As an over-the-road truck driver I spend dozens of hours a week listening to various podcasts while I’m driving. In the past, my company truck had a stereo that had a cassette tape player, which made it possible to use an audiocassette adapter to plug in my MP3 player directly. Unfortunately, my current truck does not have an audiocassette player or an aux in port, leaving the only choices an ineffective FM transmitter, or ear buds. I gave up on FM transmitters long ago in favor of ear buds.
Why not go for some sort of iPod dock? Well, there’s a problem with iPod docks. They may work just fine in a stable environment, but a flopping docked iPod bouncing down the road in a truck invites a broken 30 pin iPod connector in no time.
So, I got the idea of looking for some sort of stereo Bluetooth capable boombox. Since I power all of my electronic devices from a DC to AC power inverter, the ability to operate on battery power isn’t a concern.
After searching through websites such as Amazon.Com and also searching through the local Best Buy store more than once, and talking to at least two Best Buy employees, I ended up finding on my own the Tango TRX Bluetooth-capable iPod/iPad dock. I paid $150 plus tax for it at my local Best Buy store.
The Tango TRX has a pleasing sound quality. The unit actually comes with two conventional iPod docks, one built in to the main unit that houses the speaker assembly, and a satellite unit that connects wirelessly via Bluetooth back to the main unit. The satellite iPod dock is adaptable to any generation of iPod device provided it has the standard 30-pin iPod connector.
More importantly to me, the Tango TRX will also connect to any device that has stereo Bluetooth capability. I am able to easily pair it with my iPod Touch as well as my Android Evo smartphone without having to enter the typical “0000” pin code so common to Bluetooth devices. It will simply connect automatically. Interestingly, the Tango TRX will also function as a speakerphone since it also comes equipped with a built-in noise-cancelling microphone specifically for that purpose.
There’s also a free Tango TRX iPod/iPhone/iPad app that gives additional functionality in the form of a 5 band graphic equalizer, as well as iPod remote control functionality. The unit comes with its own small infrared remote control.
The Tango TRX works extremely well in my truck. It has plenty of volume and does not distort at higher volume levels. It solves the problem and frees my ears from endless hours of ear bud purgatory.
There’s a new cross-platform video calling app that just became available called Tango. There are versions for both the iPhone as well as Android. Tango does what Apple’s FaceTime does, except it also does it cross-platform as well as via 3G. Apple’s integrated video calling app FaceTime works only with iPhone 4’s and via WiFi data network connectivity.