Altec Lansing Octiv Duo Hands-On

Altec Lansing were out last night to preview their latest iPod speaker dock, the Octiv Duo, and it's designed for those households with more than one iPod or iPhone to rejuice.  The horn-shaped dock can not only recharge both devices simultaneously, but also shuffle tunes stored on each (using the free Music Mix app) to put an end to "no, my playlist next" arguments.

There's also a cute circular remote control that stows safely at the back of the dock, a USB port for recharging a third device – whether Apple or otherwise – and Altec Lansing are offering another app called Alarm Rock which turns the Octiv Duo into an alarm clock.  As for the audio itself, the Octiv Duo gets a pair of two inch neodymium drives; it wasn't exactly the loudest or most acoustically pleasing speaker dock we've ever heard, but for a kitchen or desk it's ideal.

One thing we'd like to have seen is a pass-through sync port, allowing you to hook up the speaker dock to iTunes and put new media on as they recharge.  You do get a 3.5mm aux-input for non-Apple PMPs, however.  It'll be available soon, priced at $99.95.