DLO's new HomeDock Deluxe: we want it!

Late last year, we reviewed the , a decent way to dock, remotely control, recharge, and output an iPod to a stereo or a TV. Really, the only thing missing from the equation was the ability to remotely switch playlists, which would have been a difficult thing to do across a room, given the iPod's tiny screen size.

Enter the Deluxe version of the HomeDock ($149). Now armed with a bigger 18-button remote, the HomeDock Deluxe allows you to navigate playlists and gives you control of any iPod with a dock connector from afar, thanks mostly to the fact that the device pipes a song and menu interface out to an attached TV. Imagine navigating and picking out a specific song or a playlist on a plasma display from across the room. We checked out the HomeDock at CES and Macworld and were impressed, despite a TV interface that could use some fine-tuning; DLO is refining the interface for its March shipping date.