Brookstone, better known as “the company in the mall with the massage chairs,” expanded its line of non-vibrating products on Wednesday with the release of three new iPod docks. They range from an all-purpose go-anywhere dock to a simple, no-frills universal dock for the home theater.
The $150 BoomBucket would be Brookstone’s crowning achievement: an iPod dock built into that ultra-modern and elegant form factor, the bucket. No, it doesn’t carry seashells, sand, or pig slop, but it does carry your iPod in a protective waterproof case with a handle to take it anywhere. That’s not all though, the icing on the bucket is a remote control, allowing you to play, pause and skip tracks from afar.
Moving down a rung, the $100 SongPlay music system makes your iPod look a bit like the knife thrower’s assistant, strapped to the center of a spinning wheel. Two full-range speakers are hidden inside a gigantic circular grille, with an iPod sitting dead center. Like the BoomBucket, it has a remote for basic controls, and a 3.5mm input jack for non-iPod players.
Brookstone’s less exotic $35 Doc Universal doesn’t include any built-in speakers, but it’s intended for hooking up to a home theater. It only includes the essentials: audio and video outputs to run to a television and speaker system. The silver brick-like design keeps a low profile.
All docks except the Doc Universal are available immediately through Brookstone’s Web site.