Logitech Squeezebox, (MSRP $199, www.Logitech.com) courtesy of Logitech.com

Convergence is a big deal when you’re talking about the Symbiotek– it’s the heart of the gadget side of what we do here. And while Apple’s Airport Extreme is a wonderful way to play computer-based music around the house, the Logitech Squeezebox has caught our eye in a major way.

Turning your digital music collection into something you can gain access to with the ease of a set-top box isn’t at all an easy task. You’ve got to get the music, which is sitting on a hard-disk somewhere, over to a device that’s both allows you to easily navigate today’s massive music and spoken word collections while also keeping the wires and buttons at a minimum, not to mention an easy to use remote. It looks, however, as if Logitech’s taken care of everything in this device. 

Rather than sliding a flash card in there or docking an iPhone/iPod, The Squeezebox connects to your computer or NAS via an Ethernet cable or your wireless network for “local” content. If you’re not into using the default speakers, you can attach the thing

Share what you're listening to via Pandora on Facebook

The convergence doesn’t stop there. With the Facebook hook-up, newly found tracks can cross social media platforms as users can easily shoot their favourite Pandora and Last.FM finds into their friends’ newsfeeds from the Sqeezbox Radio’s touchscreen.

The Squeezebox Radio also has a mini-jack out port so that if you’ve got your or iPod around, you can jack that in and output it via the little radio. It’s not a dock with playable user controls, but then again, that’s not what the Squeezebox Radio’s about. This net-enabled appliance is meant to take all the stuff on your hard-drive and the web and make it accessible to anyone in the house without having to tote some gadget in your robe pocket.

If you do happen to have an iPod Touch or iPhone though, you’re not gonna want to plug it into the Squeezebox. Why? Because the iPeng converts both those devices into WiFi-enabled RF remotes for the Squeezebox Radio, which totally takes convenience to a whole new level.

iPeng Squeezebox Server Remote gives you search capabilities

If you’ve got the Squeezebox set up on shuffle, your RF-bsed iPod remote becomes seriously useful for skipping a song that doesn’t fit, say, your knitting mood. You can also use the iPeng (link at bottom) search function to look through your collection for what you want to play next on the Squeezebox– it’s just as easy as the iTunes remote app. It’s a good way to reset the atmosphere as you shift to strength training after an hour of cardio in your home gym.

iPeng also allows you to add songs to favorites, lets you sort your results (an improvement over the vanilla iPod remote’s interface), and even supports slide show artwork, which makes it pretty robust.

But back to the Squeezebox Radio. Logitech’s released a few different devices in this line, so don’t be confused. Everything we’ve discussed here has to do with the lowest end device, believe it or not. The Swiss-based human interface company has a couple other tricks up it’s sleeve.

The Squeezebox Boom ($299)  includes two powerful speakers, a 7 day alarm system, and a dock for the included remote while the Squeezebox Duet ($399) is a set-top box designed specifically to hook up to an amp/home theatre system, channeling the music from either WiFi or over Ethernet directly into your amp via RCA,digital coax, or optical cable. The Duet also comes with a hardcore remote which includes an LCD to help you navigate your collection and show you any album art when it’s idle. Don’t worry about having to chuck constantly drained batteries though, the electricity hungry device comes with a charging dock.

The Duet may not have speakers, but it's the crowining achievement of the Squeezebox line by Logitech.

So that’s Squeezebox in a nutshell. Convergence (digital music files in a set top box) on top of convergence (integrated across social media platforms) on top of convergence (even links with iPhone OS devices like iPhone / iPod Touch/ iPad).

Whether you’re watching the dogs frolic in the backyard while taking in some tunes, or pulling off your own Jackson Pollack in the garage to some serious emotion-driving melodies, accessing your desktop computer or NAS’s music collection has never been more in tune with the non-hacker/consumer/user friendly tone of the Symbiotek.

Now if you’ve taken a look at the Squeezebix line and thought “Well, it looks cool, but  I need something a bit more hardcore,” then Logitech’s still got something for you. It’s called The Transporter, and for the low, low price of $1999.99, it’s all yours.

Resource Links
Logitech Squeezebox Radio | Logitech Squeezebox Boom | Logitech Squeezebox Duet | iPeng App