device as a USB wall charger. So load up on those USB charging cables! The Airport Express means there is one less charger to pack for that cool Blueant z9 Bluetooth Headset or even for your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Airport Express - Your networked swiss army knife

Apple Insider first announced that Apple's Airport Express may be getting an upgrade. This is fabulous news! This little "travel router" is massively under rated as an Apple product. It provides AirTunes capability which allows you to stream to up to 4 places on your network simultaneously. This is like having a whole house sound system on the cheap. Connect the head phone jack to a sound system and use iTunes to stream music. Want to network a printer? Connect with a USB cable to the Airport Express and away you go. It is appropriate that the information about the upgrade to the Airport Express leaked via the Swiss Apple Store site because this great little device is like a Swiss Army Knife when it comes to networking. I have linked to Amazon for product information in this post but you may want to go to Apple's own store. Pricing for the Airport Express is just $99 at Apple and the new 802.11n wireless router is available now. Same price, up to 5 times faster with twice the range. What's not to love? I use my Airport Express routinely at work. Indeed, I probably use it more often than I use my laptop power supply. I drop it in my pocket with a Retractable Ethernet cable when I head to a meeting. Plug it in the wall, jack the cable in to a nearby Ethernet connection and my default secured connection comes up and is available. Some hotels provide wired access in their hotel rooms, but not wireless access. Plug and Jack and bingo! Wireless freedom! I am always coming across interesting ways to use this device. The Keyspan Express Remote Control is a case in point. If you connect this to an Airport Express you can remotely control your iTunes running on your laptop or PC in another room. AirTunes only works with iTunes. What if you want to stream the soundtrack of a video or maybe even my favourite radio streaming site, Pandora? You need Rogue Amoeba's $25 utility, Airfoil. This little software application for your Mac let's you use the AirTunes feature of the Airport Express from any application on your Mac. Very neat! So, for those new MacBook Air users. Why bother with a USB Ethernet adapter? Carry an Airport Express instead.

The next Apple Upgrade

Is it just me that thinks an upgrade to the Airport Express is long overdue? When will 802.11n be available on this little router? I always carry an Airport Express with me when I travel. It makes so much sense. IT allows you to convert a wired hotel room in to a wireless one. Apple, if you are not going to upgrade the Airport Express anytime soon then how about adding Wireless Distribution to the AppleTV. Allowing the device to extend the network as well as stream to the TV would be a great functional addition. So come on Apple - up the ante! Let's do some Wireless upgrades.